Fan Tan Alley is a very narrow lane, three to six feet wide and 240 feet long, that runs between Fisgard Street and Pandora Avenue (formerly Cormorant Street). It came into being between 1885 and 1920 as Chinese and Western landowners initially constructed buildings fronting on Fisgard and Cormorant, then over time filled in the spaces behind with new buildings.
https://chinatown.library.uvic.ca/index.html%3Fq=fan_tan_alley.html#:~:text=Fan%20Tan%20Alley%20is%20named,them%20with%20a%20brass%20cup.