San Francisco California. San Francisco (city). Emergency and Medical Services

- a city that grew out of the Good Grass.
Located in the west of the state of California, the administrative center of the district of the same name. The largest commercial, financial and industrial city of the American West. The epicenter of the "gold rush" of the XIX century. The capital of all informal youth movements of the 20th century.

San Francisco. With what only enthusiastic epithets he was not awarded! Beautiful, dazzling, mysterious… Connoisseurs say: San Francisco is the most picturesque city in America. Solid and reliable, with many banks and corporations, and at the same time free and rebellious. He is hailed by the staunch romantic Jack London as "the world's home port of romantic adventures." And Robert Stevenson remarked: “This is the City of Gold, to which adventurers are carried by all the winds of heaven. I am amazed that the charm of a thousand and one nights has become a reality in a single generation.”

By American standards, San Francisco is not very big. Bounded by the ocean and natural terrain, it covers an area of ​​122 sq. kilometers. And in terms of population (730 thousand), it is not among the ten largest cities in the United States. But, nevertheless, with the suburbs of the Santa Clara Valley and the city of San Jose, San Francisco forms a huge metropolis (6.3 million people). Silicon Valley, where engineers and programmers work and new "high" technologies are created, is just in its line. The US Electronics Industry Center produces a fifth of the world's electronics.

The city is located at the very tip of the peninsula and is surrounded on three sides by the ocean. But the resort of San Francisco can be called conditionally. It is washed by the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean. Thick fog envelops the city every night, and cool sea breezes disperse it only in the morning. There are no cold winters here, but there are no really hot summers either. The temperature throughout the year is kept within +20 ° C. Mark Twain said about the local weather: "The coldest winter in my life was in the summer in San Francisco." Romantics call San Francisco the city of eternal spring, and skeptics call it eternal autumn.
"Frisco", "City", "City by the Bay" - the Americans awarded their favorite with such nicknames. And if California in America is called the "Golden State", then San Francisco can be called the "Golden City". There is a lot in it, one way or another, reminiscent of the noble metal. The Golden Gate Bay, the bridge that connects the peninsula to the mainland, is the Golden Gate. The beautiful city park is also called the Golden Gate.

But do not forget that the history of the city began much earlier than the time of the "gold rush". The first, in 1542, the ships of the Portuguese Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who served the Spanish crown, visited here. In 1579, the famous English pirate F. Drake sailed along these shores. But the first settlement was founded only in 1775, when Spanish sailors discovered a bay with a convenient bay. They founded Fort Presido and the village of Yerba Buepa in this place, which in translation meant “Good Grass”. It is from this “Good Grass” that the future city actually grew. Later, the indefatigable Spanish missionaries built a church, which received the name of St. Francis of Assis. In 1848, Mexico lost the war with the United States and gave them the upper part of California, which also included a small seaside village. The Americans began to call the town the same as the church - San Francisco.
The city is counting down its prosperity on August 19, 1848. It was on that day that the New York newspaper Herald published a sensational report: in California, a gold deposit was discovered on the Sacramento River. This information was later confirmed by US President James Knox Polk. Since that time, settlers began to arrive in a small town with a population of five hundred people in search of happiness. In 1849, the city was inhabited by more than 10,000 adventurers, and in 1850 there were already a hundred thousand. Not only Americans came here for good luck. Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Greeks, Filipinos, Scandinavians, Mexicans, this is not a complete list of nationalities. All of them settled in their communities around the city, forming a kind of conglomerate. Now, traveling around San Francisco, you can get into amazing corners where residents sacredly preserve the traditions of their native places.

Chinatown is San Francisco's Chinatown. This is one of the largest Chinese settlements outside of Asia with more than 60 thousand people, and the largest in America. Walking through the streets of the quarter, you plunge into the unique atmosphere of the Chinese city - numerous buildings in the form of pagodas, ethnic restaurants, souvenir shops. All inscriptions on cafes and shops are duplicated in Chinese and made in oriental style, and the houses of the residents are painted in colors that, according to legend, should bring good luck to their owners. Red gives happiness, green - longevity, yellow promises the owner a good fortune, and black - money.

Describing the history of San Francisco, it is impossible not to touch on the "Russian question" in North America. One of the 42 hills on which the city is located is called the Russian Hill. here in the middle of the 19th century. graves of Russian fur seal hunters who worked for the Russian-American Company were discovered. And not far from the city, if you go north along Freeway No. 1, there are the restored remains of the wooden fortress Fort Ross, founded by Russian settlers in 1812. It is sad to realize that it was from the Russians that the enterprising American Sutter bought the land on which, eight years after the sale, gold was first found. Now the "Russian quarters" are located in the Richmond area. Russians, like other ethnic groups of emigrants, are trying to preserve their identity. There are Russian restaurants, Russian cinemas showing exclusively Russian cinema, Russian newspapers, many of which are delivered from Moscow.

California also attracts the Americans themselves with its own lifestyle, so unlike other states. Not only emigrants from abroad move here, internal immigration is strong here. The incredible mixture of races and peoples in the city has created here an extraordinary freedom of morals and tolerance for someone else's way of life. For its free inhabitants, there are absolutely no strict Puritan traditions. The bars of the city have entered the legend. The weakness of local residents for strong drinks was emphasized by “Mr. San Francisco” - Herb Kane, a well-known local historian who devoted his whole life to studying his city: “San Francisco learned to drink in the days of the gold rush and improves in this capacity all his life.” And in the 50-60s of the XX century. San Francisco has become the capital of a global counterculture that has challenged the morals and tastes of a world of well-fed and limited laymen.

Young rebels Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg created in the 1950s the Beat generation philosophy and its new values, among which the motorcycle, alcohol, poetry and jazz are in the first place. You can go to City Light, where Allen Ginsberg was reading The Howl. Or visit City Lights in North Beach, the former headquarters of the Beats. Now it is one of the richest and most interesting bookstores in the United States.
Hight-Ashbury is a neighborhood in San Francisco from which a generation of hippies roamed the world. Compared to the more aggressive beatniks, the "flower children" preferred passing cars, drugs, oriental teachings and rock. The hippies staged a half-million "Summer of Love" here in 1967, the culmination of their movement. Now the area for tourists has been put into museum order. One of its attractions is the wild-colored psychedelic bus that Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, cultized by Hollywood Czech Miklash Forman, drove across America.

One of the symbols of free America, the famous jeans, was born here. Work pants for gold miners from Levi Strauss have become the iconic clothes of the rebellious generation. The mass fashion for them came with the beatniks, from the Hollywood images of James Dean and Marlon Brando. Against the backdrop of all the ups and downs, the history of this clothing is very indicative. It was working, then rebellious, and now the average American or European cannot imagine his life without comfortable casual trousers.
San Francisco is still one of the world leaders in non-standard attitude to life. The city is the most prominent center of the gay civil rights movement. On Christopher Street, seven-color flags are hung in the windows of many houses so that no one doubts the sexual orientation of their residents.

San Francisco is located in a seismically dangerous and not - under it passes the crevice of San Andreas. Now Oma "behaves" relatively calmly - 100 shocks per month with a force of less than 1 point. In modern homes, such small jolts are almost imperceptible. You notice them only when the paintings on the walls periodically change their position. But there were times when the element showed itself in all its might. Strong earthquakes were noted here in 1812 and in 1865. From 1849 to 1852, San Francisco experienced six major fires caused by underground vibrations. In 1906, it was almost completely destroyed by a strong earthquake and a large fire that followed. But the city has always been rebuilt. It is no coincidence that its coat of arms is adorned with the legendary Phoenix bird, reborn not from the ashes, but from a ring of flame. After the last destruction, restoration proceeded at a truly "Stakhanovite" pace. Already in 1915, San Francisco was restored to such an extent that it was able to host the international exhibition "Panama International".
The city's desire for continuous development is characterized by the fact that during the years of the Great Depression, when the United States was going through hard times, an ingenious project was implemented here, which has now become a symbol of San Francisco - the Golden Gate Bridge. This is one of the longest (total length - 2730 m, central span - 1280 m) and beautiful bridges in the world. It spread across the bay and connects the city to the mainland. It has six lanes of traffic, and for walkers there are two walking paths. If you look down from the bridge, at the fog swirling below, then there is a fantastic feeling of flight. The romantic image of the bridge and the strait of the same name was sung by Jack London: “The Golden Gate really gilded in the rays of the setting sun, and behind them the immense expanses of the Pacific Ocean opened up. Behind them is the Pacific Ocean, China, Japan, India, and ... Coral Islands. You can sail anywhere through the Golden Gate, to Australia, to Africa, to seal rookeries, to the North Pole, to Cape Horn.

The history of the bridge is very interesting. The need for its construction began to be thought about at the very beginning of the 20th century, when cars appeared in the life of citizens. The initial estimate for the project was $100 million.
The amount was really very solid, so such projects were not taken seriously. But Joseph Straus, an experienced engineer, said that he would meet the construction cost of 27 million. By the way, the real estimate did not exceed the promised one by much - by 8 million. Construction began in 1933, and in 1937 the bridge was inaugurated. From now on, you can get into the city directly from the mainland, paying $ 3 per car. And at the entrance to the bridge there is a bronze figure of engineer Joseph Straus, protecting his offspring from all sorts of troubles.

