Chinatown, San Francisco, California
Encyclopedia
San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown
in North America
and the largest Chinese
community outside Asia
. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants
to the United States and North America. Chinatown is an active enclave that continues to retain its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. Popularly known as a "city-within-a-city", it has developed its own government, traditions, over 300 restaurants, and as many shops. There are two hospitals, numerous parks and squares, a post office, and other infrastructure. Visitors can easily become immersed in a microcosmic Asian world, filled with herbal shops, temples, pagoda roofs and dragon parades. In addition to it being a starting point and home for thousands of Chinese immigrants, it is also a major tourist attraction
— drawing more visitors annually to the neighborhood than the Golden Gate Bridge
.
has been traditionally defined by the neighborhoods of North Beach, and Telegraph Hill
areas as bound by Bush Street, Taylor Street, Bay Street, and the water.
Officially, Chinatown is located in downtown San Francisco, and overlaps five Postal ZIP Codes. It is within an area of roughly 1 mile long by 1.34 miles wide. The current boundary is roughly Montgomery Street
, Columbus Avenue
and The City's Financial District
in the East, Union Street
and North Beach
in the North all the way to its Northernmost point from the intersection of Jones Street and Lombard Street
in Russian Hill to Lombard Street
and Grant Avenue
(都板街) in Telegraph Hill. The Southeast is bounded by Bush Street with Union Square
.
(都板街), with the Dragon Gate (aka "Chinatown Gate" on some maps; in Bush St & Grant Ave, San Francisco, California 94108) on the intersection of Bush Street and Grant Avenue; St. Mary's Square with a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen; a war memorial to Chinese war veterans; and stores, restaurants and mini-malls that cater mainly to tourists. The other, Stockton Street (市德頓街), is frequented less often by tourists, and it presents an authentic Chinese look and feel, reminiscent of Hong Kong
, with its produce and fish markets, stores, and restaurants. Chinatown has smaller side streets and alleyways providing character.
A major focal point in Chinatown is Portsmouth Square
. Due to its being one of the few open spaces in Chinatown, Portsmouth Square bustles with activity such as T'ai Chi and old men playing Chinese chess
. A replica of the Goddess of Democracy
used in the Tiananmen Square protest
was built in 1999 by Thomas Marsh, and stands in the square. It is made of bronze and weighs approximately 600 lb (270 kg).
was at 100,574 residents. It is also one of the more working-class sections of the city, with neighborhood median household incomes averaging out at $42,153, though higher than the national average, is still lower than the citywide average income of $73,798.
because of limited English fluency. An increase in Cantonese-speaking immigrants from Hong Kong
and Mainland China
has gradually led to the replacement of the Hoisanese/Taishanese dialect with the standard Cantonese dialect. Note: In China, Hoisanese/Taishenese is known as "say yip wah", or 4 counties dialect. The major Cantonese dialect is called "sam yip wah", or 3 counties dialect, and is used primarily as the lingua franca
for the region. While the neighborhood continues to receive newer immigrants and maintains a lively and active character, suburban flight has left the neighborhood relatively poor, decrepit in many parts, and largely elderly.
and three more in its Sunset
districts, as well as a recently established one in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood. These outer neighborhoods have been settled largely by Chinese from Southeast Asia. There are also many suburban Chinese communities in the San Francisco Bay Area
, especially in Silicon Valley
, such as Cupertino
, Fremont
, and Milpitas
, where Taiwanese Americans are dominant. Despite these developments, many continue to commute in from these outer neighborhoods and cities to shop in Chinatown, causing gridlock on roads and delays in public transit, especially on weekends. To address this problem, the local public transit agency, Muni
, is planning to extend
the city's subway network
to the neighborhood via the new Central Subway
.
Unlike in most Chinatowns in North America
, ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam have not established businesses in San Francisco's Chinatown district, due to high property values and rents. Instead, many Chinese-Vietnamese – as opposed to ethnic Vietnamese
who tended to congregate in larger numbers in San Jose
– have established a separate Vietnamese enclave on Larkin Street in the heavily working-class Tenderloin district of San Francisco, where it is now known as the city's "Little Saigon
" and not as a "Chinatown" per se. As with historic Chinatown, Little Saigon plans to construct an arch signifying its entrance, as well as directional street signs leading to the community.
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San Francisco's Chinatown was the port of entry for early Hoisanese and Zhongshan
ese
. Chinese immigrants from the Guangdong
province of southern China
from the 1850s to the 1900s. The area was the one geographical region deeded by the city government and private property owners which allowed Chinese persons to inherit and inhabit dwellings within the city. The majority of these Chinese shopkeepers, restaurant owners, and hired workers in San Francisco Chinatown were predominantly Hoisanese and male. Many Chinese found jobs working for large companies seeking a source of labor, most famously as part of the Central Pacific
on the Transcontinental Railroad. Other early immigrants worked as mine workers or independent prospectors hoping to strike it rich during the 1849 Gold Rush
.
