RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of California >> Alameda County >> Chinatown >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Chinatown, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Chinatown and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Chinatown:
    • 37.799928, -122.270247
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Chinatown
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Alameda County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Alameda County
    • Since Chinatown is near Contra Costa County and also San Francisco County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Contra Costa County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for San Francisco County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Chinatown

Communities Also Named Chinatown ...

We found eleven communities that are also named Chinatown.

There are four communities within California that are also named Chinatown.

Beyond California, we know of seven communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Located In California ...
    • Amador County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Chinatown [Amador County].
    • Mono County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Chinatown [Mono County].
    • San Francisco County
      • This Chinatown is located in San Francisco County and lies 7 miles [11.3 km]<2> to the west of the Chinatown that is located in Alameda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the San Francisco County community of Chinatown.
    • Santa Clara County
      • This community is historic<1> and we have very little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the California community of Chinatown [Santa Clara County].
  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Hawaii
      • This Chinatown lies 2,401 miles [3,864 km]<2> to the west southwest of the Chinatown that is located in Alameda County.
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Chinatown is located in Cook County and lies 1,845 miles [2,969.2 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Alameda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Chinatown.
      • Madison County
      • This Chinatown is located in Madison County and lies 1,744 miles [2,806.7 km] to the east northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Alameda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Madison County community of Chinatown.
    • Massachusetts
      • Suffolk County
      • Although located in Suffolk County, we don't know the location within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Suffolk County community of Chinatown.
    • Montana
      • Beaverhead County
      • This Chinatown is located in Beaverhead County and lies 677 miles [1,089.5 km]<2> to the northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Alameda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Beaverhead County community of Chinatown.
    • Nevada
      • Humboldt County
      • This Chinatown is located in Humboldt County and lies 304 miles [489.2 km]<2> to the north northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Alameda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Humboldt County community of Chinatown.
    • New York
      • New York County
      • This Chinatown is located in New York County and lies 2,556 miles [4,113.5 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Chinatown that is located in Alameda County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the New York County community of Chinatown.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Chinatown ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Canyon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Chinatown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Chinatown is located in San Francisco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chinatown
  • Fruitvale
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fruitvale is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitvale
    • Former names for Fruitvale:
    • Brays
    • Fruit Vale
  • Grand Lake
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Grand Lake is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake
  • Havenscourt
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Havenscourt is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Havenscourt
  • Little Italy
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Little Italy is located in San Francisco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Italy
  • Maxwell Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Maxwell Park is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell Park
  • Rockridge
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Rockridge is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockridge
  • Seminary Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Seminary Park is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seminary Park
  • Thousand Oaks
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Thousand Oaks is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thousand Oaks
  • Trestle Glen
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Trestle Glen is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trestle Glen
  • University Village
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • University Village is located in Alameda County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for University Village

How Far From Chinatown to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Chinatown to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Chinatown and extending to:

  • Oakland, which is the Seat of Alameda County, lies just to the North.
  • Sacramento, which is the State Capital of California, lies 68 miles [109.4 km]<2> to the northeast (NE). If you could walk a straight line from Chinatown to Sacramento, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take three full days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take about three full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,425 miles [3,902.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 95 days and walking would take 138 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,410 miles [11,925.2 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 8,177 miles [13,159.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 6,232 miles [10,029.4 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Chinatown, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Chinatown) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<5>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Chinatown to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Chinatown. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7999, Longitude: -122.2702       In this case, the coordinates for Chinatown have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 340.08 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 341.009 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.074 degrees.