In some ways, the city is typically American, in some ways it has its own unique features. Repeatedly rebuilt after fires, each time it became a little different, reflecting the inclinations and tastes of its architects. The central street of San Francisco - Markst Street. It was drawn by the Irishman Jasper O'Farrell diagonally to the already laid streets, taking the Champs-Elysées of Paris as a model. As elsewhere, the city center is decorated with huge skyscrapers made of glass, steel and concrete. For example, the office of the Transamerica Corporation, built in 1972, is a pyramidal building 260 meters high. Or a complex of five skyscrapers - the Embarcodero Center, designed by D. Portman.

Named after the carpenter who first discovered gold, John Marshall Square is home to the San Francisco Civic Center. The majestic buildings of gray granite, built in a classical style, were declared a landmark of national importance in 1978. The building of the City Hall (Town Hall), built in 1915, is also located here, the object of special pride of the townspeople. The dome of the Town Hall is modeled on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the main Catholic church. It has a height of 102 m and is 4 m higher than the Washington Capitol.

Despite its business rhythm, San Francisco is conducive to unhurried walks. It is very good to walk here on foot or on special sightseeing trams - cable cars. The city even has a museum dedicated to the townspeople's favorite type of gransporg. The tram rises along the "humped" streets with the help of steel ropes. The elevation changes of the hilly terrain are practically not felt here. On the contrary, each new road turn reveals another facet of the beautiful city. Almost all of modern San Francisco was built up before 1935. Since the 50s of the XX century. building a helstio in a city bounded by natural terrain has been reduced. In the 1990s, a moratorium was declared on the demolition of any buildings. Therefore, houses built in the Victorian style are replacing buildings in the neoclassical style. Further you can see luxurious Italian mansions and Moorish turrets - the Palace of Fine Arts, the community center, the Morris store. From the height of the Coit Tower, you can admire the opening panorama of the city with its sights - Telegraph Hill, Fort San Francisco, Historic ships (historical ships).

There are a lot of museums in the city, and they all differ in variety - from serious academic to interesting everyday ones: the Museum of Asian Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum of Painting, Wells Farto Historical Museum, Maritime Museum, Wine Museum. They exhibit collections of antiques, works of art, including ancient Indian.
There are more than 140 theaters in the city, of which the most famous are the Opera House, the Alcazar Theater, the Orpheus Theater, as well as concert halls - Curran, Little Fox, On Broadway.

San Francisco is a major center of science and education. The most famous educational institutions are the University of San Francisco, the Department of the University of California, the State University at San Francisco, the conservatory. It is also home to the California Academy of Sciences, founded in 1853. It manages the Morrison Planetarium (Morrison Planetarium), and the Steinhart Aquarium (Steinhart Oceanarium), open to tourists.
A distinctive feature of the city can be called its streets. Some of them have a slope of up to 35 degrees. Cars park at a sharp angle to the pavement, otherwise they will roll, despite the most reliable brakes. The steepest and most winding street in the world is Lombard Street, which is located on Russian Hill. Laid in the 20s of the XX century, it has become one of the symbols of the city and is listed in the Guinness World Records. The round slope of the hill gives the street a broken outline. Without the zigzags, descending the slope would be like moving down the chute of a ski jump. Except without snow.

A fairly dense building still provides space for flowers and trees. There are more than 130 parks in the city.
Among them is the most and (the local Golden Gate is the National Recreation Area. A powerful green massif is the pride of not only the residents of San Francisco. This is the largest urban man-made park in the United States, it covers an area of ​​411 hectares. It is hard to imagine that such beauty was created The park was laid out on a sandy stretch of the seashore, the sand was reinforced with grass, and the territory was fenced with a rampart from the winds from the Pacific Ocean.
Here all the lakes, waterfalls, green valleys and hills are created by caring human hands. Walking along the paths of the park (their total length is 43 km), you can go to the Rhododendron Valley, where the largest collection of these plants in the world is collected, or visit the elegant Japanese Garden with a traditional Japanese house for tea ceremonies, and your feet will lead you to the exquisite Aroma Garden , or the Bible Garden.

You can't miss the romantic Shakespeare's Flower Garden. The author of such a "literary-botanical" masterpiece is Alice Eastwood. According to experts, she "created a collection full of poetic harmony." There is a wall in the garden, in which six bronze slabs with 88 quotations from Shakespeare are mounted. In the center of the wall is a safe containing a copy of the sculptural portrait of the great playwright, made from a death mask in 1620 by G. Johnson. This rarity (there are only two such portraits) was handed over to the garden from the inhabitants of Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare died.
The Botanical Garden of the California Academy of Sciences is also located on the territory of the park complex. Here, more than 500 species of plants from all over the world are collected in the natural-scientific collection.

Park "Golden Gate" is a favorite vacation spot for citizens. Here you can not only admire nature, but also have a festive picnic. Or listen to one of the many concerts organized right under the open sky. And for fans of roller skates - this is a traditional gathering place. But even this park could not contain all the natural attractions of San Francisco. For example, in Sutro Park there is an End of Land (“End of the Earth”), the westernmost point of the continental surface of the Earth in the direction of its rotation around its axis.
If we talk about the nature of the city, one cannot but mention the majestic Pacific Ocean, its beaches and embankments. There is constant surf here. Watching the endless full distance, you renounce everything earthly, from the anxieties and worries of the crazy rhythm of life. On the piers and piers, you can see the rookeries of fur seals basking in the sun. Residents of the city tell funny stories about how you can "nose to nose" in the water with these funny animals. The beaches are located at Point Reyes, and although the water is rather cool, there is no shortage of people who want to swim and sunbathe.

The final touch of urban features is the local cuisine. Fast food restaurants are not particularly favored by the townspeople. Residents of San Francisco know a lot about the refined niche. Here they catch the most delicious crabs in the world, white sturgeon, Chikun salmon. Excellent restaurants on Rybachaya Embankment will not leave indifferent the most demanding gourmet.
Yes, San Francisco is one of the most beautiful and distinctive cities in the United States. And Robert Stevenson very rightly said in his time: "San Francisco has only one drawback: it is difficult to leave it."

The image of the dragon will haunt you everywhere in Chinatown - and indeed without it, any place on the globe where the Chinese live compactly is unthinkable, be it the Chinatown of San Francisco, Paris or Bangkok. All Chinese, regardless of where they live, consider themselves descendants of the Dragon - “long tik chuan ren”, and in general, according to legend, the Chinese nation and its culture were formed around the Dragon (“Long”), which is considered the embodiment of power, perfection, greatness and divine favor. Unlike European dragons and their Russian deviations such as the Serpent-Gorynych, which were distinguished by extremely bad habits, the Chinese Dragon is wise and noble, the Chinese revere him very much and build beautiful temples in his honor.

The central artery of Chinatown San Francisco is Grant Avenue, along which most of the local attractions are located, such as St. Mary's Square (St. Mary square - north of the Dragon Gate), St. Mary's Cathedral and Portsmouth Square (Portsmouth square ).

It is Portsmouth Square that is the symbol of "Chinese life" in San Francisco: old people play Chinese chess there, people of all ages do Tai Chi gymnastics. In the center of the park there is a copy of the Goddess of Democracy in memory of the students' protests suppressed by the authorities of communist China on Beijing's Tiananmen Square. A little away from Grant Avenue is the Tin How Temple, it was not so easy to find it, and in the process of searching for it, I encountered an unusual moment for America: people in the USA in general and in San Francisco in particular are very friendly and always ready to help the tourist. Which, unfortunately, I cannot say about the Chinese inhabitants of San Francisco's Chinatown. For a long time I could not find the Tin Hao temple among other picturesque Chinese houses and decided to ask the local people where to look for it. Three times I turned to Chinese passers-by with a request to show me the way, and all three times I was not only not shown, but not even particularly honored with an answer. The natives only screwed up their already narrow eyes contemptuously and ran further on their Chinese affairs, without even turning their heads in my direction and without listening to the end of the question. Everyone looked as if he was at least Confucius, and I was a bucket of garbage - and not local. Perhaps I didn’t formulate the request correctly and it shouldn’t have started with the phrase “excuse me sir, would you help me ...” - they probably decided that I would start begging for money from them. As a result, I did find the temple itself, but the refusal of the local residents not only to show the way, but even simply to answer, was very dissonant with the attitude of other residents of the city of San Francisco - both Euro-Americans, and African-Americans, and especially Latinos (the latter are simply ready to take you by the hand to where you need to go). By the way, regarding the wording of the question: indeed, you shouldn’t say “Would you help me” - in the States, people are really scared of this, they checked it in different cities, it’s better to immediately “Please tell me where ...”

Returning to the Tin Hao Temple - this is the oldest Chinese temple in the United States, it was erected in honor of the safe arrival of the first Chinese immigrants in San Francisco. The temple is really tiny and not easy to find, the western wall is decorated with gilded wood carvings in honor of Ting Hao, God of Heaven. Numerous paper lanterns hang from the ceiling of the temple - it is believed that while the lantern is burning, it brings health and happiness to the person in whose honor it was lit. The exact address of the Tin Hao Temple: Waverly place, 125.

In the north, Chinatown is limited by Broadway Street - unlike its New York namesake, which is filled not with music halls and neon lights, but mostly establishments and characters, to one degree or another related to the semi-legal sex services : porn cinemas, strip clubs and street prostitutes (often being police officers and delivering their unlucky clients not to “numbers”, but directly to the police station). Other San Francisco Broadway establishments include the Hustler Club, founded by the famous Larry Flynt, and the Stinking Rose Restaurant (Stinking Rose, 325 Columbus avenue), which is soaked through with the smell of garlic.