, racial tensions in the city boiled over into full blown race riots. In response to the violence, the Consolidated Chinese Benevolent Association or the Chinese Six Companies
, which evolved out of the labor recruiting organizations for different areas of Guangdong, was created as a means of providing the community with a unified voice. The heads of these companies were the leaders of the Chinese merchants, who represented the Chinese community in front of the business community as a whole and the city government. The anti-immigrant sentiment became law as the United States Government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act
of 1882 – the first immigration restriction law aimed at a single ethnic group. This law, along with other immigration restriction laws such as the Geary Act
, greatly reduced the numbers of Chinese allowed into the country and the city, and in theory limited Chinese immigration to single males only. Exceptions were in fact granted to the families of wealthy merchants, but the law was still effective enough to reduce the population of the neighborhood to an all time low in the 1920s. The exclusion act was repealed during World War II
under the Magnuson Act
in recognition of the important role of China as an ally in the war, although tight quotas still applied.
Not unlike much of San Francisco, a period of criminality ensued in some tongs
on the produce of smuggling, gambling and prostitution, and by the early 1880s, the population had adopted the term Tong war to describe periods of violence in Chinatown, the San Francisco Police Department
had established its so-called Chinatown Squad. One of the more successful sergeants, Jack Manion
, was appointed in 1921 and served for two decades. The squad was finally disbanded in August 1955 by Police Chief George Healey, upon the request of the influential Chinese World newspaper, which had editorialized that the squad was an "affront to Americans of Chinese descent".
The neighborhood was completely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake
that leveled most of the city.
Just before midnight, Waverly Place was empty and silent as hundreds of hushed spectators packed the roofs and balconies above and placed bets on the battle's final outcome. Two groups of men formed on opposite sides of the street. These boo hoo dow doy (hatchet sons) were soldiers of Chinatown's criminal tongs, whose violence and cruelty were reputed to match those found in Billy the Kid's Wild West or Al Capone's Chicago gangland. U.S. newspapers called them highbinders (named for the manner in which their braided queues were tied under their caps in order to avoid capture), and sensationalized their accounts of back-street turf battles, vandettas, and bold assassinations. The Suey Sings then attacked with the war cry "Loy gee, hai dai!" (Come on, you cowards!). In the ensuing 15-minute melee, knives and hatchets clashed until the police arrived. Three Kwong Ducks and one Suey Sing were among the dead. The rest, which included six wounded, escaped by rooftop and alleyway. The defeated Kwong Ducks compensated the Suey Sings as required, and apologized to Low Sing, who was to later marry his love, Kum How. Ming Long left for China, never to return.
Most tong wars began not from love triangles, but over turf battles concerning criminal enterprises. At the height of the criminal tongs during the 1880s and 1890s, roughly 20 to 30 tongs ran highly profitable gambling houses, brothels, opium dens, and slave trade enterprises in Chinatown. Overcrowding, segregation, graft, and the lack of governmental control contributed to conditions that sustained the criminal tongs from the 1870s to the early 1920s.
The highbinder tongs had considerable support structures and resources at their disposal, including small mazes of alleyways and connecting basements that created a labyrinthine network of passage ways and escape routes. Hatchet men who were being pursued could disappear into a building on one side of Chinatown and reappear on the other end, traveling entirely underground. Prior to the 1906 earthquake, various anti-vice laws were enacted in San Francisco, but through its system of graft, red-light districts rampant with prostitution, gambling, and drugs flourished.
Chinatown's isolation and compact geography intensified the criminal behavior that terrorized the community for decades despite efforts by the Six Companies and police to stem the tide. When the 1906 earthquake destroyed Chinatown's wooden tenements, it also dealt a death blow to the powerful tongs. Criminal tongs continued on until the 1920s, but after the earthquake legitimate Chinese merchants and a more capable police force under Capt. Jack Manion gained the upper hand. Stiffer legislation against prostitution and drugs that followed was the final nail in the coffin for the tongs, bringing an end to the darkest period in Chinatown's history.
neighborhood at the southern edge of the city, even further south in Daly City. Their plans failed as the Chinese, particularly with the efforts of Consolidated Chinese Six companies, the Chinese government, and American commercial interests reclaimed would then be absorbed into the financial district the neighborhood and convinced the city government to relent. Part of their efforts in doing so was to plan and rebuild the neighborhood as a western friendly tourist attraction. The rebuilt area that is seen today, resembles such plans.
Many early Chinese immigrants to San Francisco and beyond were processed at Angel Island, now a state park, in the San Francisco Bay
. Unlike Ellis Island in the East where prospective European immigrants might be held for up to a week, Angel Island typically detained Chinese immigrants for months while they were interrogated closely to validate their papers. The detention facility has been renovated in 2005 and 2006 under a federal grant. The repeal of the Exclusion act and the other immigration restriction laws, in conjunction passage of the War Brides Act
, allowed Chinese-American veterans to bring their families outside of national quotas, led to a major population boom in the area during the 1950s.
The end of the Vietnam War brought a wave of Vietnamese refugees of Chinese descent, who put their own stamp on San Francisco Chinatown.
