After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed Chinatown , including the Russo-Chinese Bank , Look Tin Eli became " the public face of the post-quake rebuilding of Chinatown " . As general manager of the Sing Chong bazaar , he articulated a vision of post-quake Chinatown as an " ideal Oriental City " . Already a skilled negotiator , he secured substantial loans from his Hong Kong and Canton partners for the rebuilding and persuaded Chinese merchants to hire western architects to rebuild Chinatown in an " Oriental " style in order to promote tourism and social change . In this way , his grand vision of " veritable fairy palaces filled with the choicest treasures of the Orient " was realized by the design ( by T. Paterson Ross ) and construction of the pagoda-topped buildings of the Sing Chong and Sing Fat bazaars on the west corners of Grant Ave ( then Dupont St ) and California St , which have since become icons of San Francisco Chinatown
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Look Tin Eli