Graffiti in Chinese:

Sights of San Francisco, day two

Russian Hills, Lombard Street, Golden Gate Bridge, West Paris, Fishermans Wharf, Telegraph Hill, Filbert Street.

My second day in San Francisco started with a walk around the area Russian Hills— it was the closest attraction of the city to my hotel. One of the most striking features of the city of San Francisco is its relief, namely the famous steep hills on which the city is built:

In the Russian Hills area, you can see this feature of San Francisco in all its splendor, and not even bothering your legs too much: one of the branches of the legendary San Francisco cable tram, the Powell-Hyde line, passes along Hyde street:

on which you can get to the picturesque Lombard street, known as crookedest street - "the most winding street in the United States":



The street really meanders like a snake crawling along the ground, and along its entire length it is literally immersed in greenery. Absolutely all visitors to San Francisco consider it their duty to walk or drive along this famous street - and I did not violate this rule.

An obligatory shot for all those who came to the city of San Francisco for the first time is “cable tram with Alcatraz Island in the background”:

Going down Lombard Street, I came to the intersection of Columbus avenue and Beach street, where I was tempted to rent a bike and ride it to one of the most recognizable symbols of San Francisco and the USA in general: Bridge Golden Gate (Golden Gate):

San Francisco Landmarks: Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge was the largest suspension bridge in the world from its construction in 1937 until 1964, its length is 1970 meters, the height of the supports is 230 meters above the water. The first twelve hours after its opening, the Golden Gate Bridge was provided exclusively to pedestrians, and then, at the signal of President Roosevelt, motor vehicles were allowed to enter the bridge.

The six-banded red giant is notable for many things - and, among other things, is known as one of the most popular places on Earth to settle accounts with life. On average, every two weeks, someone decides on such a radical way to get rid of life's problems, and, according to unofficial data (official statistics were stopped in 1995, when the number of suicides reached 1000), over more than 70 years of its existence, the Golden Gate Bridge has become "springboard" to a better world for more than 1300 people.

The fall from the bridge lasts 4 seconds, the body enters the water at a speed of 120 km / h, which causes it to receive multiple injuries, often incompatible with life. According to information for 2006, of all those who jumped from the bridge, only 26 people survived, all of them entered the water feet first. Another curious fact from the “life” of the Golden Gate Bridge: on May 18, 2004, a deer crossed the bridge for the first time, paralyzing traffic on the bridge for twenty minutes with its act.

My bike ride to the Golden Gate Bridge, then along the bridge itself to the opposite bank and back to the rental point took exactly two hours with frequent photographing of the bridge, myself against its background, picturesque surroundings and cost me 16 dollars (hourly bike rental - 8 bucks per hour) .

But it is definitely worth it: firstly, it takes a very long time to walk there, and secondly, it requires a fair amount of physical fitness - the landscape there is green hilly. On the way back from the bridge to the bike rental point, I came across another San Francisco attraction called "Western Paris":

All this pseudo-antique beauty was built in 1915 specifically for the Panama Pacific exhibition, timed to coincide with the opening of the Panama Canal.

After handing over the bike, I walked around the area Fisherman's Wharf, where he completed another mandatory item of the San Francisco visit program: he dined on the pier with the famous Clam chouder soup: this is the famous American thick rich seafood soup. Fisherman's Wharf- This is another attraction of San Francisco; in its western part, it is represented by the so-called Fish Alley, where in numerous fish restaurants you can taste everything that can be prepared from seafood harvested in this part of the world.

On the waterfront east of Fish Alley, you can visit a US Navy transport and a World War II submarine that have been turned into public museums:

and in the building of one of the port facilities there is an exhibition of antique slot machines - many of them are quite playable, although the inscriptions warn to be careful with them, because "most of them are older than you will ever be":

After the slot machines, I reached the "rookery of sea lions" - these animals were given several wooden platforms near one of the piers, and on these platforms they bask in the sun, entertaining the walkers.

There is also a pier nearby, from which ferries depart, including to the famous Alcatraz island (Alcatraz), "America's most famous prison", a place that has been sung more than once in Hollywood films:

To the east of this pier is Fisherman's Wharf Market, famous for its seafood, fruits and vegetables (Pier 39).

Another attraction in the San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf area is the Aquarium, located just west of Pier 41, and consisting of three parts: "Explore the Bay" (Discovery the Bay), "Under the Water" (Under the Bay) and "Touch the Bay" ( Touch the Bay). Its highlight is a huge transparent pipe through which visitors pass, while sea reptiles swim in schools from all sides. The people and the inhabitants of the abyss seem to have changed places there: people in the “aquarium” pipe, while the fish looks at them with pleasure from above, being in relative freedom.

My walk through Fisherman's Wharf went on to storm the steep Telegraph Hill, where we rise another attraction of this part of San Francisco - Coit tower:

The tower was built with money from Lily Coit in 1934. The lady was known for her panic fear that one day a grandiose fire “like in Chicago” could start in San Francisco, and an observation tower was vital for the timely detection of a fire. According to its original purpose, the Coit Tower is no longer used, but the views from it are amazing, which tourists from all over the world willingly use. True, I didn’t climb the tower itself - firstly, it was a pity to spend 12 bucks on it, and secondly, there was a long queue at the entrance. After Telegraph Hill, I decided to look at one attraction in the city of San Francisco - a picturesque Filbert street located nearby:

In fact, this is not quite a street, but rather a string of narrow wooden bridges winding between beautiful old mansions immersed in greenery.

Filbert Street is considered by many to be the most beautiful street in San Francisco. From my point of view, Lombard Street, which I have already mentioned, could well compete with Filbert for the title of “most beautiful” - but, be that as it may, both of them are among the main attractions of San Francisco.

Filbert street leads to Levi Plaza area, which owes its name to the "inventor" of jeans Levi Strauss. The history of jeans and Levi Strauss himself is quite worthy of a brief retelling. It began in 1829 in Bavaria, when a seventh child named Leiba was born in a poor Orthodox Jewish family of immigrants from Western Ukraine. Even as a Strauss, Leiba was not eager to become a musician, but, like any decent Jew, he wanted to become a millionaire. In 1853, the young Leiba moved to San Francisco and shortened his name to Levi - it was this version of him that was destined to become a world famous brand. At the same time, California is in a gold rush, and Levy begins to sew from tent fabric (there was no other handy) durable overalls for prospectors; for his first jumpsuit, Levy was paid $6 in gold dust. According to one version of the origin of the name of his products, Levy ordered material for his pants in Italy, and the bales arrived in the States from Genoa marked "Genes" - for the Americans it sounded like "jeans". Currently, the Jewish Museum in Berlin houses Levi's 501 jeans, revered as one of the most valuable gifts of the Jewish people to the rest of humanity.

One of the most common types of residents of the city of San Francisco:

Sights of San Francisco, day three

Business District (Market Street and Embarcadero), Castro District, Twin Peaks Hills and Trans-American Pyramid.

The morning of my third day in San Francisco was marked by an exciting trip to another attraction of the city, which would be unforgivable to miss - old cable tram:

Before Streets Market I rode hanging on its running board - and not because there was no room inside, but because that is how it is customary to ride streetcars in San Francisco: tourists, and yuppies in office ties, and hippies in picturesque rags. The Negro conductor all the way good-naturedly quarreled with passers-by and, judging by their reaction, they were all his good friends.

Here on this platform the trams are deployed:

Along Market Street - this is essentially the central street that runs through the whole city from the embankment to Castro district- I walked to Embarcadero streets, there went to take a look at Hyatt Regency Hotel, famous for its revolving rooftop restaurant, was impressed by the bourgeois chic and moved on.

In the lobby of the hotel there is a model “Alcatraz prison with a section” - apparently so that the rich hotel guests do not forget that anything can happen in life and, as they say, “from the bag to the prison” ...

I didn’t get into the restaurant on the roof itself - my very worn jeans and worn-out sneakers did not correspond to the general atmosphere there. At the exit from the Hayatt, I was overwhelmed by the desire to go to Alcatraz Island (Alcatraz) - initially, my plans to visit this San Francisco attraction did not appear, I am not a fan of prison romance and have not watched a single Hollywood movie about this legendary American prison. At pier 33 (where the boats leave for Alcatraz), I was predictably expected to announce that the island was closed due to a government shut-down. themselves and failed to pass the budget for the new fiscal year, which began on October 1, and for this reason, almost all federally funded institutions (except those related to national security) were closed and their employees were sent on unpaid leave. In short, the trip to Alcatraz did not come true for me and I decided to look at another famous San Francisco attraction - Twin Peaks hills, and before that, take a walk around the global "mecca" of LGBT characters - the Castro district. But first my legs carried me to Embarcadero Center- a huge multifunctional retail, office, hotel and entertainment complex, consisting of eight buildings with a total area of ​​400 thousand square meters. meters.

Located nearby fountain by Armand Vellancourt Unfortunately, it has been turned off. When turned on, it resembles volumetric graffiti or stylized open square veins from which transparent blood flows:

Further, the path lay to the hills of Twin Peaks, and on the way there was another attraction of San Francisco: the Castro district, known as the place of compact residence of "rainbow" characters and almost the world center of the subculture of sexual minorities. Getting there is quite simple - this is the end station of the MUNI metro lines K, L, M and T.