There were areas where many Chinese in Northern California living outside of San Francisco Chinatown, could maintain small communities or even individual business, but except for Oakland, they did not set up any special town with shopping and restaurants. Nonetheless, the historic rights of property owners to deed or sell their property to whom was exercised in sufficient numbers to keep the Chinese community from spreading outside of its early development. However, the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional for property owners to deed their rights so that certain groups were excluded. These rulings allowed the enlargement of Chinatown and an increase of the Chinese population of the city. At the same time, the declining white population of the city as a result of White Flight
combined to change the demographics of the city. Neighborhoods that were once predominately white, such as Richmond District and Sunset District and in other suburbs across the San Francisco Bay Area
became centers of new Chinese immigrant communities. This included new immigrant groups such as Mandarin-speaking immigrants from Taiwan
who have tended to settled in suburban Millbrae
, Cupertino
, Milpitas
, and Mountain View
– avoiding San Francisco as well as Oakland entirely. This suburbanization continues today. With these changes came a weakening of the Tongs traditional grip on Chinese life. The newer Chinese groups often came from areas outside of the Tongs' control. As a result, the influence of the Tongs and criminal groups associated with them, such as the Triads, grew weaker in Chinatown and the Chinese community in general. However, the presence of the Triads remained significant in the immigrant community, and in the summer of 1977, an ongoing rivalry between two Triads erupted in violence and bloodshed, culminating in a shooting spree at the Golden Dragon Restaurant on Washington Street (華盛頓街). Five people were killed and eleven wounded. The incident has become infamously known as the Golden Dragon massacre
. The Golden Dragon closed in January 2006 because of a failed inspection of the restaurant, and is now the Imperial Palace Restaurant.
and Asian American
culture. Noted Chinese American writers grew up there such as Russell Leong
, to The Joy Luck Club
author Amy Tan
whose experiences growing up in the neighborhood formed the basis of the famous book and film
.
San Francisco's Chinatown is home to the well-known and historic Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (known as the Chinese Six Companies
), which is the umbrella organization for local Chinese family and regional associations in Chinatown. It has spawned lodges in other Chinatowns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Chinatown, Los Angeles
and Chinatown, Portland
.
such as food items like Chop Suey
while introducing and popularizing Dim Sum
to Western and American tastes, as its Dim Sum tea houses are a major tourist attraction. Many of its restaurants have been featured in many food television programs dealing with ethnic Chinese cuisine
such as Martin Yan
's Martin Yan - Quick & Easy
.
The Chinatown has served as a backdrop for several movies, television shows, plays and documentaries including such hits as The Maltese Falcon
, Big Trouble in Little China
, The Pursuit of Happyness
, The Presidio
, Flower Drum Song
and The Dead Pool
.
of San Francisco is a major community-based, non-profit organization established in 1965 to foster the understanding and appreciation of Chinese and Chinese American art, history, and culture in the United States. The Chinese Culture Center (CCC) opened in 1973 as CCF’s primary program site. The facilities of the Center, totaling 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²), include a 299-seat auditorium, a 2935 square feet (273 m²) gallery, book shop, classroom, and offices. Centrally located at the Hilton hotel on the third floor between Chinatown and the Financial District, the Center attracts a broad spectrum of audiences from the Chinese community, the city at large, and the greater Bay Area, as well as visitors from all over the country.
In its 45 years, CCC has played a pioneering role in introducing Chinese culture to the American public through exhibitions and public programming of a broad spectrum of Chinese traditional and contemporary artistic works in multiple disciplines: Visual Arts, Literature, Music and Theater.
Visual Arts- The CCC has produced over 100 groundbreaking exhibits that have evolved over time using various modalities, artists, and styles to capture a contemporary pulse. Today, the CCC features its annual “Xian Rui” (Fresh and Sharp) exhibition, and the “Present Tense” biennial series as well as regular exhibits and seminars open to the public throughout the year.
Public Programs – The CCC’s major annual public program is the Spring Festival Celebration, coinciding with the Lunar New Year. This 2-day event consists of music and dance performances, martial arts demonstrations and arts and crafts vendors. CCC also serves as a performing arts presenter, and in its recent history has instated annual musical events, including the Chinatown Music Festival and Winter Concert.
Education - The CCC holds regular language and culture classes on a quarterly basis, and continues to prioritize cultural exchange with China as part of its yearly curriculum. At the center, students can enroll in Mandarin language, music, and art classes, and the center also provides the wider community with opportunities to study martial arts and language in China several times throughout the year.
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and the largest Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
community outside Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
to the United States and North America. Chinatown is an active enclave that continues to retain its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. Popularly known as a "city-within-a-city", it has developed its own government, traditions, over 300 restaurants, and as many shops. There are two hospitals, numerous parks and squares, a post office, and other infrastructure. Visitors can easily become immersed in a microcosmic Asian world, filled with herbal shops, temples, pagoda roofs and dragon parades. In addition to it being a starting point and home for thousands of Chinese immigrants, it is also a major tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
— drawing more visitors annually to the neighborhood than the Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
.
Location
ChinatownChinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
has been traditionally defined by the neighborhoods of North Beach, and Telegraph Hill
Telegraph Hill, San Francisco
Telegraph Hill refers to a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location:...
areas as bound by Bush Street, Taylor Street, Bay Street, and the water.
Officially, Chinatown is located in downtown San Francisco, and overlaps five Postal ZIP Codes. It is within an area of roughly 1 mile long by 1.34 miles wide. The current boundary is roughly Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, in the United States.It runs about 16 blocks from the Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown, terminating at Market Street. South of Columbus Avenue, Montgomery Street runs through the heart of San Francisco's...
