A Guide Map of Chinatown San Francisco

San Francisco’s Chinatown during the Summer of Love.

“East is West in San Francisco’s Chinatown.” – Text, verso.

This ephemeral guide map to Chinatown was published in August 1967 by the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. One side of the tri-fold brochure presents a simple street map bounded approximately by Broadway to the north, Kearny Street to the east, Pine Street to the south, and Powell Street to the west. More than two dozen locations of interest are numbered and identified, including Kong Chow Temple, Portsmouth Square, with its newly constructed underground parking garage, and Waverly Place.

The map presents Chinatown through the stylized “Oriental” aesthetic common to mid-century tourism promotion. Notably absent is the iconic Dragon Gate, which would not be completed and dedicated until 1970. The verso offers a brief summary of Chinatown, a list of merchant members of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, and a decorative illustrated title panel.