Chinatown, San Francisco

Postcard US-3934037 to Germany is a reproduction of a vintage poster of the Chinatown in San Francisco, California. It shows the Cathay House Restaurant located in the heart of Chinatown with a lengthy traditional Chinese menu and a prime street view for people and cable car watching on California Street.

"San Francisco Sees a Colorful History Slip Away in Chinatown" by Jean H. Lee, run on Los Angeles Times on May 31, 1998, was an interesting article to read about the changes and conflicts that had happened there: "while old-timers want to maintain the district's antique, if stylistically bogus, architecture, recent immigrants are clamoring for new development."

Then and Now: Chinatown in San Francisco

Outgoing postcard US-3373239 to Australia shows a then-and-now street view of the Chinatown ( 唐人街) on Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California.  Establishment in 1848, it is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. It is also a major tourist attraction with more annual visitors than those to the Golden Gate Bridge.

When I walked around the Chinatown a few days ago on May 27, 2015, I ran into a bronze sculpture at Portsmouth Square (花園角) on Kearny Street, where many "dancing grannies" were performing exercise routines called plaza dancing (广场舞), originally popular with middle-aged and retired women in China. It was a replica of the Goddess of Democracy, a statue created during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in Beijing, China that was destroyed on June 4, 1989 by soldiers who took over Tiananmen square from protesters.

Designed by Thomas Marsh and dedicated in 1994, the replica is 10 meters tall, same as the original, and weighs approximately 600 pounds or 272 kilograms. It bears the inscription, "Dedicated to Those Who Strive For and Cherish Human Rights and Democracy." Today marks the 26th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Student Protest.

Panda!

Postcard US-2598763 to Taiwan shows that a charming Panda looks out over a beautiful valley with cranes flying by, created by Birgit Schulz from London, Ontario, Canada. Although unrelated, I was reminded to this card when I saw the crew from Panda!, a new resident show at Palazzo, performing at the Chinatown Plaza in Las Vegas for the Chinese New Year Celebrations today on February 9, 2014.

The new show follows the hero’s journey of a panda Long Long, trying to save his girl peacock princess from evil. Director An Zhao, who had involved in directing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, said in a news release: "We've taken two of China's national treasures, pandas and kung fu, and illuminated them in a visually stunning production that tells an unforgettable and timeless story. Our team couldn't be happier to bring this experience to the international audiences Las Vegas is known to attract."

The show's opening was planned for December, 2013 but was delayed by a month due to visa problems. The congressional office of the U.S. Representative Dina Titus was involved to help securing the visa. She was pictured with the Panda! crew at the festival today.