Chinatown's unofficial living room is named after John B Montgomery's sloop, which staked the US claim on San Francisco in 1846. SF's first city hall moved into Portsmouth Sq's burlesque Jenny Lind Theater in 1852, and today the square is graced by the Goddess of Democracy, a bronze replica of the statue that Tiananmen Sq protesters made in 1989. Tai chi practitioners greet the dawn, toddlers rush the playground at noon and chess players plot moves well into the night.
Portsmouth Square
North Beach & Chinatown