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California sea lions live on the western coast of North America from the Baja California peninsula in Mexico to British Columbia. These semi-aquatic mammals feed on fish, squid, and shellfish. They are generally found in open water, where they prefer to fish, but are sometimes found in rivers near the coast as well.

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California sea lions live on the western coast of North America from the Baja California peninsula in Mexico to British Columbia. These semi-aquatic mammals feed on fish, squid, and shellfish. They are generally found in open water, where they prefer to fish, but are sometimes found in rivers near the coast as well.

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Sea Lions of San Francisco | United States of Animals

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North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's "Little Italy", and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It is still home to many Italian restaurants today, though many other ethnic groups currently live in the neighborhood. It was also the historic center of the beatnik subculture. Today, North Beach is one of San Francisco's main nightlife districts as well as a residential neighborhood populated by a mix of young urban professionals, families and Chinese immigrants connected to the adjacent Chinatown.

The American Planning Association (APA) has named North Beach as one of ten "Great Neighborhoods in America".

North Beach is bounded by the former Barbary Coast, now Jackson Square, the Financial District south of Broadway, Chinatown to the southwest of Columbus below Green Street, Russian Hill to the west, Telegraph Hill to the east and Fisherman's Wharf at Bay Street to the north.

Main intersections are Union and Columbus, the southwest corner of Washington Square, Grant Avenue and Vallejo Street.

The somewhat compact layout of the neighborhood consists of apartments, duplexes, and Victorian homes dating from the 1920s, when residents rebuilt the neighborhood from its complete destruction after the earthquake and fire of 1906.

Originally, the city's northeast shoreline extended only to what is today Taylor and Francisco streets. The area largely known today as North Beach was an actual beach, filled in with landfill around the late 19th century. Warehouses, fishing wharves, and docks were then built on the newly formed shoreline. Due to the proximity of the docks, the southern half of the neighborhood south of Broadway was home of the infamous Barbary Coast.

Following its reconstruction after the 1906 earthquake, a large number of Italian immigrants created the Italian character of the neighborhood that still exists. Prominent Italian Americans that came from the neighborhood include baseball legend Joe DiMaggio who grew up in the neighborhood and briefly returned to live there with his wife Marilyn Monroe during the 1950s, as well as former San Francisco mayor and politician Joseph Alioto plus others from the prominent Alioto family.

During the 1950s, many of the neighborhood's cafes and bars became the home and epicenter of the Beat Generation and gave rise to the San Francisco Renaissance. The term "beatnik" originated from the scene here and was coined in a derogatory fashion by famed San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen. Many of that generation's most famous writers and personalities such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Neal Cassady lived in the neighborhood. Another poet from this generation, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, founded the City Lights Bookstore that still exists today on the corner of Broadway and Columbus as an official historic landmark and serves as one of the main focal points of this generation.

During the 1960s a notable night spot was The Committee, an improvisational theatre group founded by alumni of The Second City in Chicago. The Committee opened April 10, 1963 at 622 Broadway in a 300-seat cabaret theater.

In the 1970s and 1980s Broadway was the location of many live music clubs, like the Stone, and a punk rock club called the Mabuhay Gardens.

Since the 1980s, and much like Manhattan's Little Italy, due to a decrease in emigration from Italy and gentrification, the neighborhood has seen its native Italian American population rapidly shrink, while neighboring Chinatown has been rapidly expanding north into the neighborhood south of Broadway and along Stockton Street causing a major demographic shift to a mix of mostly Chinese and young professional population, although some, albeit very few, Italian Americans remain.

Paul Kantner was living in North Beach in an apartment unit above Al's Attire at the corner of Grant Avenue and Vallejo Street at the time of his death, and was often a patron of nearby Cafe Trieste.

Attractions and characteristics

The North Beach Festival street fair on Grant Avenue and Columbus Avenue usually held on Father's Day weekend in June is one of the city's largest. It is also considered one of the nations oldest street fairs.

