The Many Charms of Chinatown
Miss Chinatown Jenna Kam and Narci -ssus Queen Lisa Wong invite you to Chinatown to welcome in the Year of the Ox with lots of fun events this weekend
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for $4 and a good luck bamboo plant for $8, we proceed to the Chinatown Cultural Plaza, 100 N. Beretania St., recommended by both Kam and Wong as a must-see attraction. It is the staging area for many of the New Year celebrations.
The Chinatown Cultural Plaza houses diverse businesses, from restaurants and travel agencies to herbalists and acupuncturists. The center of the plaza proudly displays a statue of China-Hawaii political figure Dr. Sun Yat-Sen.
“This center of commerce and culture is important to keeping Chinatown alive,” Kam says. “It also is a spiritual place with an altar where one can burn incense and give offerings.”
The shrine of Kwan Yin, the Chinese goddess of mercy, gives the setting a peaceful and inspiring ambiance. Store merchants dutifully burn incense each day to help improve sales.
And that includes sales in food and beverage, according to 26-year-old Narcissus Queen Wong, a graduate of Iolani School and Wellesley College.
She’s right, of course. Honolulu’s Chinatown is richly populated with Chinese culinary wizards who make dining a wondrous experience. The best Asian cuisine in town is dotted through the 15-block area of Chinatown.
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.
For dim sum, Wong’s favorite place is Mei Sum restaurant, 65 N. Pauahi St. Steaming carts emerge from the kitchen every few minutes, and all you need to do is point to be served, Wong instructs.
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“Best of all, they serve dim sum all day,” Wong says. “I go there after looking at art galleries during downtown’s First Friday events.”
Deep-fried taro with pork, shrimp dumpling, chicken and mushroom dumpling, seafood roll, mochi rice in lotus leaf, char siu bao, look funn with shrimp, crispy noodles with seafood, oysters with green onions, and deep-fried shrimp gao - all at affordable prices.
As the interview concludes, we ask Wong and Kam to reflect on their roles as ambassadors of the Chinese community. They are thoughtful and humble in interpreting what it all means, personally and professionally.
Kam entered the Miss Chinatown Hawaii pageant to further her personal growth, to expand her network of community contacts, and to reconnect with her Chinese heritage.
Although she was born in Korea (her mother is Korean-Japanese, her father is Chinese), the family strictly followed Chinese rituals and tradition.
“It was ingrained in our family life,” she says. “My grandmother taught my non-Chinese mother how to make gau (Chinese pudding). Each year, we paid respect to our ancestors at graveside ceremonies, bringing food, wine, tea and burning money. I didn’t know why we did it and what it represented.
“Now I understanding the symbolism of Bai San or Ching Ming,” Kam adds, referring to the Chinese festival of pure brightness, when it is believed that spirits of the deceased return to earth.
“It’s all about honor, respect and sustaining cultural values from generation to generation