While most tourists — and honestly, most San Franciscans — flock to Baker Beach or Ocean Beach for their coastal fix, the city's real gem has always been tucked quietly between the Presidio and Sea Cliff: China Beach.

A local artist recently shared a pastel painting of the spot, and it's a reminder of just how stunning this tiny stretch of sand actually is. Nestled below million-dollar homes and framed by Monterey cypress, China Beach is the kind of place that makes you forget you live in a city where a studio apartment costs $2,800 a month.

Here's the thing about China Beach that fiscal hawks can appreciate: it's one of the few SF parks that largely takes care of itself. No massive capital improvement boondoggles, no $1.7 million toilet installations, no elaborate "activation plans" cooked up by a committee of 40. Just a beach, some stairs, and the Pacific Ocean doing what it does best. Sometimes the best government service is the one that stays out of the way.

The beach gets its name from the Chinese fishermen who camped along this cove in the 1870s and 1880s — a piece of San Francisco history that predates most of the bureaucratic apparatus currently running the city. It's one of the only beaches in the Bay where swimming is actually considered safe, thanks to its sheltered position.

If you haven't been, do yourself a favor and make the trip before some city supervisor decides it needs a $50 million "equity-centered coastal experience redesign." For now, it's just a beautiful, publicly accessible beach that works exactly as intended — no consultants required.

And to the artist capturing it in pastels: keep it up. This city could use more people celebrating what's already great about San Francisco instead of endlessly debating what's broken.