Itinerary: Gold Fever

Gold has been the measure of--or the metaphor for--wealth as long as there’s been wealth worth measuring.

Twice as heavy as lead, 55 times more valuable than silver, gold has the power to change history. California immigration skyrocketed during the Gold Rush, for instance; San Francisco grew from a sleepy burg of 800 souls to a booming city of 30,000 between 1846 and 1850. The allure lingers to this day. This weekend, go for the gold.

Thursday

Playwright David Henry Hwang’s recent play, “Golden Child,” has its Los Angeles premiere by the East West Players at the Union Center for the Arts (120 N. Judge John Aiso St., Little Tokyo. $25 to $30. [800] 233-3123) through Feb. 20. The drama centers on patriarch Tieng-Bin, who returns to China from abroad in 1918 and begins to transform his unwilling family into a more Western and Christian version of itself.

Friday

Four years into the Gold Rush, Wells Fargo set up banks and a coast-to-coast stagecoach system to serve the gold miners. At its free Wells Fargo History Museum (333 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Open Mondays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. [213] 253-7166), the company has reproduced a Gold Rush-era bankers office. Other period artifacts include a stagecoach and treasure box, in which gold was transported back East. Also on display is a 2-pound gold nugget unearthed in 1975.

To see what a nugget like that can be turned into, head south into downtown’s Jewelry District. Roughly bounded by Hill Street and Broadway, between 5th and 8th streets, this area can be overwhelming. Some interesting stops: the International Jewelry Center, 550 S. Hill St.; the California Jewelry Mart, 607 S. Hill St.; Jeweler’s Mall, 625 S. Hill St.; and the Jewelry Theater Building, a converted movie palace at 7th and Hill streets.

Saturday

“Land of Golden Dreams: California in the Gold Rush Decade, 1848-1858,” at the Huntington Library, digs deep into the mythology of the Gold Rush. Using personal journals, artifacts, drawings and advertisements, the exhibition traces the initial excitement of the strike at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 through the transformation of California into a state and an economic powerhouse.

“Golden Dreams” remains on display at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. [626] 405-2141) through Sept. 10. Saturday at 1:30 and 3 p.m., storyteller Peter Kors and the Black Irish Band will entertain kids and adults with tales and songs from the mining camps ($12 to $18, includes museum admission. [310] 954-4300).

A different kind of treasure awaits at the Golden Triangle, one of Southern California’s few Burmese restaurants (7011 S. Greenleaf Ave., Whittier. [562] 945-6778), in uptown Whittier. The menu includes more familiar Thai items, but food critics suggest trying the popular Burmese noodle dishes mohinga and ohn-no khaukswe or the ginger salad.

Sunday

Want to see more gold than most miners ever saw? The Hall of Gems and Minerals at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. [213] 763-DINO) houses one of the best collections of precious metals and stones in the United States. The Native Gold area contains more than 400 specimens--a total of 300 pounds of gold--from giant nuggets to micron-thin leaf.