The neighborhood also hosts a large Columbus Day/Italian American heritage day parade along Columbus Avenue to San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Population

The neighborhood still retains an Italian character with many Italian restaurants, cafes, and bakeries that line Columbus Avenue and Washington Square.

Religious institutions and sites

The National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi, the city's namesake, is located on Vallejo Street.

Known as "The Italian Cathedral of the West", Saints Peter and Paul Church is located on the north side of Filbert Street in front of Washington Square. Joe DiMaggio married his first wife there, and came for photos after his marriage to Marilyn Monroe. Saints Peter and Paul is considered a San Francisco landmark and an emblematic tie to the neighborhood's Italian American past.

Secular institutions and sites

An alleyway between Columbus and Grant Avenues is named for Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac, who once lived there and frequented the famous City Lights Bookstore on the corner of Columbus and Broadway as well as the numerous nearby bars and coffee shops.

Broadway east of Columbus Avenue still serves as one of the city's main nightclub districts and offers restaurants, blues clubs, nightclubs, and jazz clubs.

The Academy of Art University has at least one building in the area, across the street from Pier 39.

The San Francisco Art Institute is located in the northern end of North Beach, on Russian Hill.

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North Beach, San Francisco Facts for Kids

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North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's "Little Italy", and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It is still home to many Italian restaurants today, though many other ethnic groups currently live in the neighborhood.

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Seward Street Slides in San Francisco I Science in the City I Exploratorium

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Google Maps: A map of San Francisco showing the Seward Slides located in Noe Valley 

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The Golden Gate: Building an Impossible Bridge

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The Japanese Tea Garden ( Japanese: 日本茶園) in San Francisco, California, is a popular feature of Golden Gate Park, originally built as part of a sprawling World's Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. Though many of its attractions are still a part of the garden today, there have been changes throughout the history of the garden that have shaped it into what it is today.

The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, this complex of many paths, ponds and a teahouse features plants and trees pruned and arranged in a Japanese style. The garden's 3 acres contain sculptures and structures influenced by Buddhist and Shinto religious beliefs, as well as many elements of water and rocks to create a calming landscape designed to slow people down.

The Japanese Tea Garden began as the Japanese Village and Tea Garden at the 1894 World's Fair. It was built by Australian born George Turner Marsh, who hired Japanese craftsmen to construct the site. After the close of the fair, Marsh sold his concession to the city of San Francisco for $4,500. Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant and gardener, was then hired to manage the garden. He personally oversaw the modification of the temporary Japanese Village fair exhibit to the permanent Japanese Tea Garden and was official caretaker of the garden for most of the time between 1895 to 1925. He imported from Japan many plants, birds, and the now famous koi fish, and he more than tripled the size of the garden.

After San Francisco's 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition closed, the South Gate, the Temple Gate, and the Pagoda were acquired from that fair's Japanese exhibits.

Following Makoto Hagiwara's death in 1925 his daughter, Takano Hagiwara, and her children became the proprietors and maintainers of the garden. With the onset of World War II in America and rising anti Japanese sentiment, Takano Hagiwara and her family were evicted from the family's home and sent to an internment camp. 120,000 Japanese and Americans of Japanese descent were sent to internment camps during the war. Despite John McLaren's agreement with Hagiwara, the displacement of his family disrupted their stay at a promised century long home and the family was not allowed back or reimbursed after the war ended. In the period of their absence, the garden was renamed "The Oriental Tea Garden," and some structures expressing Japanese sentiment were demolished, including the Hagiwara home, and the original Shinto Shrine. Japanese tea servers were replaced with Chinese women in their traditional dress.

