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Top Things to do in San Francisco with Kids

By , About.com Guide

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#10. Check Out Chinatown
Top Things to do in San Francisco with Kids

Chinatown San Francisco

©2006 Betsy Malloy Photography. Used by Permission.
It's colorful and energetic and if you haven't been there before, it looks a bit exotic. Chinatown is also full of shops selling all kinds of cool things like chirping crickets, kites and fortune cookies. The proactive parent can make sure the kids learn a little about Chinese culture along the way, too.

Pros and Cons

This is a good place for the kids to buy themselves a souvenir and they'll love watching that goofy contraption at the fortune cookie factory make the little treats (and eating the bag of them you buy while there).

Go on a weekday for smaller crowds, but for an child who doesn't like crowds and noise or unfamiliar smells that waft out of the herbalist shops, Chinatown could be a bad choice any day of the week. For anyone, it gets so crowded at Chinese New Year that you can barely move on the sidewalks.

See what others think about it

More About Chinatown

Get some insider tips, find out where the fortune cookie factory is and more about taking the kids to Chinatown.

See what it looks like before you go. Check out the image gallery.

See where it is on a map. It's the purple balloon.

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