Personally, Castro didn’t impress me much, the district as a district - in the sense of “LGBT lawlessness”, some places in Amsterdam look more outrageous - only rainbow flags fly over almost every entrance, and one of them proudly flies on a tall flagpole, like a state banner:

The Castro district is also known for its eponymous cinema, where films are shown on hot topics for gays and lesbians, as well as the Asia SF restaurant, where you will be served by transvestite waitresses.

Quite curious, but if you have already visited Pattaya or some specific areas of Bangkok, you are unlikely to be surprised by anything there.

In general, the Castro district makes, oddly enough, a rather solid impression - even sex shops with all sorts of dildos and lubricants look respectable and bourgeois there. However, if you are extremely uncomfortable with the sight of men walking around the floor and flirting men, it is better not to go there.

After walking around the Castro district, I took bus 37 (the stop is located at the corner of Market and 16th streets) and drove it almost to the saddle between the two famous Twin Peaks hills - I don’t recommend going to this San Francisco landmark on foot, you will have to climb long and high , after such a walk, you won’t want anything at all.

Road to Twin Peaks:

By the way, the bus and tram fare in San Francisco costs $2 and the driver does not give change from higher denomination banknotes, which is even written on the bus entrance. But the public transport drivers in San Francisco are quite good-natured people and when I tried to pay with a 10-dollar bill for lack of others, they just drove me for free. And one African-American tram driver was easily satisfied with a handful of change from my pocket in the amount of 1.80 bucks - there was no more, only the same ten ..

View of the city of San Francisco from the hills of Twin Peaks:

The view from the hills is beautiful, but, in addition to the city itself, it is also very clearly visible and smog above it:

On the way back, the story of ticketless travel was repeated: there was simply nowhere to change money on the hills. In principle, the bus driver was not particularly against my ticketless travel, but my conscience had already “tormented” me (it tends to wake up if the drivers and conductors are normal people and do not rest against the horn - they say, “either pay or go on foot”) and I tried to exchange money with one of the passengers - and in the process of this exchange I met a very soulful Mexican, Jose, who helped me with the exchange and also gave me a lot of practical advice.

Having learned about my misadventures with their American government shut-down (in four days I planned to go to several national parks from Las Vegas and really hoped that this political problem of theirs would be successfully resolved by that time and the national parks would reopen), he took out an iPad and all the way I tried to google something encouraging on this topic, but at that time there was no good news. But the very desire to help a stranger was pleasant and very different from the attitude of the inhabitants of Chinatown the day before. In conclusion, Jose took me to some bar to his friends, where the cashier exchanged another ten dollars for me. Then I took the MUNI metro to the Embarcadero station and walked for a couple of hours Financial District of San Francisco- Montgomery Street, Union Square.

In those parts is located Trans American pyramid (Transamerica Pyramid, www.transamerica.com), San Francisco's most unusual skyscraper and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks:

According to legend, John R. Beckett, president of Transamerica, once noticed that the pyramidal treetops in the city park allowed sunlight to penetrate to the ground and did not cast a massive shadow. Wanting to achieve a similar effect, he chose an unconventional pyramidal shape for the building of his company; as a result, the shadow from the resulting skyscraper is really very thin and, like a sundial, it goes around the surrounding neighborhoods like a clock hand.

Oddly enough, but in such a remarkable building there is no observation deck - an unthinkable commercial miscalculation for America, where it is customary to turn absolutely everything into hard cash. However, you can get a bird's eye view of the sights of San Francisco three blocks down Montgomery Street - on the 52nd floor of the Bank of America building there is a restaurant with a panoramic view.

The next day, I was due to take the bus to Los Angeles and, after having dinner on the now traditional duck in Chinatown, I decided to find the Greyhound bus terminal so that I would not have to look for it tomorrow with a backpack. The decision turned out to be very correct: judging by the information on the Internet, the bus terminal was supposed to be located at the corner of Mission and Fremont streets, but in fact there was a large fenced construction site. He was found a couple of blocks southeast - at the corner of Howard and Beale street.

Day Four, Moving from San Francisco to Los Angeles

I checked out of the hotel without incident in the morning and walked to the Greyhound bus terminal in half an hour, refreshing myself with a glass of Starbucks cappuccino along the way. Registration for the bus at the Greyhound is organized as at the airport (only without a personal search). Weigh luggage; if you hand over the suitcase to the luggage compartment, they demand to pay extra - from the aunt, who stood in line for registration in front of me, they demanded to pay 5 bucks extra for the suitcase. I turned my “suitcase on wheels” into a “backpack” again and said that this was my hand luggage, I would not check anything in my luggage. My luggage was incredulously examined, but in the end the feint rolled, and the backpack rode in the bus next to me for free. I bought a bus ticket six months in advance and it cost $36 then. I suppose that directly on the day of departure it would be more expensive.

By the way, while already in the USA, I heard good reviews about the Megabus bus company a couple of times - they say, if you buy tickets for a couple of months, you can leave New York for Washington for almost $ 1. I haven't tested it myself yet, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of this information. It takes about 7 hours to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, with stops for 20 minutes in Oakland, then half an hour in Avenal, and a couple of minutes in San Fernando.

How to get to San Francisco from Moscow

Since there is no direct flight Moscow - San Francisco in nature, you can get to San Francisco from the Russian capital with only at least one transfer - most likely in New York, Washington, Atlanta or Los Angeles, Aeroflot airlines or Delta. The cost of a flight to San Francisco from Moscow depends on the season and is approximately $700 one way. The duration of such a flight will be about 20 hours (depending on the duration of the connection at the intermediate airport).

To search for cheap flights to the USA, you can use this search form:

If you have already arrived on the West Coast of the United States, then the most reasonable way to get to San Francisco is by Grayhound bus. Another way to get to San Francisco from any major city in the US is the train of the state-owned rail operator Amtrak. For more information on flights and ticket prices, please visit the websites of the respective companies: www.amtrak.com and www.greyhound.com.

Life hack: how I save on hotels and insurance

In addition to traditional and well-known tools such as Booking or Hotellook, new online services have recently appeared that make life much easier for the traveler and pleasantly protect the thickness of his wallet. One of them - roomguru I use it all the time and recommend it to all my friends and family. This service compares prices for an object in 30 booking systems at once, and offers you the most interesting options. In addition, it tracks discounts and special offers.

As for a good working travel insurance, it was not easy to find it before, but now it has become even more difficult due to the constant fluctuations of the ruble against world currencies. For the past few years, I have been taking out insurance for my travels through an online service - here you can compare the products of different insurers and choose what is best for you:

San Francisco Tours by Locals

You can explore the "most European city" of America both on your own and with an organized Russian-speaking tour. Your guides will be local residents - photographers, journalists, historians - who are in love with their city and know almost everything about it. You can find a list of all available author's excursions in San Francisco in the table below. By default, the window displays the first 3 excursions, sorted by reviews and popularity. To see all available options, click "View All".

At the booking stage, you will need to pay 20% of the cost of the tour - the rest is given to the guide before it starts.

Unforgettable impressions from the sights of the USA and the city of San Francisco!
Your Roman Mironenko

San Francisco is a city in the western United States on the Pacific coast. San Francisco received such a sonorous name in honor of the Catholic Saint Francis of Assisi. The city is part of the state of California and is the fourth most populated in it. The total area of ​​the city is 600.6 km², of which only 121.4 km² is occupied by land. San Francisco occupies the northern tip of the peninsula of the same name and is washed on three sides by the waters of both the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. The city's recent population is 884,363 (2017).

The year 1776 is considered the founding of San Francisco. It was in this year that the Spaniards settled the coast of the peninsula, establishing a mission in honor of St. Francis on it and erecting a fort at the Golden Gate Strait. The resulting small town was named Yerba Buena, which means "good grass". The modern name appeared in 1848, when the city began to grow irrepressibly due to the California gold rush. The second birth of San Francisco dates back to 1906. This year, the city was badly damaged by an earthquake, fire and flood, and then was almost completely rebuilt.

The climatic features of San Francisco include summer fogs and cold winds. However, despite such inhospitable weather, the city is very popular with tourists. Tourism forms the backbone of the city's economy. In terms of the number of foreign tourists, San Francisco ranks fifth in the United States. Connoisseurs of Victorian and modern architecture, museum art, ethnic festivals and fairs, as well as fans of surfing and other water sports come here. US attractionslocated directly in San Francisco deserve special attention. Tourists especially appreciate Alcatraz Island, Pier 39, the famous Golden Gate Bridge and the largest Chinatown in the world.

Another booming industry in San Francisco is the banking system. It was here that the Bank of America was founded at the beginning of the 20th century, and today the main financial center of the country's west coast, called the "Wall Street of the West", is located. A significant rise in the economy of San Francisco occurred with the advent of Silicon (Silicon) Valley in the district. It is the leading center of innovative technologies in America, where the main part of the scientific and technological potential of the country is located. It houses high-tech companies involved in the creation of computers and software. The pharmaceutical industry in the city is no less developed. The region is home to hundreds of companies in regenerative medicine, biotechnology and biomedicine, genetic engineering and medical electronics.

San Francisco is considered a city of diverse religions, racial groups, nationalities, and interests. At the same time, more than a third of the city's residents were born outside the United States. One obvious problem in San Francisco is the high number of homeless people. This is a "chronic disease" of the city, which appeared in the 1980s and influenced the growth of the crime rate. It is curious that large communities of the Russian-speaking population live in some areas and suburbs of San Francisco. For example, the Richmond area is famous for its large concentration of Russian restaurants and shops, and the Consulate General of the Russian Federation has been operating in one of the most prestigious areas of the city of Pacific Heights for a long time. The Museum of Russian Culture and St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral deserve special attention. Another feature of San Francisco is the progressive views of the townspeople towards gay minorities. According to some reports, about 15% of the population belongs to sexual minorities, which puts San Francisco in first place in the number of gays and lesbians in the United States.

