Exquisite views, Chinatown food tour start American holiday off right

Looking in from the outside, the land of my birth doesn't seem the most attractive place these days. Mass shootings, rising strains of racism and isolationism, fear and anger dominating public conversations. As our flight crossed into American airspace, I wondered: was this really a good idea?

San Francisco on a sunny weekend is, fortunately, a life-affirming antidote to all that negativity. A diverse, optimistic, energetic city of the world, blessed with clement weather and great landscapes; I can see why everyone loves it.

Initial impressions:

• It's a far bigger, more sprawling place than I'd imagined. We get used to the walkability of European city centres; this is a different beast.
• The bay is almost impossibly beautiful. Framed by golden hills, bookended by gracious suspension bridges, dotted by sailboats. It's hard to pull your eyes away.
• Let the unfit beware; it's ridiculously steep. Getting anywhere seems to involve clambering up and down streets that would test any driver's nerves and brakes. San Franciscans must laugh heartily when they arrive in Rome and look for seven hills. The Italian capital is as flat as a pancake in comparison.
• On the down side, there are a lot of homeless people. Many clearly afflicted by mental problems, raging away to themselves and at passers by. While perfectly comfortable walking around in a group of four, if I were here on my own I'd be more wary.
• This is a town that takes food very seriously.

We were already aware of the last point, which is one of the reasons our first act as tourists was a foodie-focused walking tour of Chinatown. The oldest Chinese community in the USA and the largest outside of Asia, this is a must-see destination for any visitor. Adding food, plus a local guide, makes it even better. And given the bewildering number of establishments in this sprawling, 24-square-block area, it's perhaps the only way you're guaranteed to find the quality amongst the tourist traps.

Our tour leader Lois was a local whose father had been a baker at one of Chinatown's most respected bakeries. We spent about three hours wandering the heart of the district, interspersing eating and drinking with learning about the history and development of the area. While San Francisco may be a beacon of tolerance now, the Chinese community here was ostracised and prejudiced against for most of its history. Lois' ability to conjure the squalor of what once took place in narrow alleys, and the cramped conditions of tenement apartment blocks even today, was a sobering counterpoint to the culinary merriment.

We sampled dim sum at two places, the second at Eastern Bakery where Lois' father once worked. Their pork buns were astonishing, but they're best known for a vast range of traditional moon cakes. I wasn't so keen on these, but another treat ... sweet bean paste in a donut-like sphere of dough rolled in sesame seeds ... was a fine correction of my impression that the Chinese don't really do desserts.

Going with a local meant not only the best bites, but explanations of what we were eating and how to eat it. I now know to flip my chopsticks to the end that doesn't touch my mouth to serve myself, and to tap my fingers twice on the table to thank whoever has poured my tea. I know the concept of how to shift, scoop, bite, slurp and swallow a soup dumpling, though doing it with grace ... and without getting soup down my shirt ... will take practice.

We learned all about tea at Vital Tea Leaf on Grant Street, a remarkably peaceful oasis where an expert with a rich line in comedy brewed us five different cups and explained the merits of each. His celebration of top quality leaves, brewed briefly and served quickly, only in the quantities needed for immediate consumption, was a revelation. Chinese tea has all the variety, terroir and ceremony of wine ... and everything we sampled was vastly nicer than the stuff I usually reject in favour of coffee. We also visited a fortune cookie factory, where two women risk carpal tunnel syndrome as they peel pancakes of just-cooked dough off an assembly line of vertical skillets, wrap a fortune inside, then fold and bend over a metal bar. The cookies harden into their final shape in seconds.

Later that day we wandered around the Ferry Building, packed with gourmet food stands with a bustling farmer's market behind it. Fresh morels, artisan cheeses, sourdough baked goods in every variety imaginable and produce of such fragrant perfection it can bring a visitor to tears of envy. (I think I might actually be able to give up cakes and chocolate if I could lay my hands on white peaches of this quality all the time.)

We ended the afternoon taking a ferry to and from Sausalito. That maritime scene gets even more beautiful when you view it from its centre. Had I bought some fortune cookies to snack on during the journey, I'm positive they would have read: "this is going to be a wonderful vacation."