Near the foot of the hill, San Francisco, 2000
Sacramento Street (唐人街) at Grant Avenue (都板街), working westward on line 1-California. I walked to this location from Stockton and Jackson, having seen (no doubt) that the angle and direction of the sunlight was very favorable.
Although not apparent in this image, the trolleybus is at the base of a steep gradient - very roughly 15 percent (1 in 7). The overhead contact supports hold the wires down - not up - and the front end of the vehicle passes close to the road surface. If the driver passes such a location too quickly, then the bottom surface of the bumper will scrape the road. This I have seen - and heard - firsthand.
Cable cars once served this location, but were replaced by motorbus in 1942. According to legends (some probably true, some certainly not), motorbuses were unable to climb the steepest hills on the line with a "full standing load" of passengers. If this happened, some of the passengers would have to alight, and wait for the next bus (or walk away, in disgust). Motorbus line 55-Sacramento was replaced by trolleybus line 1-California in 1982.
As explained previously, the Chinese name for Grant Avenue, 都板街 (Doubaan gaai / Dōubǎn jiē), is a phonetic version of the previous name, Dupont Street.
The Chinese name for Sacramento Street, 唐人街 (Tong jan gaai / Táng'rén jiē), is a general term that is translated into English as "Chinatown." S.F.'s Chinatown is named 唐人街 (Tong jan gaai / Táng'rén jiē) in Chinese.
The Chinese name for Sacramento Street has a different connotation (at least according to one source). More than 2,000 years ago, during the era of the Han Dynasty (漢朝 / 汉朝, Hàn Cháo), people in China began describing themselves as 漢人 / 汉人, Hànrén; "Men of Han" or "People of Han." However, in some southern Chinese dialects, people referred (and refer) to themselves as 唐人, Tong jan / Tángrén; "Men of Tang" or "People of Tang." The reference is to the Tang Dynasty (唐朝, Táng Cháo, a.d. 618 - 907). Thus, 唐人街 may also be translated as "Tang people's street," or "Street of the Tang people."
Why this name for Sacramento Street, but not Grant Avenue?
San Francisco's Chinatown began during 1848, around the intersection of Sacramento and Grant - right here. The very first merchants from China who opened shops in S.F. did so along Sacramento Street - right here (or nearly so). Therefore, this portion of Sacramento Street was the original "Street of the Tang people" in San Francisco.
(See: Ngai, Mae. 2010. "The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America." Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; available in hardcover and eBook format.)
2000 August.
Near the foot of the hill, San Francisco, 2000
Sacramento Street (唐人街) at Grant Avenue (都板街), working westward on line 1-California. I walked to this location from Stockton and Jackson, having seen (no doubt) that the angle and direction of the sunlight was very favorable.
Although not apparent in this image, the trolleybus is at the base of a steep gradient - very roughly 15 percent (1 in 7). The overhead contact supports hold the wires down - not up - and the front end of the vehicle passes close to the road surface. If the driver passes such a location too quickly, then the bottom surface of the bumper will scrape the road. This I have seen - and heard - firsthand.
Cable cars once served this location, but were replaced by motorbus in 1942. According to legends (some probably true, some certainly not), motorbuses were unable to climb the steepest hills on the line with a "full standing load" of passengers. If this happened, some of the passengers would have to alight, and wait for the next bus (or walk away, in disgust). Motorbus line 55-Sacramento was replaced by trolleybus line 1-California in 1982.
As explained previously, the Chinese name for Grant Avenue, 都板街 (Doubaan gaai / Dōubǎn jiē), is a phonetic version of the previous name, Dupont Street.
The Chinese name for Sacramento Street, 唐人街 (Tong jan gaai / Táng'rén jiē), is a general term that is translated into English as "Chinatown." S.F.'s Chinatown is named 唐人街 (Tong jan gaai / Táng'rén jiē) in Chinese.
The Chinese name for Sacramento Street has a different connotation (at least according to one source). More than 2,000 years ago, during the era of the Han Dynasty (漢朝 / 汉朝, Hàn Cháo), people in China began describing themselves as 漢人 / 汉人, Hànrén; "Men of Han" or "People of Han." However, in some southern Chinese dialects, people referred (and refer) to themselves as 唐人, Tong jan / Tángrén; "Men of Tang" or "People of Tang." The reference is to the Tang Dynasty (唐朝, Táng Cháo, a.d. 618 - 907). Thus, 唐人街 may also be translated as "Tang people's street," or "Street of the Tang people."
Why this name for Sacramento Street, but not Grant Avenue?
San Francisco's Chinatown began during 1848, around the intersection of Sacramento and Grant - right here. The very first merchants from China who opened shops in S.F. did so along Sacramento Street - right here (or nearly so). Therefore, this portion of Sacramento Street was the original "Street of the Tang people" in San Francisco.
(See: Ngai, Mae. 2010. "The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America." Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; available in hardcover and eBook format.)
2000 August.