America’s Last Emperor: American

Chapter Twelve

Chinese New Year in San Francisco, 1875 courtesy University of California

January 29th, 1854

Norton and Sawyer sidestepped their way past a crowd a Chinese men clustered outside the Macao and Woosung restaurant. The smell of gunpowder filled the air, and the street in front of the restaurant was thick with expended firecracker paper. Smoke wafted and the loud pop-pop-pop of explosions reverberated off the buildings.