Portland - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 431

Old Town & Chinatown NEIGHBORHOOD
The core of rambunctious 1890s Portland, the once-seedy Old Town used to be the lurk-
ing ground of unsavory characters, but today disco queens outnumber drug dealers. It's
one of the city's livelier places after dark, when nightclubs and bars open their doors and
the hipsters start showing up.
Running beneath Old Town's streets are the shanghai tunnels , a series of under-
ground corridors through which unscrupulous people would kidnap or 'shanghai' drunk-
en men and sell them to sea captains looking for indentured workers. Call the Cascade
Geographic Society (

503-622-4798; adult/child under 12yr $13/8; tours by appoint-

ment) for tours.
The ornate Chinatown Gates MAP GOOGLE MAP (cnr W Burnside St & NW 4th Ave)
define the southern edge of Portland's so-called Chinatown - but you'll be lucky to find
any Chinese people here at all. There are a few token Chinese restaurants, but the main
attraction is the Classical Chinese Gardens MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 503-228-8131;
www.lansugarden.org ; 239 NW Everett St; adult/child $8/7; 10am-6pm) . It's a one-block
haven of tranquility, reflecting ponds and manicured greenery. Free tours available with
admission.

Saturday Market & Around MARKET
( 503-222-6072; www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com ; SW Ankeny St & Naito Pkwy; 10am-5pm
Sat & 11am-4:30pm Sun Mar-Dec) The weekend Saturday Market is a fun and popular out-
door crafts fair with booths selling paper, wood, glass and metal crafts of all kinds, along
with jewelry, ceramics and body products. There are street entertainers, concerts and
food booths too.
Nearby is the lovely Victorian-era Skidmore Fountain , along with the New Market
Theater , built in 1871 as Portland's first theater for stage productions. It's now home to
shops and restaurants.

PORTLAND: A BRIEF ORIENTATION

Portland lies just a few miles south of the Washington border; it's about 15 minutes
from the border metropolis of Vancouver, WA (note: this is a very different city
from Vancouver, BC, in Canada). It's also way inland, about a 1½-hour drive from
the Pacific Coast.
The Willamette River flows through the center of town, dividing the city into east
and west. Burnside St divides north from south, organizing the city into four quad-
rants: Northwest, Southwest, Northeast and Southeast. Make sure you understand