Chinese Culture Center

You can see all the way to China on the 3rd floor of the Hilton inside this cultural center, which hosts exhibits of traditional Chinese arts and such breakthrough contemporary shows as the Present Tense Biennial. For this show, held in odd-numbered years, 30-plus artists from across the Bay Area give their personal takes on Chinese culture, from Cui Fei’s Chinese calligraphy that’s painstakingly sculpted from bent twigs to Thomas Chang’s monumental photographs of a miniaturized Great Wall at a Florida theme park. Kid-friendly, docent-led Chinese Heritage Walks guide visitors through the living history and mythology of Chinatown in two hours; tours are available by reservation with a two-person minimum. For more first-hand experiences of Chinese culture, check the center’s schedule of Mandarin classes, poetry readings, movies and genealogy services.