San Francisco

City Introduction

City and County of San Francisco (S.F.) is the only administrative zone with the integration of county and city in California, and is also the economic and cultural center in Northern California and Bay Area. With the population more than 800,000, San Francisco is the second densely populated city in USA, only after New York. The Gold Rush in 1849 made this sparsely populated city quickly become one of the major cities in the west of USA. In 1906, this city was hit by a heavy earthquake, and after the reconstruction, the Bay Area of this city was about 1,126km2, and became the important naval base and trade harbor in USA.

History and Culture

Since the Gold Rush in 1849, San Francisco turned from a small village to an important American city overnight. In 1904, San Francisco suffered the heaviest earthquake in the history, and was severely damaged; 80% of the buildings in this city collapsed and were destroyed. But it achieved the reconstruction very quickly. After the World War II, San Francisco achieved great development in industry, commerce, finance, tourism service industry and municipal facility construction. The major urban area was expanded from the single center to the town cluster consisting of three centers, that is, San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. It was called Bay Area of San Francisco, from where the famous “Silicon Valley” developed. San Francisco was always one of the centers for the rebel culture and modern individualism in the 20th century. The “Beat Generation” underground literature, and the “Summer of Love” hippie movement as well as many homosexual groups in the 1960s made San Francisco become a very charming city.

Natural Environment

It is situated in San Francisco Peninsula in the west coast of the State of California, it covers 47 square miles, and is surrounded by water in three sides, enjoys beautiful environment. It is a mountainous city.

Climate

San Francisco is surrounded by water in three sides. Due to the influence of California Current on the Atlantic Ocean, San Francisco has the typical Mediterranean Climate with cool summer. Due to long-term influence by the sea wind, the high temperature in the summer of San Francisco is usually about 20 degrees Celsius, and there is only about one week with the temperature higher than 30 degrees Celsius due to strong land wind in a year. September is the warmest month. In addition, since the water temperature in the Pacific Ocean is 10 to 15 degrees Celsius all year round, the temperature in the midnight of the summer might reduce to the level below 10 degrees Celsius. Adjacent to the sea and Golden Gate strait, San Francisco is frequently influenced by fog in the latter half of night and the morning. But it seldom rains in the summer. The rainy season is from January to the middle of April. Though it is cold in the winter, it hardly snows.