A Beautiful Walk Around San Francisco’s Chinatown

My afternoon in Chinatown began at the intersection of Clay and Stockton, the literal neighborhood pinpoint on both Uber and Google Maps. My goal was to explore a bit for a few hours before dinner – so why not choose this spot and see where it takes me?

Plus, I was traveling with my boyfriend, Ryan, who had never been a tourist in San Francisco before, so it made sense to see where our adventure would take us!

We took the downhill path on Clay Street and, literally, within a few steps, spied Hang Ah Street. More of a walkable alley than a road, Hang Ah was fairly empty save for a few back-of-shop doors and a basketball court just to its left. We were visiting toward the tail end of Mid-Autumn Festival, or the Chinese Moon Festival, so the alleyway showed us our first glimpse those famous traditional Chinese lanterns that Chinatown has become synonymous with. Strewn from the rooftops, it was a lovely introduction to our adventure.

We kept on down Clay Street, not sure where or when to turn left or right, until Waverly Place. We thought Hang Ah was beautiful, but Waverly Place completely stopped us in our tracks. I still remember the look I gave Ryan, turning to him completely gobsmacked and wide-eyed before grinning and taking off down the street with camera in-hand and him in-tow.

It was, of course, one of those magical moments that I’ve come to love over the course of my travels. And no, despite how it might sound, it had nothing to do with the former Disney channel show, Wizards of Waverly Place.

In this case, my magical travel moment first came as a feeling of surprise and wonder. The beautiful shops, restaurants, architecture and, of course, the strings of red lanterns drew me in. Walking down Waverly, we then heard the hum of wooden instruments coming from what appeared to be a music school just below Tin How Temple.

We crept toward to the door until we were close enough to silently stand and listen with our ears leaning inward toward the music. Even though I’d been to Chinatown before, there was something about this day, this street, this music and of course, the person I was traveling with who made it all the more special.

Soon enough, we doubled-back, crossing Clay Street and continuing down the other side of Waverly Place. We passed Mister Jiu’s, a Michelin Star Chinese American restaurant that I’d read about prior to our visit. We already had alternate dinner plans and the restaurant wasn’t open yet, so I told Ryan this was a spot we had to come back to San Francisco for!

Our Chinatown adventure came to a close where most visitors begin: at the Dragon’s Gate.

On our next San Francisco Chinatown visit, I can’t wait to dig into more culinary aspects of the neighborhood!