Located adjacent to central downtown Honolulu, Chinatown's compact area is easy to explore on foot. Chinatown is a 15-square block area bound by Nu`uanu Stream and River Street on the north, Bethel Street south, and by Beretania and King Streets east and west. You can't get lost and you'll be amazed at what you discover. So, put on your walking shoes and come along, we're going to discover Chinatown in Honolulu. The first recorded Chinese arrivals in Hawai`i were in 1788, but in 1852, the Chinese were the first immigrant group of contract laborers to arrive in the islands to work on the growing sugar plantations. Upon completion of their labor contracts, many relocated to the growing Chinatown area to center trade and commerce. The area has always been something of an exotic mix of cultures and peoples. Over the years, Chinatown gained a notorious reputation as an undesirable slum area noted for saloons, debauchery, drugs, and dens of ill repute. The area's most significant event took place just over a century ago on January 20, 1900. This was the Great Chinatown Fire, an effort by the Board of Health and Fire Department to control an outbreak of bubonic plague in the slums. It was an attempt to do a controlled burning of certain rat-infested buildings. However, the fires quickly got out of control and many of the numerous wooden structures were soon engulfed by flames. The fires burned for seventeen days, destroying thirty-eight acres of property and leaving 4,000 residents homeless. Much to its chagrin, the Board of Health declared the area plague-free four months later. Today's Chinatown doesn't have to worry about things like bubonic plague and its former reputation for debauchery and worse has been toned down if not extinguished altogether. For sure, there are still a couple of seedy taverns and bars along Hotel Street that are probably best avoided. But that's Chinatown. It probably wouldn't be the same without a couple of warts or blemishes. During the 1980's-90's, Chinatown went through a revitalization program which resulted in a new look for the neighborhood. Buildings were fixed up and made to conform to historical codes in structure and appearance. It helped retain Chinatown's old look while blending into the new. The area sports a new look now, much cleaner and more appealing. But Chinatown also retains its cultural essence with its Chinese herbal medicine shops, dim sum and noodle restaurants, shops, art galleries, and the hustle and bustle of its open-air markets and vendor stalls. It's what makes Chinatown a unique and colorful attraction in urban Honolulu. Chinatown isn't the squalid slum it once was long ago. In fact, today's Chinatown is a fun place to visit, to stroll through, enjoy a market visit, eat some great dim sum, or just take in the cross-cultural diversity of Honolulu's most colorful and historic neighborhood. There are lots of great places to discover on your own. Here are a few to get you started.
Also check out the numerous small oriental import stores and shops and in the Chinese Cultural Plaza (Maunakea Street between Beretania and Kukui) carrying a wide selection of goods like clothing, jewelry, silks, teak furniture, porcelain and ceramic dishes, figurines, vases, brassware, canned and dried foods, spices, condiments, etc. In addition, there are art galleries and antique shops throughout the neighborhood. And don't forget to pick up a floral bouquet or lei at any of Chinatown's famous lei shops. Among the better known are Sweetheart's Lei Shop, 69 North Beretania; Cindy's Lei Shoppe, 1034 Maunakea; Lin's Lei Shop, 1017 Maunakea; or Maunakea Street Florist, 1189 Maunakea. Dining in Chinatown You say you're hungry after all that strolling and exploring of Chinatown? Well, have I got good news for you. From anywhere in Chinatown, you're just steps away from a number of food stalls, diners, cafes, and restaurants, with everything from Thai to Vietnamese to Chinese cuisine. Here's a sampler: Indigo, 1121 Nu`uanu Avenue, 521-2900; this is perhaps Chinatown's most upscale restaurant with a menu of Euro-Asian cuisine; treat yourself to delicious dim sum and entrees such as Emperor Po's ginger ham shanks, black mustard ahi steak, or Shanghai mahogany duck with bao buns; dessert includes many times rich goat cheesecake, seven sins chocolate meringue cake, and the popular Madame Pele's chocolate volcano. Lunch Tues-Fri 11:30AM - 2PM, dinner Tues-Sat 6-9:30PM. Wo Fat Restaurant, corner of Hotel and Maunakea Streets, 521-5055; a Chinatown institution dating back to the 1880s; the menu offers Hong Kong-style dim sum and Chinese exotics such as Chinese broccoli with salted fish, Shanghai cabbages in garlic sauce, duck feet with black mushrooms, celery with preserved meat, or pork intestine with sweet & sour cabbages. Open daily 7AM - 9PM. Glowing Dragon Seafood Restaurant, 1023 Maunakea Street, 521-4492; this small cafe offers a long menu of almost 200 Chinese specials such as shredded cold jelly fish, Peking duck, beef stew with turnip casserole, duck web with black mushroom casserole, char siu foo yong, capital pork ribs, sliced beef with rum sauce and many more. Open daily 10AM - 2AM. Mei Sum Dim Sum, 65 North Pauahi Street, 531-3268; this bright clean eatery offers a wide selection of Hong Kong-style dim sum such as shrimp dumpling, half moon, lotus sugar bow, tripe, scallop dumpling, black bean sauce spareribs; menu entrees include seaweed tofu soup, Szechuan shrimp, drunken chicken, pork ong choy, chow funn, look funn and much more. Forum Cafe, 100 N. Beretania, 599-5022; this busy restaurant features a menu of traditional Chinese cuisine including items like fried rice and noodles, roast honey glazed pork, roast duck noodles, Hainanese chicken, sour cabbage beef, walnut shrimp with mayonnaise sauce, Chinese hot pots, plus lots more. They have bakery items too. Won Kee Chinese Seafood Cuisine, 100 N. Beretania, 524-6877; the menu is traditional Chinese with unusual items like rainbow bean curd soup, wine chicken and jelly fish, mixed seafood in taro basket, squid with hum-ha sauce, preserved wine chicken, pork hash with duck egg, pork with sweet and tangy sauce, four treasures tofu casserole, eight treasures tofu and much more. Maxime Vietnamese Restaurant, 1134 Maunakea Street, 545-4188; those who like Vietnamese fare will like the menu here; choose pho beef noodle soup, hu tieu seafood noodles, varied roll-ups with beef, chicken, shrimp or seafood, vermicelli noodles, sauteed lemongrass, and much more. Open 9:30AM - 9PM. Little Village, 1113 Smith Street, 545-3008; this small hole-in-the-wall place has just a handful of tables and chairs but is big on a menu of creative local-Chinese cuisine. Choices range from orange chicken, fresh akule, stir-fried clams, sizzling butterfish, duck noodles, spicy sour cold noodles, Shanghai mochi in soup, chow funn noodles, curry rice noodles, and much more. Open 10AM to midnight daily. Chinatown Information Get the latest details online at "Honolulu's Chinatown" website: www.chinatownhi.com; Email them at: info@chinatownhi.com The website has detailed information on what to see and do, activities, dining, and more. Also check with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, 42 N. King Street, Honolulu, HI 96817; web: www.ccchi.org; Email: info@ccchi.org; 808/533-3181, fax 808/533-6967. They can help with maps and other information. ©2002, John Penisten, Pacific Pictures |
