I was in Richmond 5 months ago when I made a road trip across the border, the following gets my seal of approval.

Tin Tin Seafood Harbor
3711 No 3 Rd, Richmond, BC V6X 2B8, Canada

Lido Restaurant (their butter bun is good, you can get them to go)
4231 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, BC V6X 4E8, Canada

Chinese Sauerkraut Fish (their sign board is in Mandarin)
101-4940 No 3 Rd, Richmond, BC V6X 3A5, Canada

Argh damn it. It's not as good as the Richmond one but it's closer to my house and got decent standards. Just double checked their website and it said it couldn't negotiate a lease renewal. How's Parklane in Richmond these days? Haven't been there for years since I usually just hop over to Kirin across the street. The other place I like is Garden City Hotpot, yes, they do serve dimsum in the morning / afternoon. It's a bit out of the way for those relying on Skytrain.

Is there dim sum to go like in San Francisco?

You can get it to go at restaurants but places that are set up to quickly supply the stuff to go are rare (maybe because I never looked). Either a very limited selection at bakeries, frozen stuff (at bakeries and groceries), or maybe fresh stuff at some supermarkets (e.g., T&T).

Since you mention Richmond...
 

How about a shift from Dim Sum to Xaio Long Baio? It gives me the fun of recommending a little joint in, of all places, a shopping mall food court in Richmond!

It's R&H Chinese Food in Lansdowne Centre. We discovered it a few years ago. It's definitely a food court atmosphere but there are usually two women making them by hand in one corner of the small stall, just like Din Tai Fung. :) We can also recommend their Green Onion Pancakes and Beef Rolls.

You can check out reviews on Yelp, Trip Advisor, and in a couple of YouTube reviews. We've eaten at Din Tai Fung in multiple countries as well as Crystal Jade and some number of independents, including those of the Shanghai River Restaurant, also in Richmond and another place we enjoyed. The R&H soup dumplings measure up very well. We do love our Xaio Long Bao. :)

We too have dined at Fisherman's Terrace with friends of Hong Kong origin who recommended it (and who ordered), and we can endorse that one as well. Consider the mall for a lunch though if you like soup dumplings. ;)

If it's ShangHai dumplings you want and are staying in Vancouver, Lin's on Broadway just west of Granville is a good place. I have to admit I have more of a hankering for Cantonese Dim Sum/Yum Cha.

No question that Dim Sum / Yum Cha is wonderful. I didn't mean to hijack the thread but I just couldn't resist a plug for that cute Xiao Long Bao place, since FlyinHawaiian referenced Richmond.

We live about 45 minutes south of Richmond, just south of the border, so we'll be sure to check out Lin's one of these days. Thanks. ^

Dinesty Dumpling House has 2 locations in Richmond. They are okay, taste similar to DTF. I don't know of any take out dimsum, the only I know of in downtown Vancouver is now dead (Tsui Hang Village on Granville & Davie).

I've never met an XLB that I didn't like, so I appreciate the advice Fredd !

Except for "SzeChuan" (only because I don't know what is authentic), anything but Cantonese food used to be difficult to find here. It's only been due to the influx of mainland immigrants that there has been any choices other than Cantonese. I don't think XLB were known here 25 years ago (pepper braised eels and the steamed/fried were the only ShangHai specialties). Even with an influx of Taiwanese immigrants in the '80s, there's very little to show for it culinary-wise. We don't have the other cuisines of TeoChew and Hakka, though there appears to be a big scene in Toronto, and of course Chinese Indians (most if not all of Hakka descent) who have followed subcontinental Indians here to offer Indian-style Chinese food.

Some help from the local community paper

Anybody who cooks Chinese food wants to visit Big Crazy market 4955 3 Rd. in addition to the 3 T&Ts.