Chinatown
in San Francisco is the oldest Chinatown in U.S. and the largest one in North
America. Chinatown lies within the boundaries of California street to Broadway
and Kearny to Stockton street in San Francisco. It consists of Chinese temples,
art, culture, shopping areas, events and much more. It gives the feeling of
being in one of the markets of Hong Kong. San Francisco is home to second
largest community of Chinese in the United States which come here for shopping
and dining mainly on weekends. It is the biggest and most popular center of
Chinese activities outside China and is one of the most visited attraction of
San Francisco. It is a residential area with authentic markets and inexpensive
dining and fast food areas. In reality, there are two Chinatowns, one is owned
by the locals and the other is for the tourists, somehow, the two overlap each
other, drawing millions of tourists each year. Chinatown is said to be drawing
more tourists than the Golden Gate Bridge making it a must see attraction of San
Francisco.
The
popularity of Chinatown mainly lies in its inexpensive and unique merchandise
and food that is not found any place else. The most popular street is the Grant
Avenue which is one of the oldest streets of San Francisco and runs eight blocks
through Chinatown. It is full of cheap and Kitschy plastic Buddhas that are
great souvenirs. One of the most interesting part of Chinatown is the open
market on Stockton street which is not to be missed in order to get the real
feel of being in China. It is best to go in the day time when all the shops are
open even though it has a different beauty at night. Most popular Events at Chinatown
"Autumn Moon Festival" also known as "Mid Autumn festival":
This festival takes place in September. The festival is full of entertainment for children and adults consisting of martial arts, acrobats, Chinese opera, karaoke, music, dance, youth talent contest and much more
Chinese New Year:
This is a very glamorously celebrated festival by the Chinese people and is one of the largest festivals of San Francisco. It is a two week celebration where the surrounding area is decorated in red banners.
Popular Sights of Chinatown
Chinatown Gate
This is a gloriously decorated dragon gate that marks the entry to Grant Avenue's Chinatown. It is a prominent sight that distinguishes it from the surrounding area and helps to secure the status of Chinatown.
Golden
Gate Fortune Cookie Factory:Some 20,00 fortune cookies are hand made here each day. Though there are other fortune cookie bakeries in the city, this is the only one where the cookies are still made by hand in the old way. The factory is open for visitors, tourists can watch the cookies being made and can purchase a bag of 40 cookies for $3. The factory is open every day and there is no admission fee.
Chinatown also has several temples, three of them are located at 'street of painted balconies'. It also has a lot of pagoda-roofed buildings, as well as beautifully decorated lamp posts and phone booths that are in Chinese style. The best way to go to Chinatown is by taxi or bus or simply walk down since parking is unavailable. On an average, most people like to spend 2 to 3 hours in Chinatown. A visit to San Francisco is incomplete without a visit to Chinatown. Guided tours are also available to explore it.
