Chinatown

Short answer

Is Chinatown worth it?

Chinatown deserves a place on most first itineraries.

The answer depends on your budget, time and travel style; the breakdown below shows who gets the most value.

Why

1. 01

   Grant Ave is the souvenir gauntlet; duck into Ross Alley and Waverly Place and it turns into a living, working neighborhood with food worth the trip.

2. 02

   Established more than 150 years ago, it's the oldest Chinatown on the continent and a continuously living cultural enclave, not a re-creation.

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3. 03

   Hang Ah is America's first-ever dim sum spot and Sam Wo is a century-old institution where the pork rice rolls are 'a rite of passage in this city.'

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4. 04

   Streets are lined with dim sum spots, Chinese bakeries and milk-tea cafés serving xiao long bao, hand-pulled noodles and fresh pastries.

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Is it a fit?

Plan it well

Cost

Free to wander

Timing

Late morning for dim sum; weekday for a less tourist-heavy Grant Avenue

Booking

Free to wander; dim sum bakeries are walk-in and cash-friendly

Allow

2 hrs

Getting there

Walkable from Union Square through the Dragon Gate; the Powell-Mason cable car skirts the edge