San Francisco is a city in Northern California that is filled with treasured activities that only locals will know about. The city is blessed with winding roads and sloping hills, making it an ideal place for fitness enthusiasts. San Francisco also has a high concentration of Chinese immigrants that bring along traditional alternative, or Eastern, methods of healing and wellness.
Climb the Steps at Baker Beach
Baker Beach is famed for the stunning view of the Golden Gate Bridge looming above it. A beach that is both dog-friendly and nudist-friendly on the north side of the beach, it is also an ideal spot to work your thighs and buns. Just off the Golden Gate Bridge side of the beach is a series of steps for exercise buffs. Up and down a few times will work your glutes. For an extra touch of privacy, stop by China Beach which is hidden between Baker's Beach and Lands End.
Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs
Acupuncture is a form of Chinese medicine where sterile needles are inserted into various points on the body to move Ch'i, or energy or life force, that can help to relieve pain or possibly bring therapeutic cures. The Acupuncture Kitchen is predominantly known for being a fertility clinic and a place for women's health and well being, but is one of San Francisco's best kept secrets for massage and other forms of alternative medicine. Caylie See, the owner, is a part of the famed See's Candy family and has created chocolates filled with healing Chinese herbs.
Do Yoga While Hiking
If you find yoga boring, repetitive or weird but still would like to benefit from the health and wellness capabilities offered by this ancient art form, try Hiking Yoga. It's exactly as the name implies. Eric Kipp, the owner, maps out a new hike each week to various parts of San Francisco that has incredible, natural views. Then he hands out yoga mats and the next round of exercise begins. It beats a sweat-filled room with four walls any day.
Walk Along the Marina and Discover the Wave Organ
Walking is one of the best ways to good health and fitness but doing it in a gym or along an automobile exhaust-polluted road can take the joy and wellness right out of it. Head over to the marina to Yacht Road, walk down to the end of the jetty and discover the Wave Organ--the sounds of nature and the crashing waves captured as an art project and permanently available to the public. The cement tubes that are a part of this art piece exemplifies the audio motion of the water and projects it out like an ocean concert.
Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt
The event may happen only once a year but many San Francisco natives spend the months before the actual event looking for the ideal teammates. The Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt is not the big secret; it's the locations you will discover from the various clues that are some of the best kept secrets in all of San Francisco. For anyone new to town, this is a fun way to meet new people, discover the city and get some terrific exercise in the process.
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