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Sun rises on sunrise mosaic in Chinatown

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Don’t look directly into it

If Chinatown seems a bit sunnier today than any of its previous 60,000 plus days, that may be thanks to Palo Alto artist Mik Gaspay’s new piece on the steps of the Chinese Culture Center at the base of Hilton overlooking Chinatown, titled simply Sunrise.

Gaspay and company unveiled the new work on Sunday, an assemblage of thousands of bits of colored tiled suggesting (of course) the sun rising over the bay.

The spot where the bridge from Portsmouth Square terminates did indeed used to be right on the water, and the image Gaspay pieced together probably does resemble what once was the view from this spot in the morning.

Sunrise is part of an ongoing effort to spruce up the bridge. The span and culture center were built as part and parcel of the block’s development, a bit of a make good gesture for the presence of the ugly 27-story hotel right next to Chinatown’s living room.

We can't do much about the building now, but at least the steps are bringing a little more sunshine into our lives.

A photo posted by KristenTalaga (@kazlaga) on

A photo posted by Mik Gaspay (@mikgaspay) on

A photo posted by Mik Gaspay (@mikgaspay) on

A photo posted by Mik Gaspay (@mikgaspay) on