Yes, it rains in Vancouver, but locals are only joking when they speak of monsoons. Summer and fall tend to be dry and sunny. Snowstorms are uncommon, but organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics are praying for some flakes.

Visitors marvel at the city's laid-back atmosphere, despite locals' tendency to watch the clock: Watches are set to the noontime "O, Canada" horns atop the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Nine O'clock Gun, a cannon on Stanley Park's eastside.

Bridges connect the Westside, the West End and suburban West Vancouver. The Queen Elizabeth Theatre is downtown, and Queen Elizabeth Park isn't. False Creek is truly an inlet. Granville Island is (you guessed it) a peninsula, not an island. Paradoxes aplenty. That's Vancouver. Canada's Lotusland.

Some call it Terminal City for its bustling port—the biggest on North America's west coast. Local author Douglas Coupland dubbed Vancouver "City of Glass" for its abundance of tall buildings with windows in green and blue hues. For a while, it was "No Fun City" after city hall cancelled some popular festivals and street parties. A change in the mayoralty ushered in a renaissance of fun.

However you name it, Vancouver is undeniably a diverse place, where international culture and cuisine, particularly from Asia, are never hard to find. You really can golf, ski and sail on the same day in February, but you'd require Gore-Tex rain gear. You can buy that from Mountain Equipment Co-op, the nationwide outdoor recreation outfitter founded in 1971 by penny-pinching university students. The global environmental movement was another Vancouver innovation after Greenpeace got its start here the same year—not surprising, since Vancouver is on nature's doorstep. Bald eagles soar between office towers, seals cavort among the harbor's barges and black bears sometimes prowl North Shore neighborhoods.

This is where Starbucks started its international expansion. You could say it cornered the market with a pair of cafés at the chic intersection of Robson and Thurlow. Pick one, but don't blink. You could miss a close encounter with one of many A-list celebrities shooting TV shows or movies in the true Hollywood North.

The city's character
In the shadow of southwestern British Columbia's Coastal Mountains, Vancouver is surrounded by water from the Pacific Ocean and Fraser River. Mount Baker, a snowcapped volcano, rises ominously to the southeast in Washington State.

Vancouver's coastline was dotted with Coast Salish tribal villages when Spain's Jose Maria Narvaez sailed here in 1791. A year later, Britain's Capt. George Vancouver did the same. The city of 1,000 was dubbed Vancouver, instead of Narvaez, upon its 1886 incorporation because of Canada's membership in the British Empire.

Vancouver's tendency to remake itself began early and out of necessity. Within two months of its birth, the town site burned in a fire. A year later, the first trans-Canada train arrived. Engine 374 and the old Canadian Pacific roundhouse were renovated for the Expo 86 World's Fair, celebrating transportation and communication history.

Vancouver is conveniently situated halfway between Western Europe and East Asia, maintaining vestiges of its colonial past while gazing eagerly into the future. It's old enough to have a history, but it's still carving an identity.

Vancouverites make a sport out of ridiculing eastern cousins in Toronto, especially when Canada's financial hub suffers a blizzard while crocuses are blooming on the west coast; but they share a common climate, love of the environment and entrepreneurial spirit with their southern neighbors in Seattle. The city's residents are content to keep the border where it is—24 miles south—so the metro population remains a manageable 2.1 million.

What to see and do
Robson Street is often compared to Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive. It's chock-a-block with upscale boutiques, cafés and eateries. It's also a cultural hub, featuring the Roman Colosseum-inspired Central Library and Vancouver Art Gallery in the old courthouse. Robson ends where Stanley Park's 1,000 acres begin. Its famous 5.5-mile seawall beckons for a walk, jog or bike ride. Follow it to palm tree-lined English Bay beach and beyond to Granville Island, where you'll delight in the selection at the bustling public market.

All the way to the west at the Point Grey Campus of the University of British Columbia is the Museum of Anthropology, one of the world's best collections of northwest native artifacts. The view from the Arthur Erickson-designed building alone is worth the price of admission.

Follow the redbrick road in Gastown, where Vancouver began. It hosts the opening weekend of June's Vancouver Jazz Festival and July's Tour de Gastown bike race—Lance Armstrong won it in 1991. Gastown is a tourist hub teeming with visitors from tour buses and cruise ships, so locals prefer the Yaletown warehouse district.

Vancouver's Chinatown ranks behind New York's and San Francisco's in size. Even so, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden offers tranquility and peace close to downtown, just around the corner from the Guinness Book of World Records-validated narrowest building in the world. A few blocks north is the dilapidated Downtown Eastside. City Hall hopes redevelopment of the century-old Woodward's department store building (beneath the big red W) will rehabilitate an area riddled with open drug use and street crime.

Commercial Drive is dotted with Italian, Portuguese and Cuban cafés, and the city's best ice cream is at La Casa Gelato, a few blocks west on Venables Street. Warning: There are 208 flavors.