Based: 1776
Square: 600.6 km 2
Population: 884 363 people (2017)
Currency: U.S. $
Language: English
Off.site: http://www.sfgov.org

Current time in San Francisco:
(UTC -8)

San Francisco is a city of amazing beauty, mysteries and a dozen hills. Even pragmatic Americans distinguish it from other major cities, calling it "the pearl of the West Coast." In this city, such iconic personalities as Jack London, Isadora Duncan, Clint Eastwood, Steve Jobs, Bruce Lee were born and spent a lot of time. The Soviet actor Savely Kramarov spent the last years of his life in the suburbs of San Francisco. Picturesque views of the city are known from many films and TV shows. For example, "Basic Instinct", "Intuition", "Between Heaven and Earth", "Detective Nash Bridges", "Zodiac", the television series "Sliders". San Francisco is also well known for modern computer games. Among them are the games Mafia, Need for Speed, Homefront, Resistance 2.

How to get to San Francisco

At the moment, there are no direct flights from Russian cities to San Francisco, however, many European and Asian airlines fly to San Francisco Airport with connections at their home airports. Below is a list of all airlines flying from Russia to San Francisco. The transfer city is indicated in parentheses.

• Lufthansa (Frankfurt am Main): Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod
• British Airways (London): Moscow, St. Petersburg
• Air France (Paris): Moscow, St. Petersburg
• KLM (Amsterdam): Moscow, St. Petersburg
• Emirates (Dubai): Moscow, St. Petersburg
• Korean Air (Seoul): Vladivostok, Irkutsk
• Swiss (Zurich): Moscow, St. Petersburg
• Asiana (Seoul): Vladivostok, Khabarovsk
• Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong): Vladivostok, Khabarovsk
• Delta (Los Angeles / New York): Moscow
• SAS (Copenhagen): Moscow

An alternative way to get to San Francisco is via Los Angeles, which is easier and often cheaper to get to. Read more about this in the section "How to get to Los Angeles". In this case, you can explore the city famous for Hollywood films, and San Francisco itself. You can get from the City of Angels in various ways - by bus, train, rented car or plane, read more about this.

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Story

Long before the arrival of Europeans on the continent, the San Francisco peninsula was inhabited by Indian tribes. The Europeans managed to catch one of these tribes called Oloni, which in translation meant "Western people". The Oloni tribe's camp was found on the coast of Big Sur. In November 1769, a group of Spanish explorers led by Gaspar de Portula visited San Francisco Bay for the first time, and seven years later the Mission of St. Francis of Assisi, otherwise called Mission Dolores, appeared here. For cover, a small military fort was erected, where the Presidio Park is now located.

In 1821, Mexico officially declared its independence from Spain. Since then, San Francisco, as well as the entire state of California, began to belong to Mexico. The first city plan was created in 1835 by the Englishman William Richardson. He renamed the mission Yerba Buena. In 1846, during the Mexican-American War, the United States gained rights to California. In the same year, the population in Yerba Buena doubled, thanks to the newly arrived Mormons. A couple of years later, the city was renamed San Francisco. Swamps were drained in it for the emergence of new land for construction.

In 1848, the famous California fever began, attracting tens of thousands of immigrants to the state. By 1849, the population of San Francisco had grown from 1,000 people to 25,000, and this continued growth continued for the next 50 years. A large number of Chinese workers were recruited to work in the gold mines. After the gold rush, they continued to work on the transcontinental railroad. Thus, the San Francisco Chinese founded the largest Chinatown in the country and one of the largest Chinese communities in the world.

During the gold rush, rich bankers and magnates began to appear in San Francisco, whose names are known to this day. They are Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Charles Cocker, Colins P. Huntington. These happy mine owners quickly built up mansions in the Nob Hill area. Today, many of their buildings have become famous hotels, such as the Mark Hopkins Hotel or the Huntington Hotel. It was a period of great migration, and as the townspeople needed new jobs, new companies began to appear. These include Levi Strauss & Co., Ghirardelli, Wells Fargo, etc.

Not everything went smoothly in the rise of San Francisco. Unrest soon began over the brutal exploitation of immigrants, followed by riots in Chinatown. In this regard, in 1882, a law was passed to reduce the allowed number of immigrants in the city. This law lasted until 1943.

Another serious problem that affected San Francisco appeared in 1855, when a ship arrived in the city with refugees from the Far East, infected with cholera. It was possible to solve this problem with the help of the Sisters of Mercy, who worked at that time in the hospitals of the city, but this epidemic greatly affected the demographics of San Francisco. In 1900, another infected ship moored to the city. This time the city was engulfed by an epidemic of bubonic plague and the peddlers were rats.

One of the most difficult periods in San Francisco was 1906, which brought a devastating earthquake and then a fire. The city was partially flooded, then burned from the fire. Most of the inhabitants were trapped between these elements, and 80% of the city, including its center, were destroyed. Many people were saved thanks to the organized evacuation through the bay. Refugee camps have opened in the park near the Golden Gate Bridge, in Ocean Beach and some other undeveloped areas. According to official figures, more than 3,000 people became victims of the disaster, and most of the survivors were left homeless for a long time. Immediately after the earthquake, a plan was developed to rebuild and rebuild San Francisco. Again, Daniel Burnham acted as the main planner. By the end of the 19th century, San Francisco was suffering from corruption and the mafia. It was time for reform and change. Elected in 1896, Mayor James D. Phelan came up with a new system to increase the city's fund and a redevelopment plan. His dream was to turn San Francisco into "the Paris of the West". 17 new schools were built, the main library and hospital, a new sewerage system, 2 parks. Later, with the help of renowned American architect Daniel Burnham, Phelan developed a plan to expand the boulevards, create open parks and plazas, and overhaul the city for fifty years. As a result, not everything was implemented, but many ideas were implemented. These include the current subway lines under Market Street, Fisherman's Wharf, Embarcadero Boulevard, Opera House across from City Hall.

The period after World War II was marked by the construction of new high-speed highways in San Francisco. However, an unexpected problem arose during the implementation of this plan. Due to population density, the construction of highways meant that many of the city's residents could be left homeless. For this reason, in 1959, it was decided to suspend the construction of roads. Moreover, another earthquake in 1989 partially damaged the Central Highway and destroyed the Embarcadero road. Residents of the city decided not to restore these sites, but to rebuild them. Thus, a historic embankment appeared on the site of the Embarcadero highway.

Justin Herman, a Harvard graduate, played a big role in the reconstruction of San Francisco. In the 1950s, he started the renewal of nature reserves and the division of the city into large areas built up with modern buildings. His projects include Yerba Buena Gardens, Japantown, Embarcadero Center, Geary Street.

In the 1960s, San Francisco experienced the hippie era, and even became the epicenter of boiling music, psychoactive drugs, creative and sexual freedom. The most important event of the hippie era was the Summer of Love in 1967. During this period, thousands of hippies from all over the world came to the Haight-Ashbury area to celebrate freedom and love. This unique phenomenon was akin to a cultural, social and political revolution.

Successive mayors of San Francisco brought something new. So, for example, Dianne Feinstein, who ruled from 1978 to 1988, organized the Manhattanization of the city. It was a global reconstruction associated with the appearance of many skyscrapers. Especially Manhattanization affected the financial district of the city. There were many who disagreed with the massive building of skyscrapers in San Francisco and the "high-rise revolution" began. As a result, there were restrictions on construction.

The 1980s saw the emergence of many homeless people in US cities. This problem has not bypassed San Francisco. Many mayors tried to solve it, each in their own way. If Mayor Art Egnos allowed the homeless to camp and coexist peacefully, then Mayor Jordan solved this problem by forcibly expelling all the homeless from the city. The next mayor, Willie Brown, simply ignored the problem, and the homeless again flooded the streets of San Francisco. Gavin Newsom, who succeeded him, developed the Care Not Money program, according to which all homeless people were provided with rehabilitation services and were given employment opportunities.

In the 1990s, San Francisco became the city of computer companies. Not the last role in this was played by close proximity to Silicon Valley. Internet businessmen, leading programmers and other high-tech specialists began to come here more and more often, which greatly influenced the city's economy and employment. Thus, the field of computer technology has become the main one in the city.

Climate and weather in San Francisco

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Monthly weather in San Francisco

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Transport San Francisco

San Francisco is considered to have the most advanced public transportation system on the West Coast of the United States. More than a third of the urban population uses public transport every day, which is represented by buses (diesel and hybrid), trolleybuses, surface and underground high-speed trams, and even historic cable trams. All transport within the city is part of the MUNI system.

Photos of San Francisco

Districts

The urban landscape of San Francisco is diverse. It is based on hills, ethnic districts and quarters, picturesque parks and coastal areas.

It is not known for certain how many hills there are in the city, but their approximate number is 50. Many of the hills of San Francisco are so famous that they are ranked among the sights of the city. For example, the popular hill Twin Peaks, luxury Nob Hill And Russian Hill.

Geographically, San Francisco is divided into forty, dissimilar districts. Many of them are residential and are divided into groups of quarters. However, the following areas are especially popular among tourists: Union Square, Chinatown, Castro, Haight Ashbury, Sunset, Richmond, Treasure Island, Civic Center, South of Market, Mission, Fisherman's Wharf.