In postwar 1952 the title "Japanese Tea Garden" was reinstated and the Hagiwara family offered minimal assistance in the beautification of the garden. The period that followed was one of reconciliation. In 1949, a bronze Buddha was donated by the Gump family. Because the 1951 Japanese Peace Treaty was signed in San Francisco, on January 8, 1953, Yasasuke Katsuno, the Japanese Consul General, presented a 9,000 pound Lantern of Peace. The lantern was commissioned in small donations by the children of Japan as a symbol of friendship toward future generations in the United States. At this time, Nagao Sakurai designed a "Peace Garden" and a karesansui or dry landscape garden. Karesansui are commonly referred to as Zen Gardens outside of Japan, but that name was assigned by those foreign to Japan. In 1974, a plaque contrived by artist, Ruth Asawa was gifted to the garden in honor of Makoto Hagiwara and his family for their dedication to the garden's beginnings and expansion. The San Francisco Recreation & Park Department, which has maintained the garden since 1942, named the road bordering the garden Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive in 1986 to further honor the garden's original benefactors.

Significant features

The Tea House

The Tea House has been a part of the Japanese Tea Garden since its creation at the Mid-winter Fair in 1894, though it has been rebuilt several times. In a description of the garden published in 1950, at a time when it was "dubbed the Oriental Tea Garden" the author, Katherine Wilson, states that "further along from the Wishing Bridge was the thatched teahouse, where for three generations the women of the Hagiwara family, in their gaily, flowered kimonos, served tea and rice cakes." Within Japanese Culture, the connection between the serenity of nature and the drinking of tea comes from a sacred tradition, the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The origin of the tea ceremony dates back to 1203 AD, "with Buddhist priests of the Zen sect, who found the infusion [tea] useful in keeping them awake during midnight devotions." As it developed, the ceremony eventually earned the name Chanoyu, which, in literal translation means "hot water for tea." Today, the heart of the tradition is the elegant making and pouring of whipped green tea, also called Matcha. When the "ceremony is well executed, an unspoken and perhaps inexpressible Zen quality lingers in the air." As Tea Ceremonies became more widespread, they eventually became associated with the presence or nature, more specifically with the presence of a garden. Over time, the tea house became "the transcendent viewing place for contemplating the landscape" in a traditional tea garden.

The Tea House is located by the water, and is surrounded by views of different aspects of the garden. The Tea House currently offers six kinds of tea: Jasmine, Sencha, Hōjicha, Genmaicha, Green, and the traditional tea used in ceremonies, Matcha. It also offers a variety of snacks, some of which are savory including Edamame and Tea Sandwiches, and some of which are sweet including Kuzumochi and Green Tea Cheesecake.

"Treasure Tower" pagoda

The pagoda in the Japanese Tea Garden is a five-tiered Buddhist shrine. It, along with the Temple Gate, was built as a temporary indoor display for the Japanese section inside the Palace of Food Products at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. After the conclusion of the PPIE, the pagoda and Temple Gate were moved into the Japanese Tea Garden.

A pagoda is a narrow building with a multi-tiered roof style that originates from the Buddhist religion inIndia and East Asia. There are two types of pagodas: tombs, for high ranking Buddhist monks, and shrines, used for worship. The pagoda in this garden is the later. The pagoda in the garden was moved from its original spot about sixty feet West to where the Shinto shrine originally stood. Due to local anti-Japanese sentiment during WWII which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans, the Shinto shine was demolished and the Buddhist pagoda replaced the open space. This placement of the pagoda is strange in a religious context because it was within an area bounded by the 'mizugaki', a traditional shinto picket fence.

Drum bridge (Moon Bridge)

A taiko bashi, or drum bridge is a highly arched pedestrian bridge found in Chinese and Japanese gardens. It is thus named because when reflected on the water, the full circle shape it creates resembles a drum. This design is also referred to as a Moon bridge. Today a bronze plaque at the bridge "recognizes the dedication and expertise of Shinshichi Nakatani for his unique contribution to the City and to the charm of the Japanese Tea Garden." The bridge's Japanese design, which was adapted from the Chinese, has 3 main functions: to slow people down, to let barges on the canal go smoothly under the bridge, and to reflect a full circle on the water resembling a drum.

