The Dragon Gate at Grant Avenue and Bush Street is the formal southern entrance to Chinatown and the most photographed object in the neighbourhood. A green-tiled pailou in the traditional Chinese style, it was a gift from the Republic of China (Taiwan) and completed in 1970, its materials donated in part by the Chinese government. Stone lions guard the base and the roofs are topped with dragons and fish, with an inscription drawn from Sun Yat-sen.
Stand under it and look north up Grant Avenue and you have the classic Chinatown view — the lantern-strung street climbing the hill between green-roofed buildings. It is also a useful orientation point: pass through the gate and you are in the tourist heart of Grant Avenue; cut one block west to Stockton Street for the working neighbourhood instead.