San Francisco has its fair share of iconic landmarks: the prison island of Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and the world's 'crookedest' street, Lombard Street. But it's the city's diverse neighbourhoods that make it the cultural melting pot that it is. In just a few hours you can go from hanging with the tie-dye-wearing hippies of Haight-Ashbury to enjoying a Margarita in the Mission or digging into a good plate of traditional Italian spaghetti in North Beach. But there is no other neighbourhood that transports you to another continent in the same way as San Francisco's Chinatown.
San Francisco's Chinatown has the largest Chinese community outside of Asia and is the oldest in North America. It is home to approximately 15,000 Chinese, many of whom aren't fluent English speakers. It's the most densely populated area in California with all the population living within 20 blocks.
Wandering aimlessly through its busy streets and alleys you become immersed in an Asian microcosm with temples, pagoda roofs and teashops. The entrance to Chinatown is via an elaborate Dragon Gate on Grant Avenue and is a good place to start exploring. The gate is pagoda-style and decorated with fish, lions and dragons. It's considered the only authentic Chinatown Gate in North America, as old materials donated by the People's Republic of China were used. Just like similar gates in China, there are three passageways; two side ones for common folk and a large centre passageway for royalty.
Hidden down the quaint Ross Alley is The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. Established in 1962, it's the only fortune cookie bakery in San Francisco where they still make the cookies by hand. The shop is open to the public and you can stroll in to see the cookies being made. Two women operate the conveyor belt and fill the hot dough with the paper fortunes and then reshape them over a steel rod. It's a labour intensive factory and approximately 20,000 cookies are produced per day. You can buy a bag of 40 cookies for $3 and they charge you $1 to take a photo.
All over Chinatown are signs advertising free tea tasting and it can serve as a welcome break from pounding the pavement. I perched myself at the long wooden 'tea bar' of the Vital Tea Leaf, an ornately designed speciality tea shop. My tea tender focused mostly on the traditional types of teas; oolong, black, green and white. Her enthusiasm for tea was infectious and she generously poured many cups, explained how the leaves were grown and how best to prepare. After hearing I was from Ireland she frowned and expressed her disgust at the way we brew our tea using a tea bag and boiling water.
The Eastern Bakery is a good place to stop for a sweet snack. Established in 1927, it's the oldest Chinese bakery in the US. It has a shabby interior which doesn't reflect its baking standards. Apparently, their moon cakes are so good that they export them to China. Moon cakes are delicious small square cakes made from lotus seed paste, egg yolk and honey. They have Chinese symbols stamped on their surface, which were traditionally used as secret messages to arrange the rebellion in China against the Moguls in the 12th century.
For savoury meals, Chinatown is bursting with authentic Asian food at a reasonable price. It's hard to go too wrong, especially if you go to restaurants that are busy with locals. Recommended are the House of Nanking, New Moon, Chef Jia, Empress of China and Golden Flower Vietnamese Restaurant.
If you want to buy some San Francisco and Chinese tourist tat Chinatown is the place to go. Grant Avenue is lined with trinket stores selling plastic Buddhas and old-fashioned herbal shops, some of which still use an abacus to add up your total. The Chinatown Kite Shop is a great place to go for dragon kites and Chinese memorabilia. On Saturday the locals are out in force doing their shopping at the food stalls on Stockton Street. It's a busy affair with clogged streets and lots of shouting.
If you need a little quiet time away from the hustle of Chinatown there are churches and temples that provide refuge. The Old Saint Mary's Cathedral is a peaceful place and was the first Asian church in North America. It survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake but was burnt down a few days later by the fires that ravaged the city.
The Tin How Temple is the oldest Taoist temple in the United States. It was founded in 1852 but is now housed in a picturesque building from 1911. It was built in honour of the Goddess of Heaven, Sea and Sky to give thanks for the safe passage of the millions of emigrants who made their way to the US from China. One of its original functions was to provide social and political support to new immigrants. After climbing four flights of stairs you reach the temple, bathed in a sweet smell of incense and decorated in red Chinese lanterns. You can participate in an age-old ritual of the devotees and get your fortune told by shaking a container with divinity sticks. From the balcony outside you get a great view of the charming alley below, Waverly Place, which, for obvious reasons, is also called the 'Street of Painted Balconies'.
Urban Adventures offers a two-and-a-half-hour day tour, Teas, Temples and Beatnicks, of San Francisco's Chinatown from €33pp. For more information call: (01) 524 0071 or visit: www.urbanadventures.com
Deirdre Mullins
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