Ribbons

Covering almost 24 square blocks, San Francisco’s Chinatown is a vibrant, bustling community, attracting more visitors each year than the Golden Gate Bridge. Today, Chinatown ranks as one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia, and its history reflects the continuity of both tradition and cultural values. 

In the mid-1840s, China’s defeat in the Opium War led to widespread famine and social unrest, encouraging thousands to immigrate to America. Most immigrants hailed from Guangdong, a coastal province along China’s southern edge (Chinn, Thomas W. Bridging the Pacific: San Francisco Chinatown and its People. Chinese Historical Society of America, 1998). Some sought fortune in the California Gold Rush, while others worked as farm hands in California valleys, or labored to expand the transcontinental railroad. As immigration increased, and as racist discrimination encouraged opportunists away from mining towns, these new Chinese Americans settled around Portsmouth Square, a one-block plaza not far from San Francisco’s bustling wharfs. Soon, Chinese-owned laundries, fruit stands, florists, theaters, and boarding houses brought life to the expanding neighborhood. In 1853, the local press aptly dubbed this vibrant community “Chinatown” (“The Story of Chinatown.” PBS).

Reaction to Chinese settlement was mixed among white Americans; some, like San Francisco mayor John W.