There are over 200 parks in San Francisco. The largest and most famous of them is Golden Gate Park, which stretches from the city center to the Pacific coast.

The coastal strip of San Francisco is represented by a long beach Ocean Beach. The water here is not calm and not particularly suitable for swimming, but this does not stop brave surfers who are not afraid of low temperatures and strong ocean currents.

Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks means "twin hills" in English. In accordance with the name, the hill is represented by two identical hills. This place has become especially popular among tourists since the release of the action-packed TV series Twin Peaks, although it has no direct relation to the hills. The main advantage of the hills is that from their top there is a magnificent view of San Francisco. This is a kind of observation deck of the city, which the locals call Christmas tree point. It is best to visit the hills in the late afternoon, when everything around is lit up with colorful lights. Telescopes have been installed on Twin Peaks for a better view. Geographically, Twin Peaks is located in the central part of San Francisco and is the second highest point in the city. The hills are located at a distance of 200 meters from each other and have their own names. So, for example, the southern hill is called Noe Peak, and the northern hill is called Eureka Peak. During grand celebrations accompanied by fireworks, Twin Peaks is packed. This is especially noticeable on the Independence Day of the United States - July 4th. It is windy at the top all year round, so it is better to go there in outerwear.

Nob Hill

Nob Hill is a favorite haunt of the wealthy and the most luxurious neighborhood in San Francisco. The top of Nob Hill is famous for its luxurious hotels, superb views of the surrounding area and the cable car. Nob Hill has always attracted wealthy people from all over the world. They tried to buy a house or mansion here. However, even the height of the famous hill did not save them from the earthquake that struck California at the beginning of the 20th century. Of all the buildings in the area, only one house, owned by James Flood, survived. Today it houses the Pacific Union Club, and luxurious Victorian buildings have grown on the site of the destroyed houses. Until 1850, the hill was called California, in honor of the street adjacent to the east - California-Street. The current name is an abbreviated version of the word nobility, which means “to know, nobility”. The best way to get to the top of the hill is by funicular. Of particular interest to tourists is the neo-Gothic cathedral in the center of the district. Nob Hill is adjacent to areas such as Union Square and Chinatown.

Russian Hill (Russian Hill)

Russian Hill is another upscale neighborhood on a hill in San Francisco, located near Nob Hill. The name Russian Hill in translation means "Russian hill". The most famous part of the area is Lombard Street. It is considered the most winding serpentine street in the world. And also there are many green pedestrian alleys and a surprisingly beautiful panorama of the bay. Another area attraction is the San Francisco Art Institute. Historically, there have always been extensive Russian settlements in San Francisco. The hill got its name during the Gold Rush, when a small Russian cemetery was discovered on its top. Over time, the cemetery was moved. Presumably, these were the burial places of Russian sailors and entrepreneurs from Fort Ross, a Russian settlement on the shores of Northern California in the 19th century. It is known that at the beginning of the 20th century Russian Hill was also densely populated by Russian emigrants, in particular Molokans. The hill was visited by the writers Ilf and Petrov, which they later wrote about in one of their books. Today, there are almost no Russian residents on the hill, since most of them are based in the Richmond area. You can get to Russian Hill both by car and by the Powell-Hyde cable car line.

union square

Union Square is located in the middle of downtown San Francisco. This is the official center of art, theatrical life of the city and shopping. The area surrounding the square is also called Union Square. This name came from the demonstrations that took place here in support of the northern states at the beginning of the civil war (1861-1864). Currently, it is the tourist and commercial epicenter of the city, where life is in full swing 24 hours a day. Union Square is home to six large department stores, many luxury boutiques and hotels, art galleries, first-class restaurants and beauty salons. Solemn events, public events and concerts are often organized on the square, and at Christmas a tall spruce is traditionally set up here. In winter, there is a skating rink.

In the very center of the square rises a granite column with a Corinthian capital at the top. On the capitals you can see a bronze girl in a light dress, balancing on a ball on one leg, as well as kissing seahorses. The monument of the girl raises a trident and a laurel wreath in her hands. This composition was created in honor of Admiral Dewey, the hero of the Spanish-American War of 1898. Another attraction of the square is the Westin Saint Francis Hotel, named after the patron saint of the city, St. Francis. Once, at this hotel, radical Sarah Jane Moore tried to kill President Gerald Ford. In addition to outstanding sights, the Union Square area has many attractive streets for tourists. So, for example, Maiden Lane, which is closed from 11.00 to 18.00 for cars and turns into a cozy pedestrian area. At the same time, all the cafes of the quarter take out tables and chairs to the street. Geary Street also attracts many tourists, especially the five-story building at number 49. It houses, at last count, about nineteen art galleries.

Chinatown

One of the most interesting and visited places in San Francisco is Chinatown. The area has a long history and is the largest settlement of Chinese immigrants outside of Asia. According to the latest data, the total number of Chinese in the city is more than 150 thousand people. And this number is constantly increasing. Global immigration dates back to the Gold Rush period, when an impressive number of Chinese were attracted to work in the mines and to build a transcontinental railway.

Geographically, Chinatown is located in the heart of San Francisco and consists of 24 compact blocks. Most San Francisco Chinese actually live in other areas of the city, such as Richmond or Sunset, but Chinatown is their cultural and political center. One of the attractions of the area is the Dragon Gate, also known as the Gate to Chinatown. This is the official entrance to the area, located at the corner of Grant and Bush streets. This gate appeared in the city in 1970 as a gift from the People's Republic of China. They are typical of Chinese architecture in style and form and are guarded on both sides by formidable lions. A favorite place for tourists is Grant Street. This is the main commercial artery of the area, covering seven blocks. In addition to a whole string of shops with colorful and inexpensive goods, there are restaurants, bakeries, tea clubs, traditional medicine pharmacies and other authentic establishments.

Quite out of place, but here is the Old Cathedral of St. Mary. This cathedral is the only building in the area that survived the earthquake and fire in 1906. In those days, Chinatown had a bad reputation and was called "Little Shanghai". There were many brothels and gambling houses, and in some lanes there were opium dens. Having been in Chinatown, tourists will certainly visit the Ross Alley lane. It is here that the factory that produces Chinese fortune cookies, the so-called fortune cookies, is located.

Castro

Castro (The Castro) is a legendary area that is very popular with gay people from all over the world. It was once called "Little Scandinavia" due to the large concentration of people from Northern Europe. However, in the 1970s, gay bars began to open here and the cultural center of the gay movement gradually formed. In Castro, there is absolute freedom of morals: lovers, without hesitation, walk in an embrace, cafes are full of couples on the verandas, pornographic posters are full of shop windows, and the roofs of houses are decorated with a colored rainbow - the official symbol of all gays and lesbians. In other words, Castro is the cultural center of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, that is, LGBT. The world's first gay bar, the Twin Peaks Tavern at 401 Castro Street, is also located here. One of the oldest cinemas in the United States, Castro Theatre, is especially popular in the area. At night, the Castro is incredibly crowded. All the bars and nightclubs that are considered the best in San Francisco are opening.

In 2011, the country's first LGBT Historical Museum opened between Castro and Collingwood Streets. On normal days, admission to the museum costs about $5, but admission is free on the first Wednesday of the month. Another interesting place in Castro is Cliff's Variety Store. This is a kind of gay supermarket where you can buy everything from kitchen utensils to feather hats. The Castro area is impossible to miss. After all, its rainbow signs and flags can be seen from afar. The best way to get here is by electric tram, which runs through the Castro and Fisherman's Wharf. By the way, historical vintage trams brought to San Francisco from all over the world pass along this line.

Every year on the last weekend of June, San Francisco hosts the most important city event - the gay parade. This holiday is called Pink Saturday, translated as "Pink Saturday". At this grand event, the city is painted in all the colors of the rainbow, and the streets are filled with muscular guys in swimming trunks, painted transgenders in wigs, naked bikers on motorcycles and topless girls. The main local hero is considered the first openly homosexual - Harvey Milk, who later was awarded the post of politician in California. Although Kastro is a gay and lesbian area, locals and tourists of all orientations are always welcome here.

haight ashbury

Haight-Ashbury is another unique neighborhood in San Francisco that rose to fame in the late 1960s as the epicenter of the hippie movement and their Summer of Love. This name appeared in connection with the location of the area at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets. This place does not lose its popularity among creative people. To this day, fans of the hippie movement and vintage lovers actively come here. The shops of Haight-Ashbury are always in the fashion of the sixties, and in cafes and restaurants - a motley audience. Showcases are full of psychedelics, phonograph records and underground comics. Sometimes there are inhabitants of the city bottom, who love to beg for a trifle.

The most notable year in Haight Ashbury was the summer of 1967, when tens of thousands of young hippies from all over the world came here to celebrate love and freedom. The entire local and national press was full of news about 14-year-old boys who flooded the Haight and became drugged. More and more young people flocked to San Francisco during their summer holidays. There were sensational stories of "free love" parties held on the floor or old mattresses. There were cases when drug addicts tried to take off from the windows of skyscrapers. However, the area could not withstand such a flow of people. Chaos reigned everywhere: the streets were full of drugs, the homeless, the hungry, and the crime rate also increased. To officially close the hippie movement in October of the same year, the "Death of the Hippie" ceremony was held. The youth dispersed, and the area remained in decline and ruin until the 1980s. To address this problem, Haight Ashbury has been turned into a tourist area by local authorities.

