Vancouver, one of Canada's youngest and most beautiful cities, got its start after a down-on-his-luck squatter built a saloon to serve thirsty loggers. Considering these humble beginnings, it's no wonder the city's history is littered with the weird and wild:

* Smoking cigarettes indoors is banned, but many places in ''Vansterdam'' welcome marijuana smokers; the city is also home to North America's only taxpayer-funded heroin injection site

* Despite its chilly ocean temperatures, Vancouver has one the largest and busiest nude beaches in the world--Wreck Beach

* The tradition of waving towels at sporting events first began after a Canucks coach raised a white towel in mock surrender to bad officiating

* A city of immigrants, Vancouver is the only place in the world that celebrates Gung Haggis Fat Choy, a combination of Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day

* The Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown is said to have two ghosts: a train conductor and a small, mischievous red-headed man in red long johns

* Stoner comedy duo Cheech and Chong got their start in the city

* Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson was discovered after appearing on the Jumbotron at a BC Lions football game

* Several severed feet have washed ashore here in the past few years, and no one knows why

* Vancouver has a West Side, a West End and West Van, all of which are miles away from each other, plus a neighbourhood named Gastown without a gas station and a so-called island that isn't.

And that's just the start of the weirdness!