, Columbus Avenue
Columbus Avenue (San Francisco)
Columbus Avenue is a diagonal street that runs through the North Beach and Chinatown areas of San Francisco, California, from Washington and Montgomery Streets by the Transamerica Pyramid to Beach Street near Fisherman's Wharf.Avenue This street is home to several notable venues, such as Jack...
and The City's Financial District
Financial District, San Francisco, California
The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, that serves as its main central business district. The nickname "FiDi" is occasionally employed, analogous to nearby SoMa.-Location:...
in the East, Union Street
Union Street
Union Street is a major street in the London Borough of Southwark. It runs between Blackfriars Road to the west and Borough High Street to the east. Southwark Bridge Road crosses in the middle....
and North Beach
North Beach, San Francisco, California
North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though...
in the North all the way to its Northernmost point from the intersection of Jones Street and Lombard Street
Lombard Street
There are several famous Lombard Streets:* Lombard Street , famed for its twists and turns* Lombard Street, London, leading from the Bank of England to Gracechurch Street...
in Russian Hill to Lombard Street
Lombard Street
There are several famous Lombard Streets:* Lombard Street , famed for its twists and turns* Lombard Street, London, leading from the Bank of England to Gracechurch Street...
and Grant Avenue
Grant Avenue
Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown district. It runs in a north-south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Francisco Street in the North Beach district...
(都板街) in Telegraph Hill. The Southeast is bounded by Bush Street with Union Square
Union Square, San Francisco, California
Union Square is a plaza of bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets in San Francisco, California. "Union Square" also refers to the central shopping, hotel, and theater district that surrounds the plaza for several blocks. The area got its name because it was once used for rallies and...
.
Geography
Within Chinatown there are two major thoroughfares. One is Grant AvenueGrant Avenue
Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown district. It runs in a north-south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Francisco Street in the North Beach district...
(都板街), with the Dragon Gate (aka "Chinatown Gate" on some maps; in Bush St & Grant Ave, San Francisco, California 94108) on the intersection of Bush Street and Grant Avenue; St. Mary's Square with a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen; a war memorial to Chinese war veterans; and stores, restaurants and mini-malls that cater mainly to tourists. The other, Stockton Street (市德頓街), is frequented less often by tourists, and it presents an authentic Chinese look and feel, reminiscent of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, with its produce and fish markets, stores, and restaurants. Chinatown has smaller side streets and alleyways providing character.
A major focal point in Chinatown is Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square is a one-block park in Chinatown, San Francisco, California, that is bounded by Kearny Street on the east, Washington Street on the north, Clay Street on the south, and Walter Lum Place on the west....
. Due to its being one of the few open spaces in Chinatown, Portsmouth Square bustles with activity such as T'ai Chi and old men playing Chinese chess
Xiangqi
Xiangqi is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi, Indian chess and janggi. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess in English. Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in China...
. A replica of the Goddess of Democracy
Goddess of Democracy
The Goddess of Democracy , and the Goddess of Liberty , was a 10-meter-tall statue created during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.The statue was constructed in only four days out of foam and papier-mâché over a metal armature...
used in the Tiananmen Square protest
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
was built in 1999 by Thomas Marsh, and stands in the square. It is made of bronze and weighs approximately 600 lb (270 kg).
Background
Chinatown is the most densely populated neighborhood in the city and one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the United States. Its estimated population in the 2000 census2000 Census
The following countries conducted a census of the general population in 2000:* Costa Rica, the ninth federal census, conducted at irregular intervals* Indonesia* United States, the 22nd decennial federal census...
was at 100,574 residents. It is also one of the more working-class sections of the city, with neighborhood median household incomes averaging out at $42,153, though higher than the national average, is still lower than the citywide average income of $73,798.
Immigration
Many working-class Hong Kong Chinese immigrants began arriving in large numbers in the 1960s and despite their status and professions in Hong Kong, had to find low-paying employment in restaurants and garment factories in ChinatownChinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
because of limited English fluency. An increase in Cantonese-speaking immigrants from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
has gradually led to the replacement of the Hoisanese/Taishanese dialect with the standard Cantonese dialect. Note: In China, Hoisanese/Taishenese is known as "say yip wah", or 4 counties dialect. The major Cantonese dialect is called "sam yip wah", or 3 counties dialect, and is used primarily as the lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
for the region. While the neighborhood continues to receive newer immigrants and maintains a lively and active character, suburban flight has left the neighborhood relatively poor, decrepit in many parts, and largely elderly.
Recent changes
Due to such overcrowding and poverty, other Chinese areas have been established within the city of San Francisco proper, including one in its RichmondRichmond District, San Francisco, California
The Richmond District is a neighborhood in the northwest corner of San Francisco, California.-Location:Lying directly north of Golden Gate Park, "the Richmond" is bounded roughly by Fulton Street to the south, Arguello Boulevard and Laurel Heights to the east, The Presidio National Park and Lincoln...
and three more in its Sunset
Sunset District, San Francisco, California
The Sunset District is a large neighborhood in the west-central part of San Francisco, California, United States.-Location:The Sunset District is the largest district within the city of San Francisco. Golden Gate Park forms the neighborhood's northern border, and the Pacific Ocean forms its...
districts, as well as a recently established one in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood. These outer neighborhoods have been settled largely by Chinese from Southeast Asia. There are also many suburban Chinese communities in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, especially in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
, such as Cupertino
Cupertino, California
Cupertino is an affluent suburban city in Santa Clara County, California in the U.S., directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 58,302 at the time of the 2010 census. Forbes...
