Chinatown's unofficial living room is named after John B Montgomery's sloop, which staked the US claim on San Francisco in 1846. San Francisco's first city hall moved into Portsmouth Square's burlesque Jenny Lind Theater in 1852, and today the square is graced by the Goddess of Democracy, a bronze replica of the statue Tiananmen Square protesters made in 1989. Tai chi practitioners greet the dawn, toddlers rush the playground at noon, and chess marathons continue well into the night.
