Our tour is filled with nothing but history. Hardly any "touristy" attractions! The only one is everyone's favorite, the Fortune Cookie Factory! So if you're interested on a tour with history and community issues, then our tour is for you. I hope to see you there!

Going grocery shopping with mom, I learned where the fresh fruit stands and tasty snack shops were, but I never heard about its enthralling history until I joined the Adopt-An-Alleyway Youth Project (AAA). Through AAA, I learned about Chinatown Alleyway Tours (CATs)—the program that helped me gain a deeper appreciation for Chinatown. Finding comfort in the Chinatown Community, I appreciate our closeness, sharing common experiences, practicing the same traditions, and speaking the same language.

Hi everyone! I am one of the newer tour guides of CATs. From buying groceries with my mom to running through the alleyways to get to school, I’ve basically spent my lifetime here in Chinatown. However, as I have grown older I’ve have realized that I don’t know much about Chinatown at all, besides its busy and crowded streets, and that's why you find me here. Through CATs I’ve learned and discovered so much more about Chinatown's history and how the community plays an important role in our lives. Now that I’ve learned more about Chinatown, I no longer hold any stereotypical view of Chinatown. Learning more about Chinatown has inspired me tremendously into contributing and giving back to the community. Please, come to one of our tours. It will be a very valuable experience!

When walking through Chinatown, one can easily be dazzled by the glitz on Grant Avenue or swept away by the crowdedness on Stockton Street, but an essential part of the local color of Chinatown goes beyond the facade: it's about the heart of the community! Chinatown is a community rich with local color, history, grassroots movements, culture, and youth perspectives. As an Asian American Studies major in college, I like to incorporate into the tour legislative history and explore the contemporary issues as well. I look foward to meeting you on a tour!

Being able to experience great chinese food and bargaining is not what Chinatown is all about. Sure, the food tastes GREAT, but being able to see all the sights and learn what Chinatown has been through is priceless! Then why not take a tour to learn and find out what Chinatown has hidden in these alleyways and see what it's like today. Come join me and the other guides as we stroll down each alleyway and talk about the struggles, the past, and our own stories and experiences of growing up in Chinatown!

Do you think Chinatown is crowded? Or that it's filled with rude old people? If these cross your mind when you think Chinatown, I want you to join me on a tour. I joined this tour program to not only show you the great food places, but to also show everyone the rich culture of Chinatown. Even my friends could use a tour to reconnect with their roots and culture, so don't be shy and join me and my fellow tour guides on a tour. We will not only inform you of Chinatown's history, but also the current issues that this community faces.

I immigrated to San Francisco and lived in Chinatown ever since I was seven. I have always been active in the community, yet, I never got the chance to appreciate the rich history of Chinatown. I think becasue I lived in it, nothing about the neighborhood ever appealed to me. But becoming a tour guide allowed me to look beyond all the little aspects of Chinatown and helped me realize the impact Chinatown had on San Francisco's history.

Hi everyone! I'm one of the newest members of the CATs family, as well as the youngest, but I'm ready to hit the alleyways to show you the heart of San Francisco from a native youth's point of view. Although I was born in China, I grew up in the Chinatown community, using its alleyways everyday, and now I have a chance to educate others about the true history of Chinatown. It still amazes me the amount of information about my commmunity that I've been able to learn in CATs, both as a participant in the tour and as a tour guide. Every tour has a different atmosphere and a new piece of cultural and historical learning to pique your interest, so I hope you'll sign up today!

A second year English and Anthropology student at UC Davis, Eric is a graduate of George Washington High School in San Francisco. Eric became a tour guide in order to re-educate himself of his heritage while opening up the ideas of different cultures to other communities. Eric also finds this as a way to fight common stereotypes of Chinatown and promote the Chinatown Community as a whole.

I also grew up coming out to Chinatown with mostly my mom for groceries, but my visits to Chinatown became less frequent when I moved farther and farther away from this community. My family moved quite a few times to different parts of San Francisco, but Chinatown has remained the one part of the city that we always come back to. I didn't care about coming to Chinatown until I joined Adopt-An-Alleyway because the idea that Chinatown wasn't just an overcrowded part of the city hadn't crossed my mind. As I started spending more time in Chinatown, however, I learned to love the atmosphere created by the large number of people in this close-knit community.

I am a tour guide to build public speaking skills. And as one of the active members of the youth group, I want to learn more about AAA by getting to know the alumni that are currently tour guides. I now see Chinatown from a different perspective since I joined the youth group, and I want to take part in educating the community about it.

Even though I was born in China and have never lived in Chinatown, I started hanging out in Chinatown in high school and since then, have really identified with the people and the stories here. I also feel one of the biggest issues in the world is a lack of understanding between different cultures. This is my way of trying to connect with more people and share what I know about Asian-American culture, and more specifically, the Chinese-American culture that is embedded in Chinatown.

As a kid I actually disliked going to Chinatown because all I knew about it was that it was way too crowded and the floors were really dirty; however, this description was very childish and uneducated. By joining Adopt-An-Alleyway and working in Chinatown several days a month, I came to develop such a deep connection to the community that I can indentify with it as my own. Chinatown has grown from a place I never wanted to touch, to a community that I will always protect. For me, giving these tours is a way to open the eyes of others and dispel the stereotypes that I myself used to believe in, all the while throwing in my own quirky personality. So if you’re looking for a high energy, interactive tour that only youth can provide, then you’ve come to the right place!

Our tours are unique and original. If you want to learn about cool historical facts and unique stories not told anywhere else, you need to come on our tour. You will be able to learn new stuff and have lots of fun as our tour guides, or maybe even me, take you through the alleyways of Chinatown.

I wanted to be a tour guide to learn more about the rich history of Chinatown and its many facinating stories. I lived in Chinatown until i was about four years old, and have been volunteering there all my life, so Chinatown is my community and I want to help out as much as I can. Becoming a tour guide is the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about my commmunity and teach its history to others.

I started as a tour guide when I was a senior in high school. Not only is this tour educational, it's also a great way to get to learn and understand a community from the perspective of those who actually grew up and lived in Chinatown. I'm one of those individuals and I have many stories to share about my neighborhood--its rich history, its current development, and its future plans. Visitors will get an energetic group of youths who are truly interested in their community. Enjoy the tour and spread the word!

Ever since I lived in Chinatown at the age of 5, Chinatown has been part of my life. I spend most of my time wandering around the neighborhood. But after I went on a Chinatown Alleyway Tour and joined the youth program, Adopt-An-Alleyway, it encouraged me to become part of this the CATs family because I wanted to learn more about the history that shapes my very own "home" and the important role that Chinatown plays in San Francisco.

Hi, I am both an Adopt-An-Alleyway Youth Project (AAA) member and a Chinatown Alleyway Tours tour guide. AAA to educate people on the history of Chinatown. I want to help clear up all the misconceptions concerning Chinatown and its community.

Greetings, I've been leading tours for a few years now. If you guys are looking for a fun, interactive, educational, and personal tour, then Chinatown Alleyway Tours is it. I look forward to meeting you!