Since the Summer of Love, the area has not changed much and retained its status as the world capital of the hippie revolution. Many world celebrities were also involved in the hippie movement. So, for example, in the summer of 1967, Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia came here, and The Beatles wrote the songs “All you need is love” and “She’s leaving home” especially for the Summer of Love.

sunset

Sunset is the largest area of ​​San Francisco, located in the central-western part of the city. Once there were only sand dunes on the Sunset site, but today it is a developed residential and commercial area. From the north, the area is surrounded by the Golden Gate Park, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. The eastern and southern borders of the district are slightly blurred. The Sunset area is divided into two parts:

• Inner Sunset
• Outer Sunset

Inner Sunset is located closer to the center of city life and away from the ocean. In fact, this is a relaxed student area where the University of California is located. Since there is a vast park area nearby, students can relax during breaks from study in the bosom of nature. And in the evening, they are beckoned by the lights and noise of the big city.

Outer Sunset is always foggy and smells like the sea as it stretches along the Pacific coast. This area is very different from the central parts of the city. It is always quiet and calm here, and on the streets there are shops with farm products, modest restaurants and inconspicuous cafes.

richmond

Richmond is an area in the northwestern part of San Francisco, surrounded on all sides by greenery. If in the south Richmond connects with Golden Gate Park, then in the north it borders on Lincoln and Presidio parks. In the west, the area is washed by the Pacific Ocean. San Francisco has a large Russian-speaking community. The bulk of Russian residents live in Richmond along Geary Boulevard. Here is the only Russian Orthodox Church in the city - the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This building of unique beauty stands out noticeably against the background of other buildings in the area. Richmond also hosted a large number of Chinese immigrants. Locals sometimes call it the "New Chinatown". There is always a calm atmosphere in Richmond. There are no trendy boutiques and noisy clubs, but there are modest restaurants serving delicious food. The name of the area is taken in honor of one of the suburbs of Melbourne.

Treasure Island (Treasure Island)

The artificial Treasure Island is a former US naval base in San Francisco Bay. Today it is a thriving oasis visited by many tourists. Treasure Island was created in 1936 and 1937 specifically for the Golden Gate International Exhibition. The name of the island is translated as "Treasure Island" in honor of the book by R. L. Stevenson, who once lived in San Francisco. Treasure Island is connected to the mainland by the neighboring island of Yerba Buena, through which the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge passes. A bus route to the city center also runs through the island. On Treasure Island, hangars have been preserved since the time of the international exhibition, which are of particular interest to tourists. After all, it was in them that many scenes from famous films were shot. Among them are "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", "The Matrix", "What Dreams May Come" and others. There is a version according to which Treasure Island is planned to be turned into one of the "green" cities of the future.

Civic Center (Civic Center)

The largest state and cultural institutions of San Francisco are located in the Civic Center area. In addition to the city municipality, there are two huge squares here: Civic Center Plaza and United Nations Plaza. Lovers of beautiful architecture will appreciate the range of classical buildings. The name Civic Center literally means "civic center". The following buildings can be seen in the area: California Supreme Court, Asian Museum of Art, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco Art Institute, Conservatory of Music. The area also includes the Fox Plaza condominium. Due to the fact that the district has a central location, almost all city parades, marches and ceremonies pass through it. Among them are the famous Gay Pride, Love Parade, St. Patrick's Day, etc. Next to the Civic Center is another remarkable area - the South of the Market.

South of Market

The South of Market is a fairly large area in downtown San Francisco, stretching from the Embarcadero to 11th Street. The area is rapidly changing its face and is interesting for its new buildings, skyscrapers, as well as the stadium of the Giants baseball team called AT&T Park. South of Market (South of Market) is popularly abbreviated as SoMa (SoMa). The SoMa area is full of hotels, chic nightclubs and restaurants, warehouses, art venues, modern penthouses, furniture stores, and tenacious Internet companies that managed to survive during the collapse in the technology market. Recently, more and more new skyscrapers have appeared, but there are still enough empty blocks here. The area owes its name to the adjacent Market Street and literally translates as "south of Market Street." The most attractive points for tourists are located near South Park, on 11th Street and where the Yerba Buena Gardens are located. Attractions in the South of Market area include the Museum of Cartoon Art, the California Historical Society, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora, and the famous Museum of Contemporary Art.

Mission

The Mission is a vibrant neighborhood in eastern San Francisco that is mostly populated by Spanish immigrants and hipsters. This name came from the original Mission of St. Francis of Assisi, after whom the city was named. Tourists who have already seen all the sights of the city and want to see something colorful go to the Mission. This is a hospitable corner of the city, where various subcultures and ethnic groups peacefully coexist. This area is like a melting pot. It has everything from expensive restaurants to shabby bars and street food. On the streets of Mission, stalls cluttered with baskets of groceries coexist with colorful shops and roadside cafes where excellent freshly brewed coffee is served.

Many consider this area the most interesting in San Francisco. Among tourists and locals, the various restaurants in the Mission are especially famous. There are dozens of first-class Mexican eateries, the so-called taquerias, many restaurants with Guatemalan, Nicaraguan and Salvadoran food, as well as traditional places of French, Chinese, Italian cuisine. The Mission District stands out from other parts of San Francisco with its colorful painted houses and buildings. This is the work of Latin American activist artists dating back to the 1970s. Mission is like a magnet for creative people. There are dozens of art studios, galleries, exhibition sites. At the intersection of Mission Street and 16th, you can often see a collection of poets, musicians and artists.

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3. Oliva is a tree sacred to the Greeks, the tree of life. Without it, it is impossible to imagine the Greek valleys, sandwiched between mountains and the sea, and even the rocky slopes of the mountains themselves, where olive groves alternate with vineyards. Olives climb almost to the very heights, they dominate the…

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History of the City of San Francisco

In March 1776, in the northern part of the peninsula, where the city of San Francisco is now located, the presidio was founded - the first Spanish military fort and the first Catholic mission - the Dolores mission. On forty nameless hills, the fragrant grass "Uerba buena" grew, which was the name of the first settlement that arose here in 1835 - "Yerba buena" ("Good Grass").

In 1846, this settlement was taken over by the Americans, who, hoping for the favor of heaven, renamed it San Francisco - in honor of Francis of Assisi. At first, only a few dozen people lived in the village, and its economic activity was less than in the fortress of Ross, founded 120 kilometers to the north by the Russian-American company for fishing sea animals and trading in furs.

But St. Francis did not disappoint: two years later, gold was discovered here, and thousands of seekers of happiness rushed to the previously unknown Californian village with a population of only 500 people. If in 1848 only 15 ships visited the unknown port, then next year - already 755. There was no railway here then, but the adobe settlement turned into a city with lightning speed and soon became a port of world importance. Five years later, San Francisco already had 50,000 inhabitants.

In order not to sleep in tents or under sheds, the settlers brought prefabricated houses with them: although there were plenty of forests around, people were in a hurry to search for gold. Several hundred ships, on which the settlers arrived, also served as housing, restaurants and even a prison.

"History of the City of San Francisco"

People of many different nationalities participated in the formation of San Francisco, and therefore, as a result of decades of the "gold rush", it turned into a city of many religions, languages ​​and cultures.

The development of the first urban plan for San Francisco was carried out by the Irish engineer D.O. Farrell. He planned to create a large boulevard in the city, similar to the Champs Elysees in Paris, and therefore, despite numerous protests, he drew a wide Market Street diagonally to the already paved streets. It became the central thoroughfare of the city.

In 1856, the French architect Verseman transported a house from his homeland and built several more in San Francisco according to his model. Houses from Holland, England, Scotland appeared in a similar way; capacious buildings for restaurants were imported from Belgium in the 1850s, and houses made of granite were built exclusively by the Chinese, since only they could read the instructions attached to the stone blocks arriving from China.

The wealthy townspeople usually invited world-famous architects to build their mansions. The city grew, developed and became prettier; magnificent buildings of public institutions and hotels, industrial corporations and banks were erected in it. Moreover, not only gold, but also silver, discovered in 1859 in the neighboring state of Nevada, settled in the banks.

Architecturally, San Francisco was a bizarre mixture of old and new buildings. Many of them were built without any consideration of possible natural disasters, and in fact, the San Andreas fault passes near the city - a kind of giant "scar" that stretches through diverse natural areas.

Since its founding, San Francisco has experienced many earthquakes, some of which even had minor damage. But none of the inhabitants of the city thought of a serious danger.

In the early morning of April 18, 1906, nothing foreshadowed trouble either: the weather on the eve was beautiful, a warm evening attracted masses of people to parks and theaters, restaurants and cafes were full of visitors even after midnight. The meteorologists predicted clear, calm weather, and the day promised not to be hot. But at 5:11 local time, the first blow was heard, from which many residents woke up; it was followed by the second - the most powerful and destructive, after it a whole series of concussions, but already weaker.

A terrible rumble and crackling of bursting buildings, like a crushing tornado, swept through the streets. From the underground impact, which lasted only 40 seconds, multi-storey buildings staggered, lanes reared up, power lines broke, gas and electrical pipes burst ... Asphalt warped, cobblestones flew out of the pavement, tram rails were torn, cars and cars overturned. A giant cloud of dust shot up into the sky and eclipsed the sun. A sudden darkness enveloped the whole of San Francisco, and only the bright glow of the conflagrations flashed brightly and alarmingly. A handsome city, located in a cozy green bay, the resort city in a matter of seconds turned into flaming ruins...

