San Francisco › Places and landmarks
Dragon Gate
The gate into Chinatown on Grant Avenue at Bush Street, with green tiled roofs, dragons and two stone lions.
Photo: Ilkka Simomaa, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Dragon Gate stands where Grant Avenue meets Bush Street, at the south end of Chinatown. It was built in 1970 to a design by Clayton Lee, with stone and tiles given by the Republic of China on Taiwan. Its three arches have roofs of green glazed tiles, with dragons and carp on the ridges, and two stone lions guard the way through.
Over the middle arch hang four characters written by Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Chinese republic, who spent time in San Francisco raising money for the revolution: “All under heaven is for the good of the people”.
Beyond the gate Grant Avenue changes at once: red lanterns hang over the street, and the shops sell tea, silk, jade and souvenirs. Visit it in 3D ›
More in San Francisco
Transamerica PyramidThe white pyramid of the Financial District, 260 metres tall, the sign of San Francisco’s skyline since 1972.
Ferry BuildingThe ferry terminal at the foot of Market Street, with its clock tower after the Giralda of Seville, now a food hall.
Coit TowerThe slim concrete tower on top of Telegraph Hill, built in 1933 with the money of Lillie Hitchcock Coit.
ChinatownThe oldest Chinatown in North America, along Grant Avenue and Stockton Street, with lanterns over the street.
Union SquareThe square of the big shops and hotels, named after the rallies for the Union before the Civil War.
Cable carsThe last cable cars in the world still running in city streets, pulled up the hills by a cable under the road.
Washington SquareThe green heart of North Beach, the Italian quarter, before the white church of Saints Peter and Paul.
City LightsThe bookshop of the Beat poets on Columbus Avenue, which published Allen Ginsberg’s Howl in 1956.
Golden Gate BridgeThe orange suspension bridge across the mouth of the bay, about five kilometres west of the game’s map.
Lombard StreetThe block of Lombard Street on Russian Hill with eight hairpin bends between flower beds, west of the game’s map.
AlcatrazThe rocky island in the bay, a federal prison from 1934 to 1963, built so that no one could swim away.
Sourdough breadThe sour, chewy bread of San Francisco, baked since the Gold Rush from a living dough.