San Francisco

Sunset, May, 2004

Gateway to America for many and home to the largest Chinatown outside of Asia, San Francisco is a prism of cultures, many of them Eastern. Around every corner discover a new world. Grand museums and traditional neigborhoods live in harmony with gleaming skyscrapers. Begin your visit by walking through Chinatown's "Dragon's Gate."

To get acquainted with this charming district, packed with shops crammed with trinkets to fine antiques, family-style noodle bars, elegant Chinese restaurants, art galleries and museums, take a docent-conducted walking tour sponsored by the Chinese Culture Center. The "Historic Walk" stops at the Chinese Historical Society of America for an overview of the Chinese immigration story, and the popular "Culinary Walk" includes fish shops, a fortune cookie factory, Chinese grocery and herb shops, then culminates with a dim sum luncheon.

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San Francisco's Chinese New Year celebration is the largest celebration of its kind outside of Asia. It follows the lunar calendar so dates vary from year to year, but it's always a lively experience that ends with a parade filled with floats and colorful costumes, bands, acrobats, firecrackers and lion dances. The finale is a 201-foot dragon that seems to dance in the air. San Francisco's Vietnamese community also celebrates the lunar New Year, known as Tet, with a solemn but uplifting festival in the Tenderloin District. Families pay respect to ancestors, red envelopes with new dollar bills are given to children and, at the stroke of midnight, firecrackers are set off to welcome the New Year. It's a time of joy and hope in a bright new future.

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The heart of Japantown--or Nihonmachi--is Japan Center, a five-acre complex of hotels, shops, theaters, sushi bars and restaurants at Post and Buchanan Streets. It is crowned by a five-tiered pagoda, a symbol of eternal peace. You can find everything Japanese from embroidered kimonos to tea ceremony utensils. More than 12,000 San Franciscans of Japanese descent make their home here. On two weekends in April, immerse yourself in the excitement of the colorful Cherry Blossom Festival with its taiko drumming, martial arts, food and music. The Asian Art Museum, in its new home in the former Main Library, a 1917 Beaux Arts-style building, houses one of the largest Asian art collections in the Western world, spanning 6,000 years of Asian history.

Representing cultures throughout Asia, the museum also offers events from traditional Chinese lion dances to Mongolian butter sculpting. Upcoming exhibitions include Chinese landscapes and the art of the geisha. In Golden Gate Park, a lush green space in the midst of the city, you'll find one of the West's most charming Japanese Tea Gardens. Stop in at the teahouse for green tea and cookies.

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For more information on San Francisco's treasure of cultural experiences, visit www.SFArts.org.

RELATED ARTICLE: DON'T MISS:

* The Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center offers photography, film, music and dance; its special Asian Festival runs through May.

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* Mid-May, the Minsok Festival and Symposium celebrates Korean culture and heritage.

* June 12-13 brings the Fiesta Filipina to Civic Center Plaza.

* Explore the cultural contributions of the Pacific Rim at the Pacific Heritage Museum. "Symbolism and Hidden Meanings in Chinese Art" runs through August 28.

* Japantown celebrates its annual Summer Festival and Obon Odori July 24-25.

* San Francisco's weather in August can be glorious--a great time to enjoy the Aloha Festival at the Presidio on the 7th and 8th, and the Nihonmachi Street Fair (1) in Japantown on the 14th and 15th.

* On September 18-19, join the Chinese community for the traditional Autumn Moon Festival, complete with lion dancers (2) and firecrackers.

* The San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, held each March, is the largest festival dedicated to Asian American and Asian cinema in North America.