Overlooking Chinatown

The Fairmont is just up the hill from Chinatown, so we passed through the area several times each day.

As interesting as Chinatown is, apparently it used to much cooler.

Post-Earthquake writers lamented the destruction of the district. Here's how one writer described it:

"An Oriental Hell within an American City — Foreign in its Stores, Gambling Dens and Inhabitants — The Mecca of all San Francisco Sight Seers — Secret Passages, Opium Joints and Slave Trade its Chief Features."

And another:
"There could not be another Chinatown like the old one, with all its quaint nooks and alleys. All this was gone and a new Chinatown must seem like a sham. "