Read the Poems Chinese Immigrants Left on Angel Island's Walls
Between 1910 and 1940, about 500,000 people who crossed the Pacific passed through Angel Island, and detainees were held here for weeks, months or even years. 154 poems and inscriptions carved into the barracks walls have been recorded and translated. The weekend boat sets the clock, so the island comes first and dinner in SoMa comes last.
Angel Island to SoMa
🖋️ What they carved into the walls
The station sits a hilly mile above Ayala Cove: 140 steps on the shortcut, or a paved road that takes about an hour. Inside, the Detention Barracks Museum keeps the metal bunks, the mess hall and the poems. Detainees carved the characters straight into the wooden walls; many are unsigned, and what survives is often a fragment under layers of paint. 154 have been recorded and translated — in Room 205, the men's dormitory, Island 45 opens 困囚木屋常愁悶, “Imprisoned in this wooden building, I am always sad and bored.” Adults pay $5 for the barracks, or $7 with a guided tour; the Angel Island Immigration Museum next door in the old hospital is free.
🥢 Finish at the next generation's table
Peter Fang opened House of Nanking on Kearny Street with his wife Lily in 1988; his daughter Kathy, who grew up in that kitchen, opened Fang on Howard Street with him in 2009, and Peter still works the room and orders for his guests. Lunch runs 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM and dinner 5:30 to 8:30 PM, seven days a week. Book 5:30 or 6:00 PM online before you cross the bay, and allow 15 to 20 minutes to walk over from the Ferry Building.
⛴️ Take the 10:15 boat, leave on the 3:20
Golden Gate Ferry leaves the Ferry Building's Gate B at 10:15 AM on Saturday and Sunday and reaches Ayala Cove at 10:45. Climb 40 minutes and you are at the barracks by 11:25, with three hours before you head back down at 2:35 for the 3:20 PM return; the 4:50 PM boat lets you stay until the 4:00 close. One way is $15.50, or $10 with Clipper or a contactless bank card, park entry included; buy the return in San Francisco, because nothing is sold on the island. Weekdays leave at 9:25 AM but the museums shut at 2:30 PM, with the last return at 4:55 PM. From Tiburon the boat runs weekends plus 11/11 and 11/27, out at 10:00, 11:00 and 1:00, last return 3:20 PM, and takes no Clipper. Both museums close 11/25-26 and 12/21-12/30.
