I used to live in a town that the only Chinese food I could buy was instant cup noodles, and the Wonton soup was made of meat.
When I went to visit San Francisco Chinatown couple years ago, my heart started to sing when I stood on the corner of Grant and Broadway with my eyes closed, all I would hear was Cantonese, and all I would smell was the chinese food and bakery from the nearby stores.

The SF 'old' Chinatown covers a large area with a wide variety of shops and restaurants. Those buildings have unique architectural style to Chinatown with stylized pagoda roofs and painted balconies.

The 2 main streets were Grant and Stockton, and the crossroads are between the Broadway and Bush Avenues.

Start your tour at the Chinatown Gate locates at Grant Avenue and Bush Avenue, and walk along the Grant Avenue all the way to Broadway.

You can find imported art items, jade, amber, ceramic gods, silk robes, cameras and camcorders along the Grant. Not to mention those restaurants and bakery stores on that street.

The buildings are well decorated with Chinese color symbolism all over them. The 'RED' is happiness, the 'GREEN' is longevity, and 'GOLD/YELLOW' means wealth.

I found some good Hong Kong style restaurants and cafe on the Broadway, Jackson, and Washington that are adjacent to the Grant Avenue.
You can even smell the 'smelly' TouFu at a cafe at Jackson and Kearny.