Karesansui - dry landscape garden

This part of the garden was designed by Nagao Sakurai and dedicated on January 8, 1953. A waterfall and a body of water are represented by large stones and gravel raked in waves. Islands are in the shape of tortoises, which are symbols of immortality and good luck. A karesansui, or dry landscape garden, is a style of Japanese garden where stones and gravel represent waterfalls, oceans, and mountains. Plants are sometimes, but not always, features in a karesansui garden. Entire landscapes can be represented by the use of thoughtfully arranged stone. The term "Zen Garden" was coined by American author Lorraine Kuck in her 1935 book titled "One Hundred Kyoto Gardens". Although many of these gardens can be found at Zen Buddhist temples, karesansui are not exclusively associated with Zen.

Physical design elements

The trees of the Japanese Tea Garden have more than a century-long history. The garden consists of a variety of trees, including flowering cherry trees, azaleas, magnolias, camellias, Japanese maples, pines, cedars and cypresses. The dwarf trees were planted by the Hagiwara family in the years following the Midwinter Exposition of 1894. However, when Japanese-Americans were thrown into internment camps in 1942, the dwarf trees left with the Hagiwara family. These trees were then sold to Dr. Hugh and Audrey Fraser, who in her will, entrusted the trees back to the Japanese Tea Garden. Samuel Newsom, an expert on Japanese Gardens and Japanese trees, redesigned the dwarf trees in 1965 after the dwarf trees returned to the garden. Newsom designed the dwarf trees onto the hillside, next to the waterfall, and, in 1966 planted more below the Temple Gate. Most of these dwarf trees originated in Japan, brought over by the Hagiwara family. The oldest tree was a Japanese black pine, which is now on a bamboo frame next to the Tea House. In 2005, the San Francisco Parks Trust and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Development repaired additional landscape and recognized the history of the trees via plaques.

Today, the Monterey pine trees are among the more labor-intensive in the garden, according to previous landscape supervisor of Golden Gate Park, Ed Schuster. Every three years, the pines are layered into zig-zagged planes, creating an artistic design favored in traditional Japanese landscapes. These pines average sixty feet tall, so city arborists use ropes to climb to the tops and take great care pruning each tree.

Water commonly plays a large role in Japanese gardens and serves to highlight purity and liveliness. Ponds and waterfalls are often placed with precise orientations with respect to the sun to determine the reflection. In the native Japanese religion, ponds were created for sacred reasons as places for the gods to roam while the surrounding stones were utilized as seats. The auditory atmosphere of the Japanese Tea Garden is created through the blissful and peaceful sound of the moving water. Tsukubai, found in the Japanese Tea Garden, is a water basin originally used by guests to purify themselves before taking part in the tea ceremony. The dry garden at the Japanese Tea Garden represents the importance of water through wave patterns and artificial islands created by rocks. Water has remained an integral representation of Japanese Gardens and its connection to the elite world of immortals.

Rocks are integral components of the traditional Japanese garden. They are generally thought of as the backbone of the arrangement of the space and as "dwelling places of gods, tokens of regal power, and symbols of longevity." Rocks serve three main purposes in the garden, the first of which is mimicking larger natural formations such as mountains and bodies of water. The second purpose is to form rock clusters. In Japanese Gardens, rocks are often clustered with one large rock as the base stone. Others are arranged around it so they agree with the mood or order set forth by the base. Those groups of rocks often appear to have order and flow while remaining asymmetrical. Thirdly, rocks can also serve the purpose of guiding the eyes to other parts of the garden. They point viewers toward the focal point of the design of the garden. Paths and stepping-stones are formed in irregular patterns so people slow down and notice the design around them. In addition, Shinto is a fundamental principle in Japanese gardening where rocks have a decorative duty depending on their positions. A tall stone standing erect of the ground, for example, is associated to masculinity, while a low flat stone represents femininity, mirroring Shinto belief that all things in nature contain gender equilibrium. The Japanese Tea Garden is a mixture of influential Shinto and Buddhist religious beliefs.