, Fremont
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs...
, and Milpitas
Milpitas, California
Milpitas is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is a suburb of the major city of San Jose, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of State Route 237 and generally between Interstates 680 and 880 which run roughly north/south...
, where Taiwanese Americans are dominant. Despite these developments, many continue to commute in from these outer neighborhoods and cities to shop in Chinatown, causing gridlock on roads and delays in public transit, especially on weekends. To address this problem, the local public transit agency, Muni
San Francisco Municipal Railway
The San Francisco Municipal Railway is the public transit system for the city and county of San Francisco, California. In 2006, it served with an operating budget of about $700 million...
, is planning to extend
Central Subway
The Central Subway is an extension of the Muni Metro light rail system in San Francisco, California, from the Caltrain commuter rail depot at 4th and King streets to Chinatown. The subway is the second phase of the Third Street Light Rail Project...
the city's subway network
Muni Metro
Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway , a division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency...
to the neighborhood via the new Central Subway
Central Subway
The Central Subway is an extension of the Muni Metro light rail system in San Francisco, California, from the Caltrain commuter rail depot at 4th and King streets to Chinatown. The subway is the second phase of the Third Street Light Rail Project...
.
Unlike in most Chinatowns in North America
Chinatowns in North America
This is a list of Chinatowns located in Canada and the United States.-Edmonton:There are actually two Chinatowns in Edmonton: the newer Chinatown North and the older Chinatown South. Chinatown North stretches on 97 St from 107A Ave to 105 Ave and boasts mostly of shops, restaurants, and supermarkets...
, ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam have not established businesses in San Francisco's Chinatown district, due to high property values and rents. Instead, many Chinese-Vietnamese – as opposed to ethnic Vietnamese
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
who tended to congregate in larger numbers in San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
– have established a separate Vietnamese enclave on Larkin Street in the heavily working-class Tenderloin district of San Francisco, where it is now known as the city's "Little Saigon
Little Saigon
Little Saigon is a name given to any of several overseas Vietnamese immigrant and descendant communities outside Vietnam, usually in the United States...
" and not as a "Chinatown" per se. As with historic Chinatown, Little Saigon plans to construct an arch signifying its entrance, as well as directional street signs leading to the community.
Early history
Zhongshan
Zhongshan , also spelled Chungshan and historically known as Xiangshan or Siangshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province in southern China. Zhongshan, one of the few cities in China with an eponymous name, is named after Dr. Sun Yat-sen who was...
ese
. Chinese immigrants from the Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
province of southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
from the 1850s to the 1900s. The area was the one geographical region deeded by the city government and private property owners which allowed Chinese persons to inherit and inhabit dwellings within the city. The majority of these Chinese shopkeepers, restaurant owners, and hired workers in San Francisco Chinatown were predominantly Hoisanese and male. Many Chinese found jobs working for large companies seeking a source of labor, most famously as part of the Central Pacific
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
on the Transcontinental Railroad. Other early immigrants worked as mine workers or independent prospectors hoping to strike it rich during the 1849 Gold Rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
.
1870s–1906 earthquakes
With national unemployment in the wake of the Panic of 1873Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
, racial tensions in the city boiled over into full blown race riots. In response to the violence, the Consolidated Chinese Benevolent Association or the Chinese Six Companies
Chinese Six Companies
The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association is a historical Chinese Association established in various parts of the United States with large populations of Chinese...
, which evolved out of the labor recruiting organizations for different areas of Guangdong, was created as a means of providing the community with a unified voice. The heads of these companies were the leaders of the Chinese merchants, who represented the Chinese community in front of the business community as a whole and the city government. The anti-immigrant sentiment became law as the United States Government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act
Chinese Exclusion Act (United States)
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by Chester A. Arthur on May 8, 1882, following revisions made in 1880 to the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. Those revisions allowed the U.S. to suspend immigration, and Congress subsequently acted quickly to implement the suspension of...
of 1882 – the first immigration restriction law aimed at a single ethnic group. This law, along with other immigration restriction laws such as the Geary Act
Geary Act
The Geary Act was a United States law passed in 1892 written by California Congressman Thomas J. Geary. It extended the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 by adding onerous new requirements....
, greatly reduced the numbers of Chinese allowed into the country and the city, and in theory limited Chinese immigration to single males only. Exceptions were in fact granted to the families of wealthy merchants, but the law was still effective enough to reduce the population of the neighborhood to an all time low in the 1920s. The exclusion act was repealed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
under the Magnuson Act
Magnuson Act
The Magnuson Act also known as the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943 was immigration legislation proposed by U.S. Representative Warren G. Magnuson of Washington and signed into law on December 17, 1943 in the United States...
in recognition of the important role of China as an ally in the war, although tight quotas still applied.
