Make-up assignment/ Chinatown Night Market Fair, SF

This is my second make-up assignment. My wife and I recently enjoyed a long weekend in San Francisco. While we had spent time in the city before, we purposefully built this trip around the theme of Asian-related things to do so that I could complete my assignments (Please see my review of the Sugimoto Exhibition at the de Young Museum).
We stayed at the reasonably priced and centally situated Mark Twain hotel, which is not too far from Union Station. On Saturday, July 14th, we set out on a nice walk toward Union Station- it took us about 10 minutes from the hotel, and it was great to people watch. While my wife ducked into a clothing shop, I ran into Borders and, almost by design, found a copy of a Mao biography I had been wanting to read that had been seriously marked down. Yes! Our goal was to head toward Chinatown, and after 20 or so minutes of hard slogging we found ourselves at the famous dragon gate on Grant St. This is the iconic gate that leads one into Chinatown. Our plan was to have a traditional Chinese lunch, or as close an approximation of such we could find, a brief stroll through the area, and then on to our main target: the Chinatown Night Market Fair. This market is held every Saturday night in central Chinatown and is beloved by the local Chinese community.

There are many tourist areas in Chinatown and you will find row after row of various sized shops selling fake Budhas, jade pendants, dragon embroidered plates, ceremonial costumes, and every other thing you could possibly imagine (and have no practical use for). Different streets are more authentic, for lack of a better word. After a half hour or so, we made it to the Imperial Palace on Washington St. to enjoy lunch. We ordered a plate of traditional beef dumplings and tea. The tea was lightly fermented, called Paochang (sp?), and a clear, golden color- very fragrant.. The food was excellent and quite cheap. After lunch we walked around some more, and I had the opportunity to try a couple of beers and some find sake in Buddha, one of the little hole-in-the-wall bars in the neighborhood (and, if you walk in, please note the excellent eclectic jukebox..one of the best collections I have found). After this it was 5:30 pm, a half an hour until the Fair. Unfortunately, we had to retire to the hotel to rest up for a while before tackling the Fair. The one thing about walking around Chinatown is that is is quite a large area to begin with, and it is also positively crammed with people, so walking is quite an active exercise- one is constantly so as not to bang into someone!
The Fair is held in the same location every Saturday night- Portsmouth Square, and it runs from 6-11pm. Portsmouth Square is regarded as the heart of Chinatown, and the Fair originated on one side of the square, but over the years it now encompasses the entire area. There are many brightly colored vendors tents and displays set in an orderly fashion- everything you can imagine is for sale, and barter is acceptable. We saw loads of what appeared to be pirated DVDs and CDs, as well as more exotic things. We stopped at one vendor who was selling cheongsams - traditional Chinese dresses. My wife got a real kick out of these and we almost purchased one, before she wisely decided that she would probably never wear it. Made of silk, these are ornately embroidered, colorful, with a high neck, and is buttoned on the right side. According to the lady seller, these designs are modernized adaptations of traditional patterns that go back hundreds of years. Obviously, the snaps and zippers would not have been around then. The name of the dress literally translates as "long dress", and is still in evidence today at traditional weddings.

In one area of the fair we found several men gathered around a few low stone tables. This is where the men play xiangqi, or elephant chess. The men were pretty laid back and concentrating on the board, which is quite a bit different than your traditional western chess board. I couldn't fathom the rules behind how the peices moved, and when I asked a man standing near us, he answered with a look of incomprehension before moving away (English is not the language of this Fair, believe me!). This game is also commonly referred to as 'elephant chess', or by non-Chinese as 'Chinese chess'. The pace seems to be a bit quicker than traditional western chess (mercifully so). Looking to our right, we could watch several different groups of people as they practiced Tai Chi. There was one older man that was the epitome of grace and fluidity- obviously the reason why he was leading his particular group. They must have been at it a long time, for I never heard any cadences or instructions, and the members of the group seemed to move simultaneously without prompting. Some of the people who were working out in these groups were senior citizens- may I be this mobile at that age. Wow! The food was plentiful, varied, and very delicious. I had a kind of grass soup, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called...it was diced with chicken, lemon, and pepper. There are also several traditional Chinese musicians playing various instruments throughout the Fair...and karaoke singing is as ubiquitous as ever.

It was also interesting to note the statue of the Goddess of Democracy, which is a replica of the statue that was constructed by the students during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. This is supposed to be an exact replica of the one that was, if memory serves correctly, destroyed buy a tank. The odd thing is how closely, other than scale, this resembles the Statue of Liberty. There are other plaques and markers in the area as well, and a playground borders the other side.

This was an excellent, cheap, and very interesting way to spend a Saturday evening in San Francisco. As one local told me, "It's the closest thing to Hong Kong you can find". I don't know about that, but it certainly is like a completely different world. [Edit by="gjones on Jul 26, 10:52:14 PM"][/Edit]
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