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 Asian Remedies: Great China Herb Co.
Chinese traditional medicine shops are a dime a dozen in Chinatown — newer shops blast awful import music while bright fluorescent lights shine down on plastic-wrapped products. Great China Herb Co., however, retains an old-fashioned feel. The smell inside the store is a great combination of ginseng, Chinese herbs and roots. Walking into the dimness, you can see pharmacists weigh and measure herbs onto square sheets of paper, which are eventually bundled up into little packages. There is no loud music here, only the muted clicks made by fingers on mahogany abacuses adding up bills and tabs. The current owners, the Hos, have had the place since 1980, however, the store has been there since 1922. The cabinets, which store the herbs, are the same ones used 80 years ago. There is an onsite Chinese doctor to check your tongue, your pulse and your eyes, if you’re feeling unwell. This herb shop carries everything from ginseng to dried scallops, red dates to ice mountain fungus. Go in one day and watch the pharmacists arrange the herb packages, but leave your camera at home. It’s a traditional Chinese medicine shop, not a zoo.
857 Washington St., S.F., 415-441-6320
 Anime: Kinokuniya Bookstore – Japan Center
Anime lovers have spoken. Kunikoniya Bookstore supplies the Bay Area with the latest Japanese anime mangas and comic books. The bookstore splits its anime into two sections — Japanese and English. The Japanese language anime section is filled with 80 to 100 titles, including Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and others. The Japanese comic section, with titles like Yugi-Oh by Kazuki Takashi and Vagabond by Inoue Takehiko, is regularly filled with more than 1000 titles. In the English section, 80 to 100 titles of translated graphic novels line the shelves, offering some of the latest and most popular books like GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka, Cowboy Bebop, Mars and Love Hina. Kinokuniya also stocks a smaller collection (though not less impressive) of anime DVDs and soundtracks — totaling 150 titles. The bookstore also takes special orders from customers for no extra charge, and manager Yuki Sakano proudly emphasizes the unique relationship between anime readers and the bookstore — that many times, “readers have a deeper knowledge [of anime] than the buyers, we get our knowledge from our customers.”
1581 Webster St. #111, S.F., 415-567-7625
 Place to purchase Asian Jewelry: Grant Avenue, San Francisco
Walking up and down Grant Avenue in San Francisco, there is no denying you are in the heart of Chinatown. Once considered an “ethnic ghetto,” Chinatown has become not only a home to many Chinese Americans and immigrant families, but a magnet for tourists and locals looking for great deals on luggage, camera/video equipment and, of course, jewelry. From every jewelry shop on Grant Avenue you can hear bamboo flute music and mechanical crickets chirping away, attempting to spark the illusion that you aren’t really surrounded by skyscrapers and stockbrokers. Just as the atmosphere may be a bit on the eccentric side, the jewelry found in this area of town is quite extraordinary. Austrian crystal hair accessories, tiaras and hatpins are found alongside a two-foot tall waving statue of Mao Zedong, grinning at each passerby. Ornate gold watches, snuff bottles and small Buddha statues in little glass cages line the shop windows, which are plastered with signs advertising “Largest jewelry selection — competitive low prices!” But, if you’ve ventured out for amber or jade, you’ve come to the right place! An amber butterfly pendent the size of a baseball is one of the more elaborate pieces you might find, while chunks of jade, amber and pearls adorn earrings, bracelets, broaches, necklaces and rings. Great jewelry for great deals.
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