Not unlike much of San Francisco, a period of criminality ensued in some tongs
Tong (organization)
The word tong means "hall" or "gathering place". In North America a tong is a type of organization found among Chinese living in the United States and Canada. These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity...
on the produce of smuggling, gambling and prostitution, and by the early 1880s, the population had adopted the term Tong war to describe periods of violence in Chinatown, the San Francisco Police Department
San Francisco Police Department
The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police, is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California...
had established its so-called Chinatown Squad. One of the more successful sergeants, Jack Manion
Jack Manion
Inspector John J. Manion, , San Francisco Police Department, was a veteran officer assigned by Chief Dan O'Brien in 1921 to head up the notorious 16-member Chinatown Squad which had been established in 1875....
, was appointed in 1921 and served for two decades. The squad was finally disbanded in August 1955 by Police Chief George Healey, upon the request of the influential Chinese World newspaper, which had editorialized that the squad was an "affront to Americans of Chinese descent".
The neighborhood was completely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
that leveled most of the city.
Highbinder Tong Wars
In 1875 at Waverly Place, a soldier of the Kwong Duck tong, Ming Long, attacked a rival, Low Sing with a hatchet in a feud over a slave girl. Low Sing survived this brutal assault and Suey Sing tong posted a chun hung challenge to the Kwong Ducks to either admit their wrongdoing, apologize and compensate for Low Sing's injuries, or face mortal combat in Waverly Place at midnight. Refusing to lose face, the Kwong Ducks dispatched their best hatchet men to the appointed site.Just before midnight, Waverly Place was empty and silent as hundreds of hushed spectators packed the roofs and balconies above and placed bets on the battle's final outcome. Two groups of men formed on opposite sides of the street. These boo hoo dow doy (hatchet sons) were soldiers of Chinatown's criminal tongs, whose violence and cruelty were reputed to match those found in Billy the Kid's Wild West or Al Capone's Chicago gangland. U.S. newspapers called them highbinders (named for the manner in which their braided queues were tied under their caps in order to avoid capture), and sensationalized their accounts of back-street turf battles, vandettas, and bold assassinations. The Suey Sings then attacked with the war cry "Loy gee, hai dai!" (Come on, you cowards!). In the ensuing 15-minute melee, knives and hatchets clashed until the police arrived. Three Kwong Ducks and one Suey Sing were among the dead. The rest, which included six wounded, escaped by rooftop and alleyway. The defeated Kwong Ducks compensated the Suey Sings as required, and apologized to Low Sing, who was to later marry his love, Kum How. Ming Long left for China, never to return.
Most tong wars began not from love triangles, but over turf battles concerning criminal enterprises. At the height of the criminal tongs during the 1880s and 1890s, roughly 20 to 30 tongs ran highly profitable gambling houses, brothels, opium dens, and slave trade enterprises in Chinatown. Overcrowding, segregation, graft, and the lack of governmental control contributed to conditions that sustained the criminal tongs from the 1870s to the early 1920s.
The highbinder tongs had considerable support structures and resources at their disposal, including small mazes of alleyways and connecting basements that created a labyrinthine network of passage ways and escape routes. Hatchet men who were being pursued could disappear into a building on one side of Chinatown and reappear on the other end, traveling entirely underground. Prior to the 1906 earthquake, various anti-vice laws were enacted in San Francisco, but through its system of graft, red-light districts rampant with prostitution, gambling, and drugs flourished.
Chinatown's isolation and compact geography intensified the criminal behavior that terrorized the community for decades despite efforts by the Six Companies and police to stem the tide. When the 1906 earthquake destroyed Chinatown's wooden tenements, it also dealt a death blow to the powerful tongs. Criminal tongs continued on until the 1920s, but after the earthquake legitimate Chinese merchants and a more capable police force under Capt. Jack Manion gained the upper hand. Stiffer legislation against prostitution and drugs that followed was the final nail in the coffin for the tongs, bringing an end to the darkest period in Chinatown's history.
20th century
During the city's rebuilding process, certain city planners and real-estate developers had hatched plans to move Chinatown to the Hunters PointHunters Point, San Francisco, California
Bayview-Hunters Point or The Bayview, is a neighborhood in the southeastern corner of San Francisco, California, United States. The decommissioned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is located within its boundaries and Candlestick Park is on the southern edge....
neighborhood at the southern edge of the city, even further south in Daly City. Their plans failed as the Chinese, particularly with the efforts of Consolidated Chinese Six companies, the Chinese government, and American commercial interests reclaimed would then be absorbed into the financial district the neighborhood and convinced the city government to relent. Part of their efforts in doing so was to plan and rebuild the neighborhood as a western friendly tourist attraction. The rebuilt area that is seen today, resembles such plans.
Many early Chinese immigrants to San Francisco and beyond were processed at Angel Island, now a state park, in the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. Unlike Ellis Island in the East where prospective European immigrants might be held for up to a week, Angel Island typically detained Chinese immigrants for months while they were interrogated closely to validate their papers. The detention facility has been renovated in 2005 and 2006 under a federal grant. The repeal of the Exclusion act and the other immigration restriction laws, in conjunction passage of the War Brides Act
War Brides Act
The War Brides Act was enacted in 1945 to allow spouses and adopted children of United States military personnel to enter the U.S. after World War II. The law temporarily lifted the ban on Asian immigration and the quotas on European immigration that had been established by the Immigration Act of...
, allowed Chinese-American veterans to bring their families outside of national quotas, led to a major population boom in the area during the 1950s.
