Eating dim sum is one of both visitors' and locals' favorite experiences in Chinatown. See Sunset Chinatown, Little Italy and SF Waterfront Tour for more info and booking.Ĭhinatown Dim Sum. There's a popular evening Segway tour that takes you through Chinatown after dark, as well as North Beach, the Embarcadero and Fisherman's Wharf.
Find information on a free guided tour, plus a self-guided walking tour I put together, with a map that you can download and use to head out on your own. See food tour for info and booking.įor more information on walking tours in Chinatown, see my page on the Chinatown tours.
This walking tour focuses exploring the back streets of Chinatown, with lots of tastings of authentic Chinese delicacies, exploring Chinese crafts, plus a full lunch.
See walking tour for more info and booking.Ĭhinatown Culinary Tour. There's also an option for a 9-course dim sum lunch. This tour takes you through the neighborhood, covering the temples, markets, history, alleyways, fortune cookie factory, and more. Here are a couple of guided tours that have been rated highly by visitors:Ĭhinatown Walking Tour. There's a lot of interesting history here, so it can be easier to have someone take you around and tell you the story of a place without having to look it all up yourself and find all those locations. Is it better to take a tour, or explore on your own? The answer depends on one's traveling preferences. He also appeared on The Bachelor in 2010. He lists Frank Sinatra, and Clint Eastwood as former clients, and played the erhu in the film Pursuit of Happiness (starring Will Smith).
The instrument is an erhu, also used in classical Chinese orchestras the violin-like sound is produced by vibration of the snake skin stretched across the sound box.
The man playing the two-stringed instrument in the photo below is the barber Jun Yu, who is sitting outside his small barbershop in Ross Alley. And Chinatown is a neighborhood where it's safe to go anywhere. The side streets are less touristy and give more of a feeling of authentic Chinese culture you really will feel like you're not in the U.S. Chinatown is a great place to meander, heading up this street, or down that alley. Sometimes the best travel experiences are the unplanned ones. Mary's Square, on California, between Grant and Kearny. There is an interesting steel statue of him in St. He was in hiding from assassins sent by the Manchu rulers and had a secret office at #36 Spofford Street. Sun Yat Sen, the leader of China's revolution that overthrew the last imperial dynasty in 1911. Spofford Alley was once the residence of Dr. It's a pleasant place to eat, and the alley is lined with mah jong parlors. Hang Ah Street (an alley, actually, "Fragrance Alley", named for the perfumeries that used to be there) runs between Sacramento and Clay Streets and has the oldest dim sum restaurant in Chinatown, the Hang Ah Tea Room, one of my favorites. Sun Yat Sen (founder of the Chinese Republic) says "All under heaven is for the good of the people". The gate is an authentic entry gate like those seen in Chinese towns, and was a gift from Taiwan in 1969. Auspicious dragons and koi fish decorate the gate, and two stone lions stand guard. This much-photographed Dragon Gate is the official entrance into Chinatown on Bush Street, where Grant Avenue takes you into the heart of Chinatown. What are the best things to see and do in Chinatown? Here's a list of my recommendations: Best way? Do both! Highlights of Chinatown Others wander into the many interesting side streets and little alleys where the more authentic life of the community goes on. Many visitors stick to Grant Avenue, the picturesque tourist street, where most of the shops are. People explore Chinatown in different ways. About two-thirds of the residents live in single room, residential hotels. This is also one of the poorest areas of San Francisco the median income is around $20,000 a year (vs. The residents are almost all Chinese and often speak little English, being fairly recent arrivals. San Francisco's Chinatown is the most densely populated neighborhood west of Manhattan.