Sid Grauman was already a master of theatrical spectacle when he began construction on his Chinese Theatre in January 1926. He had built the Million Dollar Theater and the Egyptian Theatre, where Hollywood's first movie premiere had taken place in 1922. But the Chinese was to be his masterpiece. He leased the site of actor Francis X. Bushman's mansion on Hollywood Boulevard and hired the architectural firm Meyer & Holler to create something extraordinary. The result cost $2.1 million and took 18 months to build. On May 18, 1927, the theater opened with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings.

The theater's exotic facade transports visitors to an imagined China. A bronze-roofed pagoda rises at the center of the forecourt, flanked by Ming dynasty guardian lion statues that the U.S. government granted special permission to import. A stone dragon mural dominates the wall between towering red pillars. Chinese poet and filmmaker Moon Quon traveled from China to oversee a team of artisans who created the traditional decorations. Inside, artist Xavier Cugat painted the trees and foliage, while Keye Luke, who would later achieve fame as Charlie Chan's Number One Son, painted the lobby murals.

Jean Klossner mixed an extremely hard concrete specifically for the forecourt and became known as "Mr. Footprint," conducting ceremonies from 1927 through 1957. The collection grew to include far more than hands and feet. Harold Lloyd left an imprint of his trademark eyeglasses. Groucho Marx pressed his cigar into the cement. John Barrymore, "The Great Profile," left his facial silhouette. Western stars William S. Hart and Roy Rogers immortalized their revolvers, while Tom Mix's horse Tony, Gene Autry's Champion, and Roy Rogers' Trigger all left their hoofprints beside their owners.

The theater has witnessed Hollywood evolve from silent pictures to streaming. In 1930, Howard Hughes convinced Grauman to come out of retirement to produce the premiere of his aviation epic Hell's Angels. The 1977 debut of Star Wars drew fans from around the world. Three Academy Awards ceremonies were held inside its ornate walls. In 2013, the theater underwent conversion to IMAX, installing one of the largest movie screens in North America. The 70mm projection system, temporarily installed for Oppenheimer in 2023, proved so successful it was kept for subsequent releases.

Despite name changes (Mann's Chinese Theatre from 1973 to 2001, TCL Chinese Theatre since 2013), the building remains "the Chinese" to locals and tourists alike. Disney's Hollywood Studios houses a full-scale recreation, and another stands at Parque Warner Madrid in Spain. The theater has appeared in countless films, from the 1937 A Star is Born to Iron Man 3. In Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks placed the theater at the center of his famous fourth-wall-breaking finale. Today, it continues to serve as a first-run movie house, still hosting premieres and still drawing visitors to walk among the handprints of legends.