Chinatown Gate is located at the corner of Bush and Grant Street. This is not the only way to get into Chinatown. This entrance is where the tourist trap is.

There are many shops and restaurants in this section of Chinatown. The shops sell mainly decorative imports from China. Some of the shops sell a lot of junk items. (Need a backscratcher?)

As we continue up the hill on Grant Street you can see the oriental style of some of the buildings. The street lights, the people (mostly Chinese), and the general view of the area make you realize you are in a different culture.

The streets in Chinatown are all very narrow, I would not even attempt to take a car to this part of town, because you would never find a place to park. Chinatown can best be seen by walking around and looking into all the different shops.

This is Portsmouth Square, a little park that sits atop a parking garage. This is not the quietest park in the city, but it is interesting as a gathering place for Chinatown's old men, who perform tai chi, gamble over games of mahjong and Chinese cards. The wooden pagoda-style structures were placed here in 1990.

On July 9, 1846 navy lieutenant Washington Allon Bartlett came ashore at Clark's Point, along with sailors and marines from the sloop USS Portsmouth, came to this spot and claimed possession of Yerba Buena. The following January, Bartlett changed the name of Yerba Buena to San Francisco.

This is a view of the buildings on the other side of the park. These building are all part of the old Chinatown and not like the skyscrapers of downtown on the other side of the park..

Here's a little tip: You can get Chinese food all over the city, don't get stuck with higher prices in the tourist trap.

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