Tour Guides

Chinatown Alleyway Tours is a not for profit, youth-run and youth-led program sponsored by the Adopt-An-Alleyway Youth Project, which is under the Chinatown Community Development Center. As a group of young leaders, their mission is to educate people about the Chinatown community. This program empowers youth by giving them an opportunity to give back to this community and to hone leadership skills. In turn, tour participants will learn about the history and culture of Chinatown through the youths' personal experience.

If you are interested in becoming a tour guide or learning more about Chinatown Alleyway Tours, visit the Adopt-An-Alleyway Youth Project website or contact us.

Alan Tam: 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!

Amy Lin: 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.

Amy Wong: 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!

Anna Liu: Hi there! I'm one of the newer tour guides, and I'm psyched to be able to give you a tour! Having grown up in Chinatown my whole life, I was really ignorant of all the rich and wonderful things about Chinatown. It has really opened my eyes to the importance of this close-knit community. It's great learning about my own culture and the history of the neighborhood I live in, because I can really relate as I am currently living in one of the alleyways. This rewarding feeling of sharing with you about Chinatown gives me great pleasure so come out on a tour and have fun and pick up some delicious dim sum on the way!

Ben Ng: 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!

Brian Ng: 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.

Calvin Yan: 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.

Carmen Ye: Even as a native San Franciscan who grew up grocery-shopping in Chinatown, I learn something new on every tour. As a long-time member of Adopt-An-Alleyway, I'm so proud to finally be able to call myself a tour guide, continuing my journey to dispel stereotypes about my culture. Come along for an amazing ride beyond the trinket shops and tea-tastings, into the fight for awareness of local issues and preservation of a historic community. Join us for a look at Chinatown as the residents know it!

Connie Zhang: 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!

Diana Lin: Even though I don't live there, I practically grew up in Chinatown. Chinatown allowed me to connect back to the roots of my ancestors and understand my family and culture better. I learned about CATs through my participation in the Adopt-An-Alleyway Youth Empowerment Project. I never knew so much about Chinatown's background until I went on my first ever CATs tour. I became a tour guide because I wanted to enhance my public speaking skills, as well as share with all of you the rich history and wonderful culture of San Francisco's Chinatown. I hope to share with you all the exciting history of the fabulous Chinatown. Find out more by coming out to one of our tours, and get some delicious food and wonderful pictures along the way!!

Eric Chau: 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.

Jane Xiao: 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.

Jason Tan: 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.

Jeff Zhang: 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.

Jess Kyo: 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!

Jennifer Chan: 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.

Micah Fong: 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.

Queena Chan: Ever since I was a little kid, I remember Chinatown as a place of home. Even though I lived far away from Chinatown, my family would always end up in Chinatown during the weekends. As the years went by, I often wondered why everyone would go to Chinatown during the weekend even though it's such a small little neighborhood. After joining Chinatown Alleyways Tours, I now have a sense of understanding of why Chinatown is the way it is, why everyone comes back, why it feels like home.

Rosa Wong-Chie: 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!

Tammy Yan: 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.

Timothy Ho: 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.

Wendell Lin: 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!

Wendy Chen: Welcome welcome! I'm a part of Adopt-An-Alleyway as well. Through Adopt-An-Alleyway, I was able to find something special and cool that means a lot to me. I decided to join CATs and was blown away by their cool program. I was amazed by the CONFIDENCE that each tour guide had, which gave me the the boost to become a tour guide myself.