Cultural and religious design

As a place of sacred ritual, a Japanese tea garden is highly representative of both Japanese culture and religious philosophy through the respected art forms of landscaping and architecture. Japanese aesthetics have been largely influenced by the geographic location of Japan, with emphases on isolation and the importance of water. Both Buddhist and Shinto religion can be seen in the design of the Japanese Tea Garden.

Japanese cultural aesthetics

The design of a Japanese tea garden is largely influenced by four main aesthetic principles in Japanese culture: miniaturization, concealment, extended scenery, and asymmetry.

Miniaturization

Miniaturization is the principle of evoking the entire of spirit of nature in a limited physical space (the Japanese Tea Garden of San Francisco is only 5 acres). It also encompasses the use of small stones and other small elements to represent the yin-yang. The Buddhist value of yin-yang expresses the incomplete and dynamic nature of everything around us. The yin-yang symbolizes multiple parts that come together to create a larger whole, and that nothing on its own is entirely whole or static. The coming together of water and stone is symbolic of the yin-yang in numerous locations throughout the San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden, as seen in the waterfalls, water basins made of stone, flat stones across the ponds, and waves in the stones of the dry Zen Garden.

Concealment

The aesthetics of the garden are further influenced by the principle of concealment, which involves messages that come in pieces to ultimately reveal a larger picture. For example, the dragon hedge of the Japanese Tea Garden only reveals itself as a dragon after being followed from tail to head.

Extended scenery

Extended scenery makes the limited space of the garden appear larger with the use of natural elements around its outside. Although the Japanese Tea Garden is located in the city of San Francisco, one cannot tell the garden is surrounded by an urban scene when inside. It is encompassed in tall greenery that visually extend the size of the garden.

The fourth principle, asymmetry, is in some ways a continuation of the yin-yang. Asymmetry stresses the abstract and ever-changing nature of everything around us. This aesthetic principle is largely representative of the Buddhist principle of Wabi-sabi, which states that all things are imperfect, irregular, and impermanent. This principle is shown in the garden through the winding pathways, stones of many different sizes, and abstract placements of objects. Additionally, the changing of the waves in the dry Zen Garden is a tradition that honors wabi-sabi.

Religious design

The distinctive and particular architecture and design of the Japanese Tea Garden is influenced by various aspects of Japanese culture and, more specifically, Japanese religion. The most prominent of these being the ancient Japanese religion of Shintoism. The significance of various elements in the garden can be attributed to the fundamental principles and characteristics of Shintoism, Buddhism, and even Taoism. All of these religions have a large emphasis on the importance of nature, and the importance of being one with nature. The placement of rocks, the way the water flows, the route of the paths, the placement of the trees, everything has to be done in such a way that promotes a natural flow, as emphasized in Taoism. In Shintoism, it is believed that the spirits of ancestors, and spirits of the gods themselves, are manifested in nature. These spirits are called Kami, and these Kami are what determine the fortune of those living on Earth. The garden is designed so as to promote the happiness of these spirits, and to properly coexist with them. Cleanliness is also greatly emphasized in Shintoism, which can also be noticed in the structure of the park, the park is not meant to appear crowded or difficult to navigate. In addition, the waterfall found in the garden is symbolic to the fact that cleansing of bad spirits by waterfall is considered the purest way to cleanse oneself in Shintoism. Though the design is meant to convey many different elements of nature, flow, and Zen, all fundamentals in Buddhism, it is done simply.

Steep stairs

Many aesthetic elements of the garden catch the attention of tourists and can be traced back to Buddhist philosophy. The steep stairs in the garden are an element of nearly every center devoted to Buddhism. It is believed in Buddhism that Zen can be reached through stair climbing, as movement is often incorporated into meditation. In this way, sport/fitness can help achieve the connection between mind, body, and spirit. Many monks and nuns include exercise in their daily routines. It is also believed that Buddha himself said, "Good health is the highest gain." The steep stairs are also a reference to the climb Buddha made to the top of Vulture Peak, his favorite place of meditation. The climb is now made of 1500 steps up a steep hill.

