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HONOLULU - CHINATOWN

Chinatown is Hawaii's most exciting and mysterious neighborhood. The historic district is located in downtown Honolulu, and has long been a popular gathering place for kama`aina and visitors. As a gateway to Hawaii for many immigrants, Chinatown is a colorful and eclectic blend of Southeast Asian cultures.

Vietnamese, Laotian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean and Caucasian merchants work harmoniously together, selling their wares and perpetuating respective cultural traditions. Daily, visitors and residents flock to Chinatown to buy fresh produce, fish, meat, manapua, candied fruits and vegetables, noodles, tea, duck eggs, char siu and other Asian delicacies. At noon, people in the downtown business community flock to the nearby area for dim sum, or lunch at one of the delicious and inexpensive specialty restaurants.

"Variety" best describes the visitor's Chinatown experience. All within a fifteen-block area, one may consult an herbalist, view an art exhibit, and see a dragon procession, make an offering at a Buddhist temple, or buy precious jade and a cheong sam gown. Chinatown's history is a rich part of Hawaii's story.

A History of Change

Arrival of the Chinese

The arrival of the Chinese in Honolulu can be traced to two ships, the Felice and Iphigenia , which set sail from southern China in 1788, and arrived in Hawaii December 6, 1788, and departed March 15, 1789. In the three months these ships were in Hawaii, it is assumed that all crewmen came ashore at one time or another. It is this period, 1789, which Hawaii Chinese historians commemorate as the official arrival of the first Chinese in Hawaii.In the 1800s, Chinatown became a community of family stores where the Chinese sold their wares.

First Contract Laborers

It wasn't until 1852 that the Chinese became the first contract laborers to arrive in the islands. With the growth of the sugar industry, the need for plantation laborers became imperative, and China was selected as the best source of immediate cheap labor due to proximity and the interest of the Chinese in coming to Hawaii to work. Captain John Cass of the British ship Thetis brought 293 Chinese men under contract for five years at $3.00 per month to work in the plantations. Working conditions on the plantations would undoubtedly be considered harsh by today's standards, but for many were better than what they had known in their home villages in China.

Between 1852 and 1876, 3,908 Chinese were imported as contract laborers, compared with only 148 Japanese and 223 South Sea Islanders. Around 1882, the Chinese in Hawaii formed nearly 49% of the total plantation working force, and for a time outnumbered Caucasians in the islands.

By 1884, the Chinese population in Honolulu reached 5,000, and the number of Chinese doing plantation work declined. The Chinese were very enterprising, and preferred to become self-employed. As a group they became very important in business in Hawaii, and 75% of them were concentrated in the 25 acres of downtown called Chinatown where they built their clubhouses, herb shops, restaurants, temples and retail stores. In 1896, there were 153 Chinese stores in Honolulu, of which 72 were in Chinatown.

Chinatown Fires

In 1886, calamity struck Chinatown when a fire raged out of control and destroyed the homes of 7,000 Chinese and 350 Native Hawaiians and most of Chinatown. The fire lasted three days and destroyed over eight blocks of Chinatown. The Legislative Assembly enacted laws to regulate the re-building of Chinatown in accordance with fire precautions, but many new buildings were put up in violation of government rules. This contributed to the even larger conflagration of 1900 which came about as a result of deliberate fires set by the Board of Health in an effort to wipe out the bubonic plague which was spreading through Chinatown.

The Chinese Store – A Slice of Old Chinatown Life
The Chinese store was an important social institution to the immigrants. The storekeepers loaned money, acted as a bank and post office, and wrote and read letters for the illiterate immigrants. The Chinese store also offered a place to stay and a meal, usually for people who came from the same village back home. The stores operated this way even into the 1930s. In less than 10 years after the arrival of the first large group of Chinese laborers, 60% of the wholesale and retail establishments of the islands were operated by Chinese. By 1880, they held 24% of the wholesale, 62% of the retail and 85% of the restaurant licenses issued.

Source: http://www.chinatownhi.com/

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