This trip to San Francisco was mainly for a reunion with a large group of friends. Before the big event, through an old friend Paul I met two new friends Ken and Jennifer, who live there and who so generously and enthusiastically drove us around for two days. Besides the scenic spots, we spent half a day visiting a few high-tech companies, even the birthplace of HP as well as the whole Silicon Valley. We all went to look at this small garage in Palo Alto, like some pilgrims paying respect to the stable where Jesus Christ was born. It's touching to learn how William Hewlett and David Packard were inspired by their Stanford professor Dr. Terman and began their first product in this garage in 1938 (photo 07 & 08).

The coastline and the city of San Francisco are always attractive to tourists. This time I happened to be there when the huge copper sculpture "Three Heads Six Arms" made its world premiere in conjunction with the Shanghai-San Francisco sister city 30th anniversary celebration. This enormous sculpture is a masterpiece by a renowned Chinese artist Zhang Huan. It stands up to over 26 feet tall and weighs almost 15 tons (photo 82-84).

(All copyrights reserved)