I flew SFO-YVR-HKG r/t in 1985/1986. Everyone had to deplane at YVR into a small windowless holding room (not like CX888/889 today). If I recall correctly, it had to do with the a/c being a 747-200 which couldn't do the route non-stop. Route was discontinued towards the end of the 1980s/early 1990s when LAX started.