A Walking Tour of Chinatown-International District

 

6/13/26 A lion dance kicks off our walking tour of Chinatown-International District.

Taha Ebrahimi

Mature, urban trees can witness many changes in a neighborhood. Historian Cynthia Brothers of Vanishing Seattle and Taha Ebrahimi, author of Street Trees of Seattle, offer an intriguing walking tour of Chinatown-International District, one of Seattle’s oldest neighborhoods. I joined about a dozen others last Saturday afternoon on the first in a series of such tours. All six free tours, supported by local cultural grants, sold out within 90 minutes, and more than 500 people are now on the waiting list! I was lucky to grab a spot!

Gathering at the historic Panama Hotel Café, where I’ve sketched many times, the tour began with an energetic lion dance performed by martial arts organizations. Then, for the next two hours, we made 15 stops around the District for notable buildings and trees. Cynthia and Taha told many fascinating stories about people, the community and the trees that make up this diverse neighborhood.

You may recall that I used Taha’s book a couple of years ago as my own walking and sketching guide to street trees in Maple Leaf and other neighborhoods. It was illuminating to hear the stories in person of seven specific CID trees that she had written about.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to listen, observe, sketch and take notes, all at the same time! My pages are a scribbly mess, and my notes are probably indecipherable, but they serve as a great memory of an informative and fun afternoon.

A really special part of the tour was visiting Connie Chen's shop, Sun May Co., located in Canton Alley. Her family has owned the shop since 1911.

Connie Chen at Sun May Co.

After the tour, some of us went to Bush Garden, Seattle's second-oldest Japanese restaurant, which recently moved to a new location. We were offered a Mar-tree-ni, a special cocktail designed just for us!

Cynthia Brothers talks about a mural dedicated to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.

Group photo courtesy of Taha and Cynthia.