1960s–present
In the 1960s, the shifting of underutilized national immigration quotas brought in another huge wave of immigrants mostly from Hong Kong, which changed San Francisco Chinatown from predominantly Say Yip Wah(Cantonese sub-dialect of Hoisan and 3 other towns)-speaking to Sam Yip Wah(major Cantonese)-speaking.The end of the Vietnam War brought a wave of Vietnamese refugees of Chinese descent, who put their own stamp on San Francisco Chinatown.
There were areas where many Chinese in Northern California living outside of San Francisco Chinatown, could maintain small communities or even individual business, but except for Oakland, they did not set up any special town with shopping and restaurants. Nonetheless, the historic rights of property owners to deed or sell their property to whom was exercised in sufficient numbers to keep the Chinese community from spreading outside of its early development. However, the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional for property owners to deed their rights so that certain groups were excluded. These rulings allowed the enlargement of Chinatown and an increase of the Chinese population of the city. At the same time, the declining white population of the city as a result of White Flight
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
combined to change the demographics of the city. Neighborhoods that were once predominately white, such as Richmond District and Sunset District and in other suburbs across the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
became centers of new Chinese immigrant communities. This included new immigrant groups such as Mandarin-speaking immigrants from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
who have tended to settled in suburban Millbrae
Millbrae, California
Millbrae is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, just west of San Francisco Bay, with San Bruno on the north and Burlingame on the south. The population was 21,532 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, Cupertino
Cupertino, California
Cupertino is an affluent suburban city in Santa Clara County, California in the U.S., directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 58,302 at the time of the 2010 census. Forbes...
, Milpitas
Milpitas, California
Milpitas is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is a suburb of the major city of San Jose, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of State Route 237 and generally between Interstates 680 and 880 which run roughly north/south...
, and Mountain View
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
– avoiding San Francisco as well as Oakland entirely. This suburbanization continues today. With these changes came a weakening of the Tongs traditional grip on Chinese life. The newer Chinese groups often came from areas outside of the Tongs' control. As a result, the influence of the Tongs and criminal groups associated with them, such as the Triads, grew weaker in Chinatown and the Chinese community in general. However, the presence of the Triads remained significant in the immigrant community, and in the summer of 1977, an ongoing rivalry between two Triads erupted in violence and bloodshed, culminating in a shooting spree at the Golden Dragon Restaurant on Washington Street (華盛頓街). Five people were killed and eleven wounded. The incident has become infamously known as the Golden Dragon massacre
Golden Dragon massacre
The Golden Dragon massacre took place in San Francisco, California, on September 4, 1977, inside the Golden Dragon Restaurant. At 2:40 AM a longstanding feud between two rival Chinese gangs, the Joe Boys and Wah Ching came to head when a botched assassination attempt by the Joe Boys at the Golden...
. The Golden Dragon closed in January 2006 because of a failed inspection of the restaurant, and is now the Imperial Palace Restaurant.
Cultural institutions
Chinatown's cultural character has also been a major focal point in Chinese AmericanChinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
and Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
culture. Noted Chinese American writers grew up there such as Russell Leong
Russell Leong
Russell Charles Leong is an academic editor, a professor, a writer, and Chen Taichiquan instructor. He is currently an adjunct professor English and Asian-American studies at the University of California at Los Angeles...
, to The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club is a best-selling novel written by Amy Tan. It focuses on four Chinese American immigrant families in San Francisco, California who start a club known as "the Joy Luck Club," playing the Chinese game of mahjong for money while feasting on a variety of foods...
author Amy Tan
Amy Tan
Amy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships. Her most well-known work is The Joy Luck Club, which has been translated into 35 languages...
whose experiences growing up in the neighborhood formed the basis of the famous book and film
The Joy Luck Club (film)
The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Oliver Stone and directed by Wayne Wang...
.
San Francisco's Chinatown is home to the well-known and historic Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (known as the Chinese Six Companies
Chinese Six Companies
The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association is a historical Chinese Association established in various parts of the United States with large populations of Chinese...
), which is the umbrella organization for local Chinese family and regional associations in Chinatown. It has spawned lodges in other Chinatowns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Chinatown, Los Angeles
Chinatown, Los Angeles
Chinatown in Los Angeles, California is located in the city's downtown area. Built in 1938, it is the second Chinatown to be constructed in Los Angeles. The original historic Chinatown was founded in the late 19th century, but was demolished to make room for Union Station, the city's major rail...
and Chinatown, Portland
Old Town Chinatown, Portland, Oregon
Old Town Chinatown is a neighborhood in the Northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods...
.
Autumn Moon Festival
San Francisco Chinatown's annual Autumn Moon Festival celebrates seasonal change and the opportunity to give thanks to a bountiful summer harvest. The Moon Festival is popularly celebrated throughout China and surrounding countries each year, with local bazaars, entertainment, and mooncakes, the pastry filled with sweet bean paste and egg. The festival is held each year during mid-September, and is free to the public.Fame of Chinatown
Chinatown restaurants are considered to be the birthplace of Westernized Chinese cuisineAmerican Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by many Chinese restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western tastes, and differs significantly from the original Chinese cuisine.-History:...
such as food items like Chop Suey
Chop suey
Chop suey is a Chinese dish consisting of meat and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery and bound in a starch-thickened sauce...
while introducing and popularizing Dim Sum
Dim sum
Dim sum refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates...
to Western and American tastes, as its Dim Sum tea houses are a major tourist attraction. Many of its restaurants have been featured in many food television programs dealing with ethnic Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
such as Martin Yan
Martin Yan
Martin Yan is a Chinese-born American chef and the host of the award-winning cooking show Yan Can Cook.- Early years and education :With ancestral roots in Kaiping, Guangdong, China, Yan was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, to a restaurateur father and a grocer mother, Yan began to cook at 12...
