Plan to tour this area and either pass by or go inside some of the places listed below. Will do some shopping, have lunch and look for photo ops.

So, what have I left out?

Anybody got any favorite shops, buildings or monuments, restaurants or cool things to do in this area. I'm thinking this is a half day activity?


Dragon-crested Gate
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
St. Mary's Square
Pacific Heritage Museum
Portmouth Square
Chinese Culture Center
Waverly Place
Chinese Historical Society
Kong Chow Temple

A bit dismayed at getting no responses.
Has this place lost much of its appeal to tourists?

Speaking only for myself, but the avalanche of SF: topics has about worn me out.
Chinatown is absolutely worth your time and has lost no appeal for the tourist.

Your Chinatown plan is just fine: walk, observe, shop, lunch. IMHO, that's a complete plan. It's not an area that requires heavy planning (other than a good map). A walking tour would be nice also - City Guides have the best.

Bardo, my intent was not to burden, wear out or piss people off.

Hoping for, but not demanding feedback. I also thought other folks going to SF might benefit from seeing what I was thinking of doing.

Maybe I have been too specific and frequent in posting. My bad for not keeping my excitement in check.

Gee. I don't think anyone is PO'ed. I'm certainly not (slightly weary, but that's my problem). Don't apologize, you have good reason to be excited. You're going to have a blast. BTW, how long will you be in the city??

Totally off topic, but don't miss breakfast at Dottie's True Blue Cafe in the Union Sq. neighborhood (if that's convenient. Hopefully early in your visit since you may decide on repeat visits. Best breakfast I've ever had worldwide.

Dotties True Blue Cafe
522 Jones St

bardo, we'll have six nights as it stands now. Not planning on renting a car.

Still debating exactly where to stay. I was going to post about that, but will containment myself until next weekend. I'll do some text searches for now.

And if you think you are tired of reading my newbie questions, I'm really getting burned out myelf from posting AND researching. But the more I read, the more I want to do and see. Time to downshift a bit.

I've never taken much of an oraganized approach to Chinatown, but one of my favorite tools for visiting cities is to use Frommer's walking tours (sorry Fodor's, but you don't measure up in this category). This should make sure you don't miss anything important.
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...029020033.html

Chat, I say this with no malcontent, but I think the problem is that you've posted all your questions on separate threads. You might want to repost them all and follow them on a single thread. However, with your approach, you may be more successful at having your thread ruined by the resident wacko.

Chinatown isn't very big. Just take a stroll and poke your head into the places that appeal to you. You should also take a look at Old St. Mary's Cathedral while you're there. There's an interesting museum/display of things pertaining to the 1906 earthquake in the nave.

You will get the most out of it, if you read some history before you come. I thought book "Disaster" about the earthquake was amazingly interesting. Also, read about the Barbary Coast and Gold Rush history. I fun novel is Daughter of Fortune, by Isabel Allende.

In Chinatown, do get off of Grant Street and poke into some of the side streets and alleys.

Another vote for the City Guides walking tour. I've been to Chinatown more times than I can count, but I learned so much from the tour and gained a much broader appreciation for the neighborhood. And you get a list of recommended places to have dim sum at the end. We took a morning tour and then had dim sum for lunch.

One of my favorite things to do in Chinatown is have dim sum--I always try to eat while down there, and any meal is fine with me, but dim sum reigns supreme in my book. I don't have a favorite place--usually just pick one while wandering--but there have been several suggested on other threads here, so you could try doing a search. Have fun!

I'll add one more comment: Chinatown is fun to just wander, so I would caution against running from spot to spot. Leave time for poking into the shops and snackbars...hey, I'm a planner, too, so I know where you're coming from, but we planners need to remember to chill every once in a while!

Okay. okay, I'll chill a bit and do some wandering along with the formal touring. And I won't dare do another post asking for lunch recommendations.

I did choose to do individual subject threads since hearing of some wacko that often jumps in on SF stuff and gets threads deleted or stopped from further posting.

Thanks for all the advice.

Chat, where are you coming from?

I gotta say that I loved the individual posts--that way I could respond to the items I knew about and ignore the ones I didn't.

Agree with kikahead - the separate posts made it easy for us "experts" to strut our stuff on the subjects we know, and I think it has saved you some hazy and vague general references to broader SF-based topics. And definitely gives you less exposure to the kook(s) who would discourage visitors at large to S.F.

Forgot to add,
You will be one very busy black cat!
We would enjoy hearing from you via afterwards via that revered Fodor's tradition, the Trip Report.

ChatNoir, this is the best advice I've seen for Chinatown and it comes from E, above:

"Chinatown is fun to just wander, so I would caution against running from spot to spot. Leave time for poking into the shops and snackbars..."

We try to get to SF each year and we spend at least half of our time in Chinatown. To steal the Texas tourism department's line: "It's like a whole other country." You're in for a real treat and I like your list (we've NEVER failed to hit the fortune cookie factory ourselves.)

For dim sum, I like New Asia on Pacific Ave. They have good food and really reasonable prices. It's a favorite in our family. They are open for lunch and dinner, but close in between, so if you want to eat there, go at "normal" meal times.

Boy, this one hung dormant for a bit and then really took on a life of its own. Got to try me some of that there Dim Sum!

Oh, Grasshopper. We are coming from Florida to escape the heat. Will we see any morning fog? I can hear those fog horns now from those great 1940's movies.

Hi Bardo, I posted this spring on the Washington board. You gave me great advice! It's good to "see" you here too! When I recognized your sign on, I felt like I was seeing an old friend...It may sound strange, but I guess in some ways this board is like a community...Anyway, We're planning a trip to San Francisco this summer. As always, I appreciate yours and everyone else's insight! Thanks!