Wok Wiz Daily Tour

A nice way to spend a couple of hours in China Town. The guide was all knowing about China Town. An activity that we highly recommend.

I used to live in SF many years ago and never had a chance to go on a Chinatown walking tour, so I jumped on the chance to do it on a recent visit back to the Bay Area. Dorothy was our tour guide, and we absolutely loved her. I appreciated that the tour was not just about Chinese immigrants, but about the various global communities and influences that shaped SF Chinatown into what it is today. I've been to Chinatown several times before the visit, but Dorothy led us down alleyways that I had never explored, and pointed out details in the design and structure of some of the buildings that I had never noticed before. We ended with a truly tasty meal at the end with various dim sum dishes and a huge plate of chow fun. The only critique I have is that the tour starts off a bit slowly (though we soon made up for it once we hit the tea shop) and the tour took almost four hours, not three. I'm not sure if that's typical (our group shared a number of stories among ourselves during the tour and meal, which I thoroughly enjoyed but also took up a lot of time) so you should plan to be there for 4 hours.

x

We did the walking tour and didn't opt for the food at the end. The best part of the tour was the tea demonstration. The rest of the walking tour was... slow. "Hokey" would also be a good description. There are free tours that give the same information (although in larger groups). I don't think we learned anything extra that would justify the extra $35 per person. In fact, one stop (the frame shop) seemed like an infomercial. We paid to have a tour guide try to sell us prints. The tour guide did give us a great recommendation for lunch. Beyond that - we have no particular desire to return to Chinatown any time soon.

I became aware of this tour through a PBS show that featured it. I am so glad I "found" it on the web and was able to book tickets for myself, my husband and our adult daughter. We had all been to San Francisco before and did not feel the need to rush everywhere around the city. Instead, we wanted something more focused and meaningful. We certainly got it. Shirley Fong-Torres gave us such a nice mix of history and her own family story of coming to the US. She took us to hidden places for calligraphy and music. The new bakery we visited was delicious and the Red Blossom Tea Shop was our favorite stop. Who knew that tea was like wine, coming from different regions, growing at different heights on the mountains and sometimes being aged? Dim Sum lunch was delicious and a great opportunity to talk more with our tour-mates. After lunch, my family went back to the tea shop and bought some lovely teas to take home and enjoy. This was the highlight of our trip. We were especially lucky to have Shirley as our guide; she made it extra special.

Our 2 kids (6 & 10) enjoyed the tour, tea tasting, art, and lunch. Dorothy is a great guide! Tour was fast paced enough to hold kids attention.

Our guide was very good and well versed on her subject.

We liked the pace and all the information. Even got personnel stories of growing up in Chinatown and how it has changed. Our tourguide was very pleasent. The lunch was also great. Only wish that the bigger eating tour was more available.

Cindy and I were in town on a short vacation and took the tour. We were very pleased. the tour guide we had was named Frank. he was very knowledgeable and friendly. since he had grown up in China Town he had a lot of personal history to add to the China Town history that he imparted to us. it was neat to have more than one person on the street greet our tour guide as a friend while he was guiding us through China Town. we learned many things and stopped by some great shops on our tour. the lunch at the end was awesome. the dim sum was as good as any i have ever had; and Frank knew a bit about each dish and shared how they were prepared. so Cindy and I would definitely recommend the tour to anyone: and the next time we are in San Francisco, we will most likely take the tour again.

I can fully recommend to anyone at any age, although small children may get bored, and tired from all the walking. several facets of Chinatown- its history, its people, their culture and most importantly, the food was expertly presented during the leisurely-paced tour. Our guide, 75 year-old Dorothy (I would have guessed maybe 65), was knowledgeable and engaging. She spoke to us as friends and was a pure delight to listen to.