Gong Hei Fat Choi!

I’ve been wanting to go back to Chinatown to take photos for a long time. My friend and I decided to go there yesterday. This couldn’t have been more perfect timing as we just celebrated the Lunar New Year aka the Chinese New Year. Gong Hei Fat Choi!

But don’t get all crazy. There is no red envelope here… just a series of 24 photos that I thought well represented the neighborhood. There will be one more post with photos I took of some old sign, but I can’t decided whether it should get its own post or be mixed in with some other signs in the city. Oh well…

I always enjoy going back to Chinatown for several reasons. First, San Francisco has the biggest Chinatown outside of Asia. How cool is that? Second, this out-of-the-ordinary neighborhood was my beat when I was in school studying the art of reporting. I gotta say, it was hard. I didn’t and still don’t speak any Mandarin or Cantonese, and a lot of people there don’t speak enough English to be interviewed for articles. Anyway, if you want to take a look at my blog from back then, it’s right here.

Oh, and did I mention? I wrote an article for that blog about the Chinese Parade and its amazing floats. And the guy who makes them is not… Chinese…

I don’t know about you but when I think of Chinatown, I think of food (and weird food!), older people (lots of people!), Mahjong and tourists (not on Stockton… on Grant!).

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