//
Photo: Original uploader was Ванка5 at bg.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Small (one square block), well maintained park/square in the heart of the city, located right beside the Financial District. Tai Chi practitioners exercise here in the early morning hours.
Sydney Walton Square is a hybrid public and private park located just west of the Embarcadero in San Francisco, California, United States. The park is named after San Francisco's Sydney Grant Walton, a banker and former vice chairman of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
One of the original Fire Houses in the city, it used horse-drawn equipment and was built in 1868. It was ironically destroyed by the 1906 fire and was rebuilt in 1909 by architect Newton J. Tharp as a two-story building with large arched entrance. The new architecture was heavily influenced by the "City Beautiful" movement.
This flatiron (wedge shaped) copper-green building is an unmistakable San Francisco beauty. The "Grateful Dead" once recorded some of their songs there. Today it is owned by movie-director, Francis Ford Copolla. It now has a cafe on its ground floor, where you can grab a coffee whilst admiring its impressive setting, at the foot of North Beach.
The center was established in order to promote understanding of Chinese and Chinese American history, art, and culture in the US. They have a small gallery with changing Chinese art exhibitions.
At five stories tall, this is the largest Buddhist church in the US and is home to the largest Buddhist congregation in San Francisco. The altar was shaped to represent the ship of the Dharma (teachings of the Buddha) and its teak-paneled walls are supposed to be the sails of the ship.
花園角廣場
This is the largest area of open space in Chinatown. It is known as the "Heart of Chinatown" because the neighborhood began along one of its sides and extended from there to become what is known as Chinatown today. The square bristles with activity, and here you find local residents playing cards or Chinese chess, and practicing Tai Chi. The square contains several memorials, statues, and plaques — including a bronze replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue and a marker commemorating Robert Louis Stevenson.
Located in front of the Levi Strauss headquarters, this immaculately kept little park is perhaps the perfect spot for a picnic... especially if you're exhausted after climbing over Telegraph Hill! It has a soothing fountain as its centerpiece. Having said that, ever present security guards at the park can bring you down from your mellow moments here... just don't dip your feet in the water!