A Kama'aina's Guide to Honolulu Chinatown in Hawaii

Cheap Eats Local Style Honolulu For bona fide authentic cuisine, then the legendary and historical Chinatown is the place to go. Hawaii may conjure up images of hula girls and coconuts but on the urban island of Oahu, in the state capital city of Honolulu, there is a Chinatown where a genuine multicultural cornucopia of food can be found.

Maunakea Market Place Food Court is open 365 days a year. Even on Oct. 23 2006, the day when an unusually strong earthquake triggered a complete blackout island-wide for the entire day, Chinatown was still open. Venders simply pulled out traditional mechanical scales at the same time as typical marketplaces were closed because of their reliance on digital technology to do business.

How much cheaper is Chinatown compared to Waikiki's Ala Moana Shopping Center 's Food Court? It is about half price. For example, Malee Thai & Vietnam Cuisine offers two summer rolls, (with the best Thai sauce in town), for $2.50. It is more than $5 at Ala Moana.

Many of the stores in at Maunakea Mall are merely 400 square feet stalls, so there are many different venders under one roof. Each and every morning at dawn, recently slaughtered 1/2 hogs are hand carried into the pedestrian-only mall. On a daily basis, freshly harvested fish is available for all budgets, from fish heads to top-of-the-line $60 a pound Bluefin Belly Sashimi.

Shopping Chinatown is much more than just food. Anything can be acquired. For instance - create your very own logo or icon stamp with a personalized Chinese seal or 'chop' carved from stone. The stone carver transcribes your name or it's meaning into genuine Chinese characters.

Activities There are many festivals, art shows and special events happening at almost a weekly basis somewhere in downtown Chinatown Honolulu. One of the largest is the Chinese New Year Parade. The Chinese New Year lands on a different day each year: In 2005 it was Feb. 9 , in 2006 it was Jan. 29, The Chinese New year for 2007 on Feb. 18 is a very special Year of the Golden Pig.

Even without any particular social event happening the area is very interesting, just raise your eyes to the roof tops for sightseeing of unusual architecture of decorative dragons, lions and all the animals in the Chinese zodiac. The building facades also hide a dark history. In 1886, 30 acres were destroyed and then rebuilt. In 1899 a fire was intentionally set to control a bubonic plague outbreak and a second Phoenix rose from out of the ashes. By the 1930's, Honolulu was the biggest Chinatown in USA

The night-loving denizens of Honolulu's downtown have long been memorialized for wanton revelry and can be discerned from a 1930's song, "Manuela Boy"; Manuela Boy, my dear boy, you no mo' hilahila (shame), No mo' five cents, no mo' house, You go 'A'ala Paka hiamoe (sleep).

Today, Chinatown is being rejuvenated with local art galleries amongst the vestiges of bygone businesses that had left behind place signs that include the infamous nightclub 'Paradise Lost' and the neon pin-up girl that no longer flashes 'Hubba-Hubba'.