Stone lanterns

The stone lanterns (tōrō) seen around the garden, like the Lantern of Peace that followed World War II, are representative of the five elements of Buddhism. The bases of the lanterns symbolize the earth, while the next section is water, the light is fire, and the following two sections symbolize the air and spirit respectively. The lanterns as a whole symbolize the coming together of all five elements in the harmony of nature, another example of wabi-sabi.

1. Jennifer 8. Lee. (January 16, 2008. p. F1, F6). Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie, New York Times. Retrieved on March 15, 2008.

2. Meredith Oda, The Gateway to the Pacific: Japanese Americans and the Remaking of San Francisco. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2019.

3. Gary Ono, (2007-10-31). "Japanese American Fortune Cookie: A Taste of Fame or Fortune -- Part II". http://www.discovernikkei.org/forum/en/node/1935.

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Japanese Tea Garden (San Francisco) Facts for Kids

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The Japanese Tea Garden ( Japanese: 日本茶園) in San Francisco, California, is a popular feature of Golden Gate Park, originally built as part of a sprawling World's Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894.

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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The San Francisco-Oakland earthquake of 1989, which was also called the Loma Prieta earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989. The strongest earthquake to hit the area since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, it caused 63 deaths, nearly 3,800 injuries, and an estimated $6 billion in property damage.

The earthquake was triggered by a slip along the San Andreas Fault. Its...

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san francisco–oakland earthquake of 1989

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San Francisco-Oakland earthquake of 1989

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The San Francisco-Oakland earthquake of 1989, which was also called the Loma Prieta earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989.

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The 1989 San Francisco Earthquake | History

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I didn't see anything that marked this historical culinary invention until we went to the gift shop. Mounted to the top of a display case are two small black iron presses with long, thin handles.

They're called kata, and are used to make senbei or Japanese crackers. Inside they're engraved with an H and an M - inverted they would appear on the cookies as MH for Makoto Hagiwara.

"If you came to the garden while he was managing it, everything had his name on it. Napkins would say M. Hagiwara. There would be pots in the garden with M. Hagiwara ... tea pots, tea cups. His name was everywhere, and the fortune cookie is one of those things that helped to spread his popularity," Pitsenbarger says.

And make the cookies popular, too. But since each fortune cookie was being made by hand, demand became too much for the Hagiwara family. Makoto asked a local confectionary shop, Benkyodo, to take over making the cookies.

Suyeichi Okamura opened Benkyodo in 1906 and after a few moves, it's located today at Sutter and Buchanan in San Francisco's Japantown. His grandson, Gary T. Ono, is the family's historian and has written articles about his family's connection to the fortune cookie.

I went to visit Ono in Los Angeles, in his apartment in Little Tokyo. A giant foam fortune cookie hangs in the living room, and the fortune poking out of it reads: "Made In Japan."

Ono drags out a heavy suitcase from a closet and pulls out several kata wrapped in newspaper. They sport the familiar initials: MH.

"My grandfather was a service person to Makoto Hagiwara," Ono says. "And advised Hagiwara in converting the taste (of the fortune cookie) to something more palatable to American tastes. So they came up with a vanilla extract flavor that we know today."

He says Benkyodo helped develop a machine to mass produce the cookies for the garden, sometime around 1911.

But Ono isn't the only one to make family claims to the origins of the fortune cookie: A few Chinese companies have also claimed the invention, as has another Japanese sweet-maker in Los Angeles called Fugetsu-Do.

Brian Kito owns Fugetsu-Do, just down the street from Gary Ono in Los Angeles. Brian's grandfather opened Fugetsu-Do in 1903, three years before Benkyodo opened in San Francisco. And Gary says Brian heard similar stories about his grandfather creating the fortune cookie.

"We were never confrontational about it or argumentative. We didn't know precisely that our grandparents did this or did that," Ono says. "[Brian] even said, 'Well, if it wasn't my grandfather, I hope it's your grandfather.'"

Author Jennifer 8. Lee says you can probably trace the history of fortune cookies in America back to L.A. and San Francisco. But as a concept, they go back to Japan.

