Taber's studio produced around seventy images of San Francisco's Chinatown community. Before the 1906 earthquake, the Chinese quarter occupied twelve city blocks at the foot of Nob Hill. Its streets were full of temples, markets and shops like the one in this picture. Although in 1890 the Chinese population exceeded 24,000, ten years later its number had halved due to discriminatory legislation and anti-Chinese feeling. One political party in the city campaigned under the slogan 'The Chinese Must Go!' This sense of unease is communicated by Taber's photograph, with the Chinese staring sternly at the camera from a respectable distance.