- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco
Rating Details »
Categories: Museums, Education, Public Services & Government [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Financial District, Nob Hill, Chinatown750 Kearny St
3rd Fl
(between Merchant St & Washington St)
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 986-1822
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sponsored Result
You Might Also Consider
Aquarium Of The Bay
- 114 reviews
- Neighborhood:
- Fisherman's Wharf
"Tunnels are awesome! You get to see two of them! For such a tiny space I think they did a great job maximizing what you can see! And…" read more »
6 reviews for Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco
Gallery and store review only: great space. Not just a small room, but big enough to hold enough art to keep you occupied for an hour if you're interested in what's on. Clean, open, and lots of variety so you can view the work at your leisure without being crowded by others. The shop is connected to the gallery and, while small, is worth a browse.
The Present Tense show running through 8/23/09 contains video, sound, photography, paintings, and even menus from Chinese restaurants collected from all over the US. It's definitely worth a visit on the third floor of the Hilton.
The gallery is free but is typically only open from 10-4 Tuesdays-Saturday, so not a place you can stop by after work.
This place is in a very random location. The third floor the Hilton? Really? Of all places in Chinatown to put a Chinese Culture Center... In any case, free admission to their exhibits is a plus.
Their Present Tense Biennial exhibition, which is running until August 23, is really cool. All sorts of art: installations, paintings, drawings, film, music. Some of my favorites included a huge paper cornucopia filled with photocopied recreations of American fast food chain boxes from China, and a wall plastered to the ceiling with American Chinese restaurant menus. Some of the stuff they had was just plain bizarre, however. How a bunch of cinder blocks on top of a mirror made sense as part of the exhibition is beyond me.
This is a review for the Beginner Adult Mandarin class at the Chinese Culture Center.
Pros:
* Cheap ($150 per ten-week term)
* Fun. The instructor makes for a lively, interactive class.
* Inviting. The instructor repeatedly says that, even if you have no time to study, to come back and learn something in the next class. There is a culture of fun participation, rather than stressful standards.
Cons:
* Not terribly professional. The instructor stops partway through the first class in order to take payments for books.
* Short classes. They're only 1.5 hours, once per week.
* Audio lessons are only available on tape. It took me two weeks just to track down a cassette player!
Across the bridge from Portsmouth square located on the 3rd floor of the Hilton.
The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco is a major community-based, non-profit organization established in 1965 to foster the understanding and appreciation of Chinese and Chinese American art, history, and culture in the United States.
They offer a variety of entertaining education from classes in Mandarin, Martial arts, Chinese Opera, and Calligraphy; to staged venues, spoken word, performing groups, gala presentations, and even hosting artwork in a newly refinished gallery space. you can even book a cheap and well informed non-agenda tour of Chinatown through the center.
And if you come near Chinese New Years you can see some amazing sites both in the gallery on exhibition as well as live performances.
I went here after going to the Pacific Heritage Museum. It's FREE also and I had some time, plus it's pretty close to the other museum.
They have an exhibit "Breaking the Mold" by contemporary ceramic artist Dottie Low. She's pretty cool. She has some neat ceramic artwork and a nice video showing her discussing her process making ceramics.
Her exhibit is from Oct 7-Nov 25, 2006.
No photography allowed so no pics to share, but I recommend it to others to see. They have a small gift shop too.
I didn't catch their hrs but on Sat 1/20/07 found out they close at 4pm!
Disciplines of art, music, multimedia, plays, musical, video, dance, .photography, etc, are displayed here. This non-profit organization fosters the appreciation of Chinese and Chinese American culture in the U.S. You may find lectures, art, music, Chinese chess, language classes, and family workshops for children and adults. You can find a wide variety of Chinese ethnic books, periodicals, arts, clothing, and gift items here.
Check their website for current exhibit on display.
