Imagine coming to a country with only the clothes on your back, little money, and only a glimmer of hope. San Francisco's "Little Shanghai" is the informal capital city of the Chinese population of Northern California where Chinese immigrants came in search of work and fortune and founded Chinatown in 1848. Some hoped to strike it rich during the Gold Rush by working as miners or used as cheap labor in building the Transcontinental Railroad. Chinatown first began as one square block, Portsmouth Plaza, and grew into the heart and center of San Francisco.

Through the Gold Rush and into the 1870s, the population soared due to the huge influx of single male laborers. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the nation's first racially restricted immigration measure, saw the population dwindle to nearly half in the next few decades. The act was repealed by Congress during World War II as being allies with the Chinese. After the Great Earthquake of 1906, the city was rebuilt to what we recognize today, oriental lanterns, recessed balconies, and gilded facades.

The Chinese population swelled throughout the '60s after the passing of the Immigration Act, which allowed the first full-scale migration of Chinese. In the 1970s, a more Chinese-style of Chinese American emerged and today Chinatown is one of the densest areas in the nation only second to New York's Chinatown. Today Chinatown is home to the largest community of Chinese outside of Asia, a world-renowned business district. Tourism has risen throughout the decades for people who want to experience Chinese customs and practices.