"And in Japan they're called tsujiura senbei or bell crackers," says Lee, who traced the history of the American fortune cookie in her book, "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures In the World of Chinese Food."

Lee writes about Yasuko Nakamachi, a Japanese researcher whom she met through Gary Ono. Nakamachi was investigating the connection between the fortune cookies she saw in New York with a cracker made in Kyoto. She unearthed a copy of a woodblock print from 1878 of a Japanese man grilling fortune cookies.

"Around the shrine in downtown Kyoto, there are actually a bunch of families that still make 'fortune cookies' in the Japanese tradition," says Lee.

"But they're actually bigger and browner. They're made with miso paste and sesame, so much nuttier than the American versions, which tend to be yellow and buttery, reflecting the American palate," she adds.

Those cookies also have fortunes, but not inside. Instead they're pinched in the fold. They look almost exactly the same.

But how did this American adaptation of a Japanese cracker become so associated with Chinese restaurants?

"When the Japanese first came to the U.S., a lot of them actually ran Chinese restaurants, because back in the 1910s and 1920s Americans were not eating sushi," says Lee. "You had Japanese opening Chinese restaurants because that was familiar, with chop suey and chow mein and egg fu yung."

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Unwrapping the California Origins of the Fortune Cookie | KQED

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I didn't see anything that marked this historical culinary invention until we went to the gift shop. Mounted to the top of a display case are two small black iron presses with long, thin handles. They're called kata, and are used to make senbei or Japanese crackers.

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The oldest Chinatown in North America is located on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco, California. It was established in 1848 and is important in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. Chinatown has kept its customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. There are two hospitals, several parks and squares, numerous churches, a post office, and other buildings. San Francisco's Chinatown is also a famous tourist attraction. Each year, more people visit Chinatown than the Golden Gate Bridge.

Geography and location

The neighborhoods of North Beach, and Telegraph Hill are where San Francisco's Chinatown is located. The area itself is about a half mile long by a quarter mile wide. It covers 24 square blocks and has two postal ZIP codes (94108 and 94133).

Two main streets run through Chinatown: Grant Avenue (都板街) and Stockton Street (市德頓街). Grant Avenue has the famous Dragon Gate and St. Mary's Square with a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen; a war memorial to Chinese war veterans; and stores, restaurants, and mini-malls that attract tourists.

Stockton Street is not visited as often by tourists. It is more like traditional Hong Kong, with its produce and fish markets, stores, and restaurants. Buildings are usually three to four stories high, with shops on the bottom floor and residential apartments above them.

The one-block open space in Chinatown called Portsmouth Square is busy with activity. It sits above a large underground parking lot.

Demographics

According to the San Francisco Planning Department, Chinatown is "the most densely populated urban area west of Manhattan," with 15,000 residents living in 20 square blocks. Income levels are much lower within Chinatown than within the rest of the city. Most residents speak only their dialects of the Chinese language, usually Cantonese and some Mandarin.

Demographic history

Many immigrants from Hong Kong began arriving in San Francisco in the late 1960s. They had to take jobs that did not pay well because of their limited English. Because of overcrowding and poverty, other Chinese areas have been established within the city of San Francisco. These outer neighborhoods have been settled largely by Chinese from Southeast Asia who travel to Chinatown to do much of their shopping.

San Francisco's Chinatown was the location where many immigrants arrived from southern China. From the 1850s to the 1900s, San Francisco's Chinatown was where many Chinese immigrants entered the country. Most Chinese shopkeepers, restaurant owners, and hired workers in San Francisco's Chinatown were male. Many Chinese found jobs working for large companies like Central Pacific. These men worked on the Transcontinental Railroad.

In 1882, the United States Government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. It was the first immigration restriction law aimed at a single ethnic group. The act was repealed during World War II by the Magnuson Act.

