Chinatown in San Francisco

While preparing for our trip to San Francisco, we have been looking through and reading articles from  National Geographic Traveler: San Francisco. It is the first time I've used one of their travel guides, and I am really enjoying it! They have lots of articles... and lots of photos!

We will be taking a tour while we are in San Francisco and will be passing through Chinatown. We read an interesting article in the book about Chinatown.

One event we found really interesting was the funeral procession.  In Chinatown, the procession is led by a small marching band. Then, there is a convertible with a large photo of the deceased followed by the hearse. The funeral procession goes through the area and often stops at the deceased's house to stop and play one song and move on. I found this video that shows an example and explanation of a funeral procession. (I think you'll have to watch a 15 second commercial first.)

Used with permission from Jimmie at Jimmie's Collage

A place we found interesting was the Chinese pharmacy. I'd actually read about these on Jimmie's Collage. The Chinese pharmacy has hundreds of little drawers filled with potential medicines - herbs, roots, etc. To fill a prescription, the pharmacy finds the ingredients they need, measure and weigh them, then boils them together to make a bitter liquid medicine.

We're excited about our trip and can't wait to visit Chinatown! And, we have a lot more reading to do!