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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.
One hell of an artist from Brazil, Seu Jorge. He canceled his concerts a few times to my knowledge to come to San Francisco so I was super psyched about this.
He was just impeccable. There aren't that many musicians in this world that can keep amazing audience for a few hours with his guitar, voice and a few minimal instruments played by two other guys. David Bowie said great things about him, and he wasn't wrong at all...
It's too bad I didn't have a better camera/lens that night. Too bad.
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In what undiscovered corner of Hong Kong ...
At very quick glance, it might be possible to confuse this image with one's memory of Hong Kong (or, today, elsewhere in China). In fact, this is a view of Commercial Street, San Francisco, looking eastward from Grant Avenue.
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Digression:
San Francisco (CA, US) is known in Chinese as 舊金山 (traditional); 旧金山 (simplified).
This, in romanized (Hànyǔ Pīnyīn) form, is Jiù jīn shān (in Pǔtōnghuà, also known as Standard Chinese, and as Mandarin). In Cantonese: "Gau gam saan."
This is not a phonetic version "San Francisco," written (or abbreviated) with Chinese characters. The translation is "Old Gold Mountain." During the 19th century, immigrants from China referred to California (and also British Columbia) as "Gold Mountain" because of the gold discovered there. Somewhat later, Chinese immigrants flocked to Australia in search of gold. The name "Old Gold Mountain" came into use as a reference to California, but this now refers specifically to S.F. (A phonetic abbreviation is also used today.)
In Chinese, "Commercial Street" is written 襟美慎街; the Pǔtōnghuà pronunciation is Jīnměishèn jiē. However, the Cantonese pronunciation of 襟美慎街 is "Gam me san gaai." This appears to be "phonetic" - based on Cantonese, or perhaps a certain dialect thereof (more on that below).
Grant Avenue is written 都板街 in Chinese. The Pǔtōnghuà pronunciation is Dōubǎn jiē. In Cantonese pronunciation is "Doubaan gaai." (The apparent similarity might be just that - apparent. The tonal structure of Cantonese is very different from Standard Chinese.)
Doubaan / Dōubǎn, is, in fact, a "phonetic" version of Dupont - Grant Avenue was named Dupont Street before the great earthquake and fires of 1906.
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I walked from Stockton and Jackson over to Grant, and came across this scene. "Wow," I might have thought, "the light [daylight] is almost perfect!"
The Ferry Building tower is visible in the distance.
Also visible, on the sign at upper left, are the characters 台山. These are pronounced "Táishān" in Standard Chinese, "Toi saan" in Cantonese, and "Hoisan" in the "Taishanese" dialect of Cantonese. (The name is often spelled "Toisan" in English.) During the 19th century, many Taishanese immigrated to North America. Hoisanese / Taishanese / Toisanese was dominant Chinese dialect in San Francisco's Chinatown until the 1960s.
(Perhaps, dear viewers, I have "dabbled" in Chinese characters for at least one day too many ...)
2000 August.
Hasselblad 501C
Carl Zeiss Sonnar 150mm f/4
Kodak 400 Tri-X
This was an early morning walk in Chinatown SF my favorite place to shoot clearly and a morning when alot of the locals gathered at a park as they typically do...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA !
there was a parade in SAN FRANCISCO's CHINATOWN with many marchers!
A glance at the architecture (among other things) quickly dispels the illusion (Taiwan flags are often flown in San Francisco).
This view shows a trolleybus working southward on line 30-Stockton, in Stockton Street (市德頓街) at Sacramento Street (唐人街). The "vantage point" was just above the north portal of the Stockton Street Tunnel.
The Chinese name of Stockton Street, 市德頓街, Si dak duk gaai / Shìdédùn jiē, is a (Cantonese-based) phonetic transcription.
2000 August.
Hasselblad 501C/ Voigtlander Bessa R3A
Carl Zeiss Sonnar 150mm f/4/ Nokton 40mm 1.4
Kodak 400 Tri-X
Both of these shots were taken in Chinatown the same day but as you can see in different light and by two different cameras...A day where the city was filled with people made for a good day of shooting candids...hope you enjoy
mun4 jyutping
men2 pinyin
[1] [n] gate; door; entrance; opening [2] [n] family; clan [3] [n] sect; school; gang [4] [n] class; category [5] the key; turning point [6] a piece of (artillery); cannon [7] gate-keeping [8] a Chinese familly name [9] Kangxi radical 169
Stroke count: 8
Level: 1
Radical: (#169)
This character is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.
門 / 门
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chinatown
san francisco, california