The Chinatown Alleys
Paths and alleyways run between the main roads
Today the alleys are home to all manner of small businesses including hairdressers, massage parlours and fortunetellers. We heard the sounds of industry coming from tiny workshops and stopped to listen to buskers on the street corners.
A floor plaque shows the Chinatown alleyways
Exploring Chinatown
The streets of Chinatown are festooned with red lanterns
After we left the alleyways we walked for a while along the main roads which were festooned with banners and red lanterns and full of places to buy jewellery, jade and statues of Buddha. However, this is very much a place where people live, so you could also find shops selling just about anything you might need.
There are plenty of goods for tourists to buy…
…but Chinatown is also a residential area
As you might expect, there are lots of cafés and restaurants. We opted for the Pot Sticker on Waverly Place, where we had traditional Chinese food including my favourite green onion pancakes. Opposite the restaurant was a music school and we spent some time listening to the students practising Chinese songs. And I climbed three sets of stairs to the Tin How Temple, a small peaceful area crammed with colourful artefacts and laden with the smell of incense.
Traditional food at the Pot Sticker Restaurant
A colourful mural on the side of a building
The Dragon Gate at the entrance to Grant Street
We left by the Dragon Gate, a huge archway at the end of Grant Street. This was once the red light district but as we looked back at the bustling street, full of tourists and shoppers, it was hard to imagine the area’s impoverished past.
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Gorgeous photos! I visited San Francisco's Chinatown many years ago, and appreciate the reminder of its vibrant beauty. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Thanks – I was quite overwhelmed by San Francisco generally. I hadn't expected it to be so vibrant.
Wow!
I love your selection of pictures, it looks amazing!
Oh man, that food looks great! I have not been there in years. I feel like I always get lost in there…
I think it was the best Chinese food I've had outside of Asia. A great place.
Karen, you're making me hungry. Loved your story and pics.
I love the photo of the pink/red paper lanterns. We've been to Chinatown in SF many times and we've always enjoyed our time. There is SO much to see and SO much to eat! Delightfully yummy and the fortune cookie factories are fun to tour as well.
We have visited Chinatowns in many cities, usually in search of Dim Sum, but San Francisco's is the best in our opinion. Thanks for the reminder!
I love visiting Chinatown. San Francisco is one of my favorite cities. Thanks for the post!
Great photos! I felt like I was walking with you~
What colorful photos of Chinatown and San Francisco has one of the best. We walked through London's Chinatown last week, but didn't have time to eat some of their famous dishes (darn).
I always try to get to Chinatown whenever I'm in London. It's not as big as SF but there are lots of great places to eat. You'll have to go back!
We're recalling the same travels! We too just wrote about San Francisco :-). Anyway, San Fran's Chinatown is a real thriving Chinatown, as you say… Great photos you took!
I also had a chance to visit San Francisco's Chinatown a few months ago. I was on a walking tour, which also took us to some of the alleys. Most cities on the west coast of the US have Chinatowns—and often a distinct Korea town or pockets housing immigrants from other Asian countries. Actually, east coast cities also have Chinatowns—-there are big ones in New York and Washington, D.C. and we even have a decent size one in Philadelphia. I'm glad you had a chance to visit Chinatown in San Francisco. It is definitely an important part of that city's fabric.
Its fascinating the way China towns manage to pop up in so many major cities – Here in Australia we have a very vibrant Chinatown in my state capital Brisbane – and there's a stunning Chinatown I've visited too in Sydney – So why not other nationality towns within cities?
I've often wondered that. Although there was also a Japantown in SF and Suzanne (in the comment above) says that some US towns also have Korea towns.
I love the colours in San Francisco's Chinatown. I'm glad the area has been rebuilt. A great place to visit.
Great article Karen. San Francisco is on my bucket list under "cities I would move to" since my teens. 🙂
Thanks. Since I visited SF it has moved onto my list of "best cities in the world".
San Francisco has long been one of my favorite cities in the US to visit. Haven't been through Chinatown for many years but your post and your beautiful photos have inspired me to include a stroll on our next visit in the Fall. Thank you!
I can never get enough of San Francisco's Chinatown. Thanks for reminding me of how interesting it is. I have a whole section about it on my website that you might enjoy, http://berkeleyandbeyond.com/Northern-California/San-Francisco/Attractions/Historical-Sites/Chinatown/chinatown.html
Great photos, it's always fun to visit chinatown neighbourhoods in different cities. Thanks for sharing.
I love the jumbled, colorful feeling of SF's Chinatown which you have captured so well with your photos.
I only spent a few days in SF, way too short! Chinatown looks like another world!!!
These photos are great Karen – so many vibrant colours. I think it's funny that China is always the main one of very few nations which always have a town in large cities. Great fun to walk through though!
I haven't visited the City by the Bay yet but would love to taste my way through the different neighborhoods
I love Chinatowns. Lovely bright place and pictures!
San Francisco's Chinatown is iconic, I'd love to eat there!
When I was in Chinatown I enjoyed walking around but unfortunately I missed the floor plaque. Maybe I was looking too much up to all the lanterns instead on the pavement. 🙂
Great report from an amazing Chinatown..! That's the best when an area is not just a showcase for tourists but when people actually live there and use all the amenities. Damn, now I want to go to SF even more! 🙂