“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” – Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was born in the year of the Dragon on November 27, 1940 at the Jackson Street Hospital in San Francisco’s Chinatown, when his parents were on tour with Chinese Opera. The family returned to Hong Kong when he was 3 months old. Bruce learned kung fu from Master Yip Man and became very proficient. He was also a child actor in more than 20 films in Hong Kong.

At the age of 18, Bruce Lee had got himself into trouble fighting and beat the son from a known and dangerous family. His parents had to send him away from Hong Kong. In April of 1959, with $100 in his pocket, Bruce boarded a steamship and began his voyage to San Francisco. Bruce did not stay long in San Francisco, but traveled to Seattle where he worked in the restaurant of a family friend. From there, Bruce Lee’s started his journey from street tough to cinema legend, and the most influential martial artist of all time.

San Francisco Chinatown is one of the oldest Chinatowns in USA. It is one of top tourist attractions in San Francisco, providing dim sum restaurants, herbalists, bakeries, souvenir shops, tea shops and karaoke bars. Cantonese remains the dominant language in San Francisco Chinatown. We visited it on a Saturday. There was traditional show activities in Chinatown. The event hostess spoke Cantonese and English.

The restaurant space in San Francisco Chinatown is very tight. We sit in the outside cubicle because of COVID-19, but the food was really delicious.