A few of the districts that the author has
visited are listed below. This is only a small selection of districts
located in San Francisco.
Chinatown is the largest home to those of Chinese ancestry outside of China and Hong Kong.
China town can be entered merely a few blocks from the main Union Square
shopping district. This cultural delight spans a length of 16 square blocks. Grant Avenue is the main street
through town. Along this street you will see many temples, tourist shops, tea rooms and
Chinese grocery stores. I enjoy wandering in China town, especially down the back allies
away from the tourists. It is away from the main streets that you are able to truly get a
feel for Chinatown. It is as if you were in a foreign country. Very few people are
speaking English and the markets contain some truly exotic fruits and vegetables. At the Xuong Market near Grant Street I was able to purchase many small packages of food ranging
from dried oysters, to seaweed, to fresh shrimp. This food contributed greatly to my
Chinese cooking for the next several weeks.
The "real Chinatown" is where all the fruit and vegetable markets are
located - along Stockton street near the corner of Broadway - spanning
both directions of Stockton street for a few blocks. Chinese is the most
common language you will hear spoken in this area and very few tourists
will be present. All the signs are in Chinese. In the mid to late summer
a great variety of tropical fruits including durian, logans, leeches,
and jackfruit are sold here.
In this area, free parking is available above the Stockton tunnel on
Broadway - its where you take tourists when you want to scare them. Its
a dead end death trap for those who aren't comfortable parking on one of
the steepest hills in San Francisco. You have to park sideways and when
you get out of the car on the uphill side, it can be a real struggle to
open the door!
The Chinese Culture Center located on the 3rd floor of the Holiday Inn is a great place
for finding information about Chinatown and viewing Chinese art. For more information call
PHONE NUMBER (415) 986-1822. They are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am until 4pm
and then again on Sundays from noon until 4pm. Admission is FREE.
The Chinese Historical Society of America is located at 650 Commercial Street. They
document the history of the Chinese in San Francisco. They are open Tuesday and Friday
from noon until 4pm. Admission is FREE but donations are accepted. For more information
call PHONE NUMBER (415) 391-1188.
The Financial District is located in the downtown area. You are lucky if you see the sun
in this part of town. The tall buildings tower above everything and you feel like you are
in a forest of tall trees. On weekdays the most common scene you will see are business
people dressed in their finery walking from one place to another.
The Haight Ashbury is well worth a trip if you want to see an area that is unlike anything
that you have ever seen. Many homeless, young and old are lounging around on the streets.
Colorful dress is common. Tie-die shirts and pants are the norm. There are many small
cafes and bookstores located here. The place has a feel of drugs, extreme loneliness,
emptiness, and a lot of searching for something that we were not able to put our fingers on.
Many young people are wandering around with vacant empty stares on their faces. There are
some good stores that sell a lot of inexpensive jewelry here.
The Marina district is located near the water near Marina Blvd.
This are was severely damaged during the Loma Prieta earthquake in
1989. The reason for this is that most of the Marina is built on fill
soil. When an earthquake strikes this soil takes the consistency of
Jell-O and liquefaction occurs. This district is mostly residential
but there are several nice shops and restaurants here.
North Beach was and to a lesser extent still is an Italian
community. In recent years the influence of neighboring Chinatown has
advanced into North Beach especially down Stockton Street. However, there is still a
good mix of trendy Italian restaurants
here. When I have eaten at several of the small cafes I have heard
people speaking Italian. A delicious delight that is a specialty from
Italy is a bread called Foccacia. This is a flat bread that is
slightly oily but is very flavorful depending on which of the four
flavors that you choose. There is one business that specializes in
producing this bread. This is all that they produce. They make four
different types. One is raisin (my personal favorite) plain, pizza,
and onion. This store called Liguria Bakery is only open on the weekdays and is located on
the corner of the opposite block from where famous Fior D' Italia
restaurant used to be located until a fire in the wee hours of the
morning caused them to move over to Mason Street. See the
Restaurant section for more
information about these two places. North Beach is also home to various parks and quaint
churches.
Twin Peaks are two small hills (actually the tallest hills in
The City) that afford great panoramic views. The homes up here are also worth seeing. Take Market Street
in a south west direction to
this part of San Francisco. Its worth driving up to the top of Twin
Peaks to look over the city - and the Bay. Absolutely stunning views can
be seen of The City and on a clear day of the East Bay as well. Bring a
coat as when the fog is rolling in it can be quite windy and chilly. One
pay toilet is available on the top with ample parking - although on busy
summer evenings you may have to wait for parking.