Two bridges span Burrard Inlet, but the 12-minute SeaBus commuter ferry ride is a pleasant alternative. Grouse Mountain, one of three ski/snowboard resorts on the North Shore, is the best place to view the city from afar via the SkyRide; if you're so inclined, hike the 1.8- mile Grouse Grind vertical trail, open spring to fall. North and West Vancouver trails are among the most popular in the world for mountain bikers. Canoeists and kayakers also rave about area waters. Rentals are available at Jericho Beach, Kitsilano Beach, English Bay, Granville Island and Deep Cove from spring to fall.

Back downtown, city hotels offer a competitive spa scene. If you'd rather unwind with a day trip, drive the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Whistler or hop a ferry, seaplane or helicopter to Victoria, British Columbia's capital, which residents claim is "more British than Britain itself."

Entertaining clients
Some visitors are drawn to Vancouver by the array of cuisine. The Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant (180- 355 Burrard Street, 604-688-8191), in the art deco Marine Building, serves the finest Chinese food. CinCin Ristorante & Bar (1154 Robson Street, 604-688-7338) is the place for celeb-watching. Yaletown's Glowbal Grill (1079 Mainland Street, 604-602-0835) features west coast and fusion foods. Cloud 9, on the 42nd floor of the Empire Landmark (1400 Robson Street, 604-687-0511), is the highest lunch spot. If you crave a steak, Hy's Encore (637 Hornby Street, 604- 683-7671) fits the bill. Gastown's Steamworks Brewing Co. (375 Water Street, 604-689-2739) and Yaletown Brewing Co. (1111 Mainland Street, 604-681-2739) boast a casual atmosphere and fresh beer brewed on-site.

Downtown's Orpheum and Queen Elizabeth Theatres and the Centre for the Performing Arts feature local and touring music and theater productions. The Commodore Ballroom is the city's premiere live music venue. Vancouver is an improv comedy hotspot, and the Vancouver Theatresports League's home is Granville Island's Arts Club Revue Theatre.

Canada's national winter sport is hockey, and Vancouver has two teams. The National Hockey League's Canucks play downtown at General Motors Place, while the stars of tomorrow play for the Giants of the Western Hockey League at the Pacific Coliseum. Next door is Hastings Racecourse horse racing track. The city's oldest sports venue is soon to house a casino. Speaking of gambling, British Columbia is Nevada North, with downtown's Edgewater Casino and River Rock on the banks of the Fraser in Richmond.

Future Oakland Athletics ballplayers spend their summers playing for the Vancouver Canadians of the single A Northwest League at 54-year-old Nat Bailey Stadium, one of pro baseball's oldest parks. Canadian Football League's B.C. Lions play under the dome at B.C. Place Stadium.

For golfers, University, McCleery and Fraserview are the most accessible, year-round public courses. Stanley Park offers seasonal pitch-and-putt.

Getting there
Vancouver's airfield wasn't good enough for Charles Lindbergh to land at in 1927. By 2003, the International Air Transport Association ranked Vancouver International Airport North America's best and among the world's top 10.

Vancouver International, 30 minutes from downtown on Richmond's Sea Island, served 15.7 million passengers last year. It's undergoing a C$1.4 billion expansion over the next 10 years.

YVR, as it's called, includes the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel, with 385 soundproof rooms, meeting facilities, the Globe@YVR restaurant and Jetside Bar. A selection of other airport hotels lies nearby in Richmond's Lulu Island.

Taxi fare to downtown from the airport averages C$26, while a limo is around C$42. The YVR Airporter shuttle bus is C$12, and public transit, via bus 424 and the 98 B-Line, is C$3.25 (C$2.25 at night and on weekends). A new rapid transit line to downtown will open in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

BOB MACKIN is a freelance writer in Vancouver.

Unwind at Whistler
Just north of Vancouver is the Hollywood of the ski world: the Whistler/Blackcomb complex. The area has more vertical, more lifts and more varied ski terrain than any other ski resort in North America, and a clientele with panache to match. With winter approaching, ski enthusiasts visiting Vancouver on business should consider sneaking in a few days on the slopes of Whistler/Blackcomb.

The stats are standouts. Whistler Mountain has 5,006 feet of vertical and 100 marked runs; Blackcomb Mountain has 5,280 feet of vertical and 100 marked runs.

Get there quick. Two hours by rental car (check www.mywhistler.com for updates on lane and road closures) or three hours by bus (Whistler Express operates a bus service departing eight times daily from the airport: 604-266-5386).

Rent equipment with an attitude. High-performance skis, snowboards and snowshoes—from Summit Ski (604-938-6225), at various locations in the village.

Kick it up a notch. Arrange a three- or four-day run of skiing the backcountry through Whistler Heli-Skiing (888-HELISKI, www.heliskiwhistler.com).
—Nancy Branka