What Can $10 Get in Chinatown, San Francisco?

what's up guys I'm Drew binsky and in this video I'm going to show you what $10 can get you in Chinatown San Francisco here we go welcome to San Francisco's Chinatown what's your favorite thing about Chinatown I'm just getting lost into the alleys it's huge it's like a hamburger size oh my God I want to try that M when you see the Ducks hanging in the window you know you found a jack fire San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest chinat town in North America and one of the biggest Chinese communities outside of Asia I'm meeting up with a local resident who is kind enough to show me around the secret spots pora Square Plaza this is an odor crowd they were working everybody bu Disney Chown was working before what are they're setting there are no card tables the card tables are created by Bo look at that they're all just playing on top of cardboard boxes it's a kind of recreation they live in the area and they um are they workingclass people they were yeah they're retired people now what makes this Chinatown unique compared to other chinatowns in in the country country and in the world it's a tourist destination it's a thriving neighborhood it's a thriving neighborhood of food Commerce everything everything there's commercials here place what are we looking at so they're making you can call them dumplings or po stickers or one ton this is a good viewing area so here you're making me hungry gim me already yeah I'm helping you develop an appetite I'm here on the side of the street in Chinatown and I'm so overwhelmed by all the options I don't know what to get okay I think shumai is good this restaurant is so authentic did you want pork or beef good question let's go with [Music] pork we just got a delicious plate of dimsum here it's pretty good really tasty delicious it's sweet there are two kinds you can also get it steamed and that's the white one this is the baked one you can tell because it's got the egg wash on top of it this barbecue pork bun is nextx level good look at that it's huge it's like a hamburger size walking uphill yeah it's very hilly in San Francisco so you'll always be walking up or downhill yes right now we're going up just some like fruits and vegetable market over here okay what is this place this authentic tea sh we're just going to go in quickly and get a view of it come on let's go we've been here for almost 40 years now um uh my grandparents actually opened the store back in 1985 as direct importers when we sourced our tea tea where we work directly with the farmers and Artisans at [Music] Origins that's good very [Music] flavorful what do you think about it this is delicious when you see the Ducks hanging in the window you know you found a jackpot oh yeah oh yeah thank you thank you I'm trying the roasted duck that I just bought from the window it's roasted sweet quality of the duck meat is so good look at that skin you don't want to try it I just had the shoe mine thank you one bite yeah one bite what's the population of Chinatown it was about 15,000 and are they all Chinese no so is Mandarin commonly spoken on these streets pretty much can uh Canton oh so they're from Hong Kong yes cantones the Mandarin is primarily HST 1949 in China when Chinese communist government took over Chinese immigrants first came to San Francisco in the 1850s drawn by the California Gold Rush they work jobs in mines and on the first Transcontinental Railroad they have faced a lot of discrimination over the years but now their pride and traditions are stronger than ever in San Francisco all I see here is Taiwanese Flags there's no controversy between China and Taiwan there used to be but you see times change right everything you as an American Consumer buy from Asia probably originated in the People's Republic of China I just want to make a point that there are some 48 alleys in Chinatown many of them have murals like this this is a mural called chasing the Moon there's the moon mhm and who's chasing them are Dragon Boat Races right there this is the prettiest one because it's you look at all the businesses this is Ross alley in Chinatown after 1906 earthquake and fire Chinese had to leave chinat town because it wasn't safe so many took the fair boats over to the East Bay to Oakland and they reestablished their businesses there in about 3 years people started to come back because Chinatown and San Francisco were being rebuilt this building has probably been here since 1906 I don't think it's functioning anym this is one of the 48 alleys of uh Chinatown Ross alley and it can tell you this is where a lot of different things took place and some businesses still survive here including Chinese fortune cookies did you know that the fortune cookie was invented right here in Chinatown San Francisco this is a shot behind me I'm really lucky to be able to visit an original fortune cookie store thank you she that's really good you can buy any kind of Fortune Cookie box here these herb shops you see the little alter right there with the incense everything is imported from China I think so so these are all herbs and mostly from the Far East mostly China shops are really cool feel like I'm in China when I'm here this is the original Chinatown telephone exchange which was created in 1909 well after the earthquake it looks like a Chinese temple but it's just tricking you it's not actually a temple well today it's a bank it's gone through several lives as a bank today is the East West Bank the building that used to be there that's a photo that uh was taken before it was taken down this place went up about 20 years ago and then this place went in place of what was there before so behind you is a Chinese Hospital does that mean that only Chinese people would come here no no no we're we're diverse now this is a religious product store but it's also where people buy Memorial things these are packages of paper clothing you do it on behalf of The Departed if there's enough room you put it in the casket or it can also be burnt up and the Flames go up to heaven this is where you buy uh things to remember the person who's died do not buy these things for yourself okay they're bought on your behalf all right it it's considered bad luck to bring it into your house I love this how did a person died because of it but they were a smoker the family wanted to be sure they had these in a afterlife what do you notice about titles of the brands they're spelled incorrectly I think it's it's a way to uh not get a legal Challenge in a sense and this is all good luck money you can buy packages of food these are [Music] paper it's kind of nice to just go window shopping here in Chinatown and you just look and see what they're making and you go oh my God I want to try that what should I eat here tomal Sunshine tomal tomali from Mex Mexico we use corn he use rice he one one tamale thank you okay this is your ensil so we got a Chinese tamale here look at that there we go also there's peanuts in it m that's good it's sticky rice with peanuts but the peanuts Are So Soft that they melt inside the rice oh there is meat inside M that is delicious in total I got a pork fun chai peeking duck and a Chinese tamali for $10 who said San Francisco has to be expensive thanks for watching make sure to subscribe for more epic travel story from every country in the world and I will see you in the next video from California if you enjoyed this video please comment your thoughts down below I'd love to hear from you subscribe to this channel for more awesome travels and also I'm giving away a free digital version of my top 100 best travel photos of all time all you have to do is click the link below and sign up for my free email newsletter and you'll be sent this straight to your inbox thank you guys stay safe be spontaneous and just go

Channel: More Travels w/ Drew Binsky

Views: 45,129

Keywords: drew binsky, drew binsky vlog, drew binsky travel, travel vlog, more drew binsky, more travels with drew binsky, Chinatown SF, San Francisco, California, Travel Vlog, Budget Travel, Exploring Chinatown, Cultural Experience, City Tour, San Francisco Chinatown, Travel Inspiration, food in Chinatown, oldest Chinatown, street food, San Francisco's Chinatown, Chinatown tourist, San Francisco travel, Street Market, California travel, Chinatown in America, San Francisco trip

Id: RcnTogvO4tA

Length: 8min 33sec (513 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 01 2023