In March 1900, a Chinese-born man who was a long-time resident of Chinatown was found dead of bubonic plague. Chinatown was quarantined and the San Francisco Board of Health came in to look for cases; burn property; and sanitize buildings, streets, and sewers within Chinatown. After protests, the quarantine was lifted. The plague lasted four years and killed 113 people, almost all from a ten-block area of Chinatown.

In 1906, the Chinatown neighborhood was completely destroyed in an earthquake that leveled most of the city. The famous Sam Wo restaurant opened in 1912. By 1915, Chinatown was mostly rebuilt.

The War Brides Act allowed Chinese-American veterans to bring their families outside of national limits. This led to a major population boom in the area during the 1950s.

During the 1960s, Chinatown experienced more changes. Another wave of immigrants arrived and many stores moved from Grant Avenue to Stockton Street. Stockton Street had lower rents and better transportation because of the Muni trolleybus line.

Institutions

San Francisco's Chinatown is home to the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (known as the Chinese Six Companies). The CCBA was set up to help Chinese people relocate and travel to and from the United States and to speak on their behalf throughout the U.S.

The Chinese Culture Center is a community-based non-profit organization located on the third floor of a Holiday Inn. The Center promotes exhibitions about Chinese life in the United States and organizes tours of the area.

The San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade was begun in the 1950s. It includes art shows, street dances, martial arts, music, and a fashion show.

The Autumn Moon Festival celebrates seasonal change and the opportunity to give thanks to a bountiful summer harvest. It is held each year during mid-September and is free to the public.

Traditional Chinese funeral processions are held in Chinatown. A marching band plays songs and is followed by a car showing the picture of the person who has died.

San Francisco Chinatown restaurants are considered to be the birthplace of Westernized Chinese cuisine. Dishes like Chop Suey and Dim Sum were introduced to Americans.

Chinatown has served as a setting for several movies, television shows, plays and documentaries including The Maltese Falcon, Big Trouble in Little China, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Presidio, Flower Drum Song, The Dead Pool, and Godzilla.

Chinese-American writers such as Russell Leong and Amy Tan grew up in Chinatown. Tan's experiences growing up in the neighborhood inspired her book The Joy Luck Club and the following film.

1940s basketball player Willie "Woo Woo" Wong grew up in Chinatown. A local playground is named after him.

Actor Bruce Lee was born at San Francisco Chinese Hospital. He moved to Hong Kong three months later. When he was eighteen, he returned to the United states and lived in San Francisco's Chinatown for the first few months before moving to Seattle.

Transportation

San Francisco cable cars have long served areas of Chinatown. The modern system serves the southern (along California Street) and western (along Powell Street) sections of the neighborhood.

The Stockton Street Tunnel was completed in 1914 and brought San Francisco Municipal Railway Streetcar service to Stockton Street. After the tracks were removed, the overhead wires were maintained, and buses replaced streetcars along the route.

The Broadway Tunnel was completed in 1952. It connects Chinatown with Russian Hill and Van Ness Avenue to the west.

The 49-Mile Scenic Drive is routed through Chinatown, with particular attention paid to the corner of Grant and Clay.

Interesting facts about Chinatown, San Francisco

Chinese tradition says that firecrackers were used to scare away evil spirits. Since firecrackers are illegal in Chinatown, stores sell Pop Pop boxes containing small packages that make a popping sound when thrown onto the floor.

Tourists can watch fortune cookies being made at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.

There are many herbal pharmacies in Chinatown that teach about and sell herbal medicines.

Old St. Mary's Cathedral was constructed in 1854. It is the oldest Catholic cathedral in California.

All of the bricks for Old St. Mary's Cathedral were imported from China.

The first Chinese to arrive in San Francisco were one man and two women in 1848.

The only photos known to have survived since before the 1906 earthquake were taken by Arnold Genthe.

Images for kids

The Street of the Gamblers (Ross Alley), Arnold Genthe, 1898. The population of Chinatown was mostly male because U.S. policies at the time made it difficult for Chinese women to enter the country.

In Spanish: Chinatown (San Francisco) para niños

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