In memory of this earthquake, every year on April 18 at 5:11 a.m., the people of San Francisco gather at the "Lotta Fountain" located on Market Street.

"History of the City of San Francisco"

According to a long tradition, they go to paint the "golden hydrant", through which water was constantly supplied to extinguish the fire for three days.

The city revived very quickly, and already in 1915 hosted the Panama-Pacific Exhibition, held in honor of the opening of the canal. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first high-rise buildings began to be erected in San Francisco, many of which still adorn the city center today. The heart of the financial district is a forest of skyscrapers built of glass, steel and concrete. One of the symbols of the city was the building of the Transamerica corporation - a pyramidal structure built in 1972.

The symbol of the city is the graceful orange-red Golden Gate Bridge, thrown across the Golden Gate Strait, the longest suspension bridge in the world. It opened to traffic on May 27, 1937, and this created a direct road between San Francisco and Marin County. It was then that those who kept saying that it was impossible to build such a bridge fell silent.

And the construction of the bridge was really difficult: there were even accidents with workers who, in the most difficult conditions, struggled with floods, fast currents and thick fog for 4 years to build this bridge 1730 meters long. The most difficult was laying the foundation for the southern piles of the bridge, but the builders coped with this task too...

"Golden Gate" from the very beginning was painted with orange-red paint, which is always used in the construction of steel structures.

"History of the City of San Francisco"

Such paints contain a lead component that protects the steel from rust; in addition, the color of the bridge is clearly visible in the often thickening fogs.

North of Golden Gate is the famous San Francisco Park, whose first architect was W.H. Hall. After him, the park was looked after by the Scot D. McLaren, who planted about 2 million trees here and created many attractions in the park. He even developed special rules of conduct, such as forbidding workers to wear gloves and smoke while working. D. McLaren treated park sculptures with complete indifference, and if they were nevertheless placed, he tried to quickly hide them behind overgrown shrubs.

The city park was built on sand dunes, and everything in it - hills, waterfalls, valleys, lakes, islands - was created by human hands. In the oasis "Golden Gate" there are, for example, several gardens at once - the Biblical, the Garden of Aromas and others. There is also a Shakespeare garden in the park, where trees are specially grown, which are mentioned in the works of the great English playwright.

San Francisco, on the scale of Europe and Asia, is a very young city, its oldest stones are no more than 200 years old. Today's San Francisco is changing and getting prettier, and at the same time, the city cherishes the memory of times gone by. Here they try to preserve not only old houses, but even their individual details, for example, the facades of buildings affected by earthquakes and fires.

In 1978, the Neoclassical Civic Center was declared a National Landmark in San Francisco.

Several gray granite buildings are picturesquely located around J. Marshall Square, the carpenter who first discovered the gold mine.

If you enter San Francisco from the south, the urban changes here are immediately evident. Plum and apricot orchards have disappeared, and along the road there are entire villages of residential vans. There were relatively few skyscrapers built in the city, and constructing modern buildings, the architects tried to combine their architecture with the traditional style of the Spanish period.

In recent decades, San Francisco has changed less than other American cities. This is a city of white two-story mansions built in the style of Victorian architecture. It seems that they all have the same face, in fact there are no similar ones. When you look at San Francisco from Twin Peaks, almost the entire city looms in the clear air: white, sparkling, with bays and bridges in the eastern part of it and with the foggy outlines of the ocean in the western part. It is not in vain that America's advertising brochures say: "You will leave your heart in San Francisco!".

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"If you're going to San Francisco, don't forget to weave a few flowers in your hair" - the words from the famous song by Scott McKenzie, which has been San Francisco's unofficial anthem for almost 50 years. They personify this city as the capital of the hippie movement and progressive youth.

State: California

Foundation date: 1776, city since 1850

Population: 852,469 people

Nickname: Frisco, Foggy City, West Paris

San Francisco is a picturesque sunny city located on a peninsula between the bay of the same name and the Pacific Ocean. Numerous sights of San Francisco attract a huge number of tourists to the city, which is only worth the largest park in the United States, the most beautiful Golden Gate Bridge in the country and the Alcatraz prison. The oldest cable car passes through the compact streets of the city, and Lombard Street is considered the most curved street in the world.

Lombard Street

Alcatraz prison

San Francisco is considered a trendsetter of cultural innovation and experimentation, home of the Beat Generation of the 1950s, center of the counterculture of the 1960s, hotbed of political protest, and center of the American gay community. The population of San Francisco is represented by the most diverse ethnic groups in the United States.

Today, San Francisco is home to a huge number of cutting-edge high-tech companies that provide jobs to thousands of people in this densely populated region.

The coastline of San Francisco stretches for almost 50 kilometers, so the city's climate can be attributed to the Mediterranean. Most of the precipitation here falls from November to March. Since San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides, fog is a distinctive feature of this area, which often approaches the city from the Pacific Ocean.

History of San Francisco

The human footprint on this earth dates back to the 20th millennium BC.

The Spanish conquistadors, who discovered California, did not know about the existence of this peninsula for two centuries, because the fog coming from the Pacific Ocean hid the peninsula from prying eyes. The first Europeans to discover this land were explorers traveling in a small group in 1769 from Mexico to Canada, led by Sergeant José Ortega. After 7 years, a small town was founded here - Yerba Buena. Later, the city received its modern name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.

For more than half a century, this place was not given much importance, but the situation changed dramatically after the discovery of a gold mine here in 1848. The California gold rush triggered the rapid expansion of San Francisco. Thousands of gold miners who came to California in search of their fortune subsequently took root in the region. However, the gold rush brought not only wealth to the city, but also a wave of lawlessness. Gang groups began to form on the territory of San Francisco, gambling establishments and brothels began to open. In 1850, San Francisco was given the status of a city, after which local residents began to form vigilante groups to cleanse the city of criminals and restore order.

After the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, San Francisco continued its development. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the city's population was over a third of a million people. Everything changed at the beginning of the 20th century, when the people of San Francisco experienced the greatest catastrophe in the history of the city. On April 18, 1906, a massive earthquake hit San Francisco, killing more than 500 people. Ten square kilometers of the city were wiped off the face of the earth. The fires caused by the earthquake could not be extinguished for three days. Nevertheless, the people of San Francisco persevered and, on their own, as well as with the help of donations from other states, restored the city. By 1915, the rebuilt city hosted the world's first exhibition dedicated to the completion of the Panama Canal.

The first half of the 20th century was a period of development of the city's infrastructure. In 1913, a dam was built on the Tuoloumne River in the Hetch Hetchi Canyon Valley, in 1936 the construction of the Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland was completed, and a year later, the famous Golden Gate Bridge was presented to the world, which became a hallmark not only San Francisco, but all of the USA.

With the growth of industry, emigrants began to arrive in the city. In 1930, a large-scale movers' strike took place in San Francisco, which became the largest labor uprising in US history.

With the outbreak of World War II, the industry of the city became even more powerful. This period was also marked by the forced relocation of several thousand Japanese Americans from San Francisco to internment camps.

In the 1960s and 70s, San Francisco became the center of youth counterculture, the main site of student protest against the Vietnam War, and a center for the advocacy of the rights of sexual minorities.

1979 is remembered for the high-profile assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Mascone, the city's first openly gay leader. That same year, San Francisco elected its first female mayor, Dianne Feinstein.

In 1989, San Francisco residents experienced another powerful earthquake. However, despite this, in the next decade the city made huge strides in its development: state institutions were renovated, a museum of modern art, a main library and an art center were built.

Jobs in San Francisco

Due to its location, throughout its history, San Francisco has been the most important port center of California. The main branches of the country's leading banks, insurance companies, the Pacific Stock Exchange, a division of the Federal Reserve System and the US Mint are located on the territory of San Francisco.

Since the San Francisco agglomeration is part of Silicon Valley, the city and its suburbs have a very developed IT and biotechnology industry. Hundreds of the world's leading high-tech companies with offices in this region attract tens of thousands of IT specialists from all over the world.

Sports in San Francisco

San Francisco is represented by major league teams in every popular US sport:

• Baseball (MLB) - San Francisco Giants
• Football (NFL) – San Francisco Niners (49ers)
• Basketball (NBA) – Golden State Warriors

Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park, founded in the 1870s, is the largest urban park in the United States. The total area of ​​the park is 412 hectares. On the territory of the park there are many gardens, artificial lakes, waterfalls, nature reserves, beaches, campsites, 43 km of footpaths, 12 km of horse riding trails. This park welcomes more than 13 million visitors annually.

San Francisco Tourism

Despite the huge number of high-tech companies located in San Francisco, tourism is the main industry of the city's economy. The natural beauty of San Francisco, mild climate and a large number of attractions, annually attracts more than 17 million tourists to the city. San Francisco is one of the ten most convenient cities in North America for a variety of conferences, exhibitions and trainings, which also attracts a considerable number of visitors.

One of the most unique features of San Francisco is the clusters of different ethnic neighborhoods. The most famous of which is Chinatown - the largest Chinese area outside of Asia. In Chinatown, there are many oriental bazaars, temples, and restaurants.

The image of the sights of San Francisco can often be found on postcards or wallpaper desktop monitors. This sunny city will surely surprise you with the change of its geography - winding streets and green hills, will delight you with the bright colors of parks and squares, the variety of vegetation and the tenderness of the surf. Plunging into the atmosphere of San Francisco, it will seem to you that life is flowing here in the eternal stream of the carnival.