Chan Is Missing - Montage 2
Then … Director Wang presents more montage shots of Chinatown; this one looks west over Portsmouth Square towards several interesting buildings. In the background at left: the Hang Ah Tea Room on Hang Ah alley; side-by-side in the midground: the Bing Tong Kong and The Wong Family Benevolent Associations on Waverly Place and in the foreground: the Ying On Labor and Merchant Association building on Grant Avenue.
… and Now, the above shot was filmed from the 10th floor elevator lobby window of the Holiday Inn (now called the Hilton Financial District) at 750 Kearny Street. Within this frame little has changed over the past 43 years. Citysleuth is grateful to the Hilton Financial District for allowing him access to take the closely matching photo below.
… and Now, the Hang Ah Tea Room at 1 Hang Ah Street (map) has since been re-addressed 1 Pagoda Place - odd, since that alley is street-signed Hang Ah Street at its other end. It has been at this location since 1920, claiming to be the longest surviving Dim Sum restaurant in the nation. Below, the vertical sign which replaced the one seen above points to the entrance a few steps down the alley.
… and Now, here’s how the midground buildings in the ‘Then’ image above look today. The two benevolent association buildings are at 29 and 39 Waverly Place, “The Street Of The Painted Balconies”. On the left is the headquarters of the Bing Tong Kong, one of the powerful tongs of the early 20th century. Next to it is the home of the Wong Family Benevolent Association. Chinatown has over 200 such Associations - they were created to promote and support the interests of various community groups.
It’s worth mentioning the history preceding these two buildings. In the late 1800s these sites, back then addressed 33 and 35 Waverly Place, were occupied by two Chinese temples; on the left in this 1889 photo is the Tin How (or Tianhou) Temple, the oldest Taoist temple in Chinatown, founded in 1852. Next to it is the Gee Tuck Tong Temple, founded in the mid-1880s.
Here they are in April 1906 after the devastation of the earthquake and fire; both buildings were rebuilt by 1911.
… and Now, here’s how the foreground building in the ‘Then’ image at the top of the post looks today. The Ying On Labor and Merchant Association is headquartered here at 745 Grant Avenue; it was created to protect members from unfair and discriminatory business practices, provide them with social gatherings and even organize funerals for those who departed without family in America.
Then … a second montage frame, also filmed from the Holiday Inn, captures mostly a view of high density residential buildings not usually seen from street level but it also captures a retail block of Washington Street at lower left. Two restaurants are visible, Nam Yuen at 740 Washington and Sun Hung Heung Chinese at 744 Washington.
… and Now, in this matching photo we see little change, except for the scattered graffitti high up on some of the buildings.
… and Now, from street level, here are those two restaurants, still there and still in business.
Then … The montage continues with this great telephoto view looking south from Jackson Street along several blocks of Grant Avenue that presents a kaleidoscopic array of concertinaed signs and business and restaurant logos.
… and Now, without the elevated vantage point and a telephoto lens the effect may not be as dramatic but this same stretch of Grant Avenue is as colorful as ever.
… in 1982 … two years later competitors in the 1982 San Francisco marathon pounded along these blocks; this view is from Pacific Avenue, one block further north.