Urban Hiking San Francisco, Part I: Chinatown

By Sally O'Neal

Mark Twain was said to have quipped, "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."

Some things haven't changed since the 1800s, and one of those is the general sweep of the weather in the "City By The Bay." Summers can indeed be cold and foggy, but the good news is that the "shoulder season" -- the months of October and November, and the months of February and March -- can be absolutely lovely! Here is the first in a series of my favorite urban hikes in San Francisco: Chinatown.

History/Background
Established in the 1840s, San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest and largest Chinatown in North America. It was the primary point of entry for the many Chinese who emigrated to the United States in the mid-1800s to work on the railroad system. As the population of the enclave grew, its residents established a strong residential, commercial, and political infrastructure, becoming in many ways a self-sustaining island within the city. While the many restaurants and retail shops do a brisk tourist trade, the area remains a vibrant Asian community. Today's Chinatown is home to over 100,000 residents.

Typical Chinatown street scene.

Walking Chinatown
It's easy to get a workout walking around San Francisco. The famously hilly streets and the large beckoning waterfront, coupled with the abysmal parking availability and difficulty of driving here make walking an attractive alternative for both fitness and practicality. But a walk in Chinatown is more of a feast for the senses than a cardiovascular experience. The entire "town" is just about a mile and one-third square. But the many attractions along the way mean that a two-mile walk can easily take a few hours. And it should, if you do it right. There's really no "right" way to approach the area except to say that Grant Avenue should probably be your north-south arterial and branch out on whatever side street strikes your fancy.

One Suggested Walk
A traditional starting place for a stroll through Chinatown (at least, since 1970, when this archway was dedicated) is the Dragon Gate at Grant and Bush. Head through the gate and north on Grant. Take in the street scene and poke your head in a few shops -- wares range from fine art and couture to outlandishly silly kitsch. At California Street, turn right and proceed one block to see the Old St. Mary's Cathedral (as opposed to the "new" one, an architectural darling across town at Gough and Geary). The first St. Mary's on this site was built in 1854. Contrary to popular lore, it survived the 1906 earthquake itself, but fell victim to the fires following the catastrophic quake. The church you see today is a century old, completed in 1909. It faces an open, grassy square featuring a sculpture of Sun Yat-Sen by noted artist Beniamino ("Benny") Bufano.

Dragon Gate entrance at Grant and Bush Street.

If you have any kind of an appetite at all, and your walk falls between the hours of 11 a.m. (10 a.m. on weekends) and 2:30 p.m., continue on California to Kearny Street and turn left, then proceed a block and a half to Commercial Street. Turn right and look for City View Restaurant at 662 Commercial, half a block up on your left. There are a plethora of dim sum restaurants in Chinatown, but if you want variety, cleanliness, speed, and fresh ingredients, you can't go wrong with the delicious and dependable fare at City View.

Stroll back down Commercial to Grant and head north again. From here, it's potluck to Jackson or Pacific, perhaps jogging west (left) to Stockton to make a loop of it. Waverly Place, a narrow two-block street that parallels Grant and Stockton between Sacramento and Washington, is worth a stroll for the unique, less-touristy shops and historic sites including Tin How, said to be the oldest Chinese temple in the U.S.

On your way back down Grant toward the entry gate, look for Eastern Bakery on your left just past Commercial Street. Opened in the 1920s, it is said to be the oldest Chinese bakery in the U.S. Shortly past the bakery, you'll find it hard to miss the impressive architecture of the Gold Mountain Sagely Monastery on the corner of Grant and Sacramento.

Author and cable car.

Getting There
The most fun way to get anywhere in San Francisco, of course, is via cable car. The Powell-Mason/Powell-Hyde cable car route travels north-south along Powell, just a block or two west of Stockton and Grant, respectively, the main north-south arterials of Chinatown.

The California cable car route travels east-west through the very heart of Chinatown, just two blocks north of the Chinatown gates at Bush and Grant and passing immediately in front of Old St. Mary's Cathedral. If you're taking Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into the city, the closest stop is Montgomery Street. Just walk a block and a half west on Post then turn right on Grant; the gates are only two blocks away. To combine the BART and cable car experience, take BART to the Powell Street station, ride north and disembark anywhere between Grant and Jackson.

Please read more about hking San Francisco in Part 2.

Sally O'Neal is an inveterate walker and hiker who made her home in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1979 to 1985 and visits the area frequently. She writes weekly for sportsmansguide.com.

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