's Martin Yan - Quick & Easy
Martin Yan - Quick & Easy
Martin Yan – Quick & Easy is a Canadian culinary television program produced for Food Network Canada and hosted by Martin Yan. Yan has had other celebrity chefs on his show, like Christine Cushing....
.
The Chinatown has served as a backdrop for several movies, television shows, plays and documentaries including such hits as The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 Warner Bros. film based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and a remake of the 1931 film of the same name...
, Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 American martial arts comedy film directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell as truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi rescue Wang's green-eyed fiancee from bandits in San Francisco's Chinatown...
, The Pursuit of Happyness
The Pursuit of Happyness
Varèse Sarabande released the soundtrack on January 9, 2007, which included sixteen tracks.-Box office:The film debuted first at the North American box office, earning $27 million during its opening weekend and beating out heavily promoted films such as Eragon and Charlotte's Web...
, The Presidio
The Presidio (film)
The Presidio is a 1988 American mystery film directed by Peter Hyams, starring Sean Connery and Mark Harmon. Hyams also photographed. The score was composed by Bruce Broughton.-Plot:...
, Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song was the eighth stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. The piece opened in 1958 on Broadway and was afterwards presented in the West End and on tour...
and The Dead Pool
The Dead Pool
The Dead Pool is a 1988 American action thriller film about the manipulation of a "dead pool" game by a serial killer, whose efforts are foiled by a hardened detective. It is the fifth and final film in the Dirty Harry series, set in San Francisco, California and starring Clint Eastwood as...
.
Chinese Culture Center
The Chinese Culture CenterChinese Culture Center
The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, California, USA, is a major community-based, non-profit organization established in 1965 to foster the understanding and appreciation of Chinese and Chinese American art, history, and culture in the United States.The facilities of the Center, totaling ,...
of San Francisco is a major community-based, non-profit organization established in 1965 to foster the understanding and appreciation of Chinese and Chinese American art, history, and culture in the United States. The Chinese Culture Center (CCC) opened in 1973 as CCF’s primary program site. The facilities of the Center, totaling 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²), include a 299-seat auditorium, a 2935 square feet (273 m²) gallery, book shop, classroom, and offices. Centrally located at the Hilton hotel on the third floor between Chinatown and the Financial District, the Center attracts a broad spectrum of audiences from the Chinese community, the city at large, and the greater Bay Area, as well as visitors from all over the country.
In its 45 years, CCC has played a pioneering role in introducing Chinese culture to the American public through exhibitions and public programming of a broad spectrum of Chinese traditional and contemporary artistic works in multiple disciplines: Visual Arts, Literature, Music and Theater.
Visual Arts- The CCC has produced over 100 groundbreaking exhibits that have evolved over time using various modalities, artists, and styles to capture a contemporary pulse. Today, the CCC features its annual “Xian Rui” (Fresh and Sharp) exhibition, and the “Present Tense” biennial series as well as regular exhibits and seminars open to the public throughout the year.
Public Programs – The CCC’s major annual public program is the Spring Festival Celebration, coinciding with the Lunar New Year. This 2-day event consists of music and dance performances, martial arts demonstrations and arts and crafts vendors. CCC also serves as a performing arts presenter, and in its recent history has instated annual musical events, including the Chinatown Music Festival and Winter Concert.
Education - The CCC holds regular language and culture classes on a quarterly basis, and continues to prioritize cultural exchange with China as part of its yearly curriculum. At the center, students can enroll in Mandarin language, music, and art classes, and the center also provides the wider community with opportunities to study martial arts and language in China several times throughout the year.
See also
- 49-Mile Scenic Drive49-Mile Scenic DriveThe 49-Mile Scenic Drive in San Francisco highlights many of the city's major attractions and historic structures.Opened on September 14, 1938 as a promotion for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, it...
- List of streets and alleys in Chinatown, San Francisco
Further reading
- Chinn, Thomas W. Bridging the Pacific: San Francisco Chinatown and its People. Chinese Historical Society of America, 1989. ISBN 0-9614198-3-0, ISBN 0-9614198-4-9 PB
- Tsui, Bonnie. American Chinatown: A People's History of Five Neighborhoods, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4165-5723-4 Official website
External links
- San Francisco Chinatown
- Chinese Cultural Center
- America's Chinese communities shifting to Mandarin - A Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper article on the changing dynamic of Chinatown.
- What Is the Future for San Francisco's Chinese Matriarchs? Pueng Vongs, Pacific News ServicePacific News ServicePacific News Service is a nonprofit media organization founded in 1969 by Franz Schurmann, the historian, and Orville Schell, a noted author, journalist and Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley...
. 2005. - San Francisco Chinatown Events
- San Francisco Chinatown Visitors Guide
- Chinatown history, from the University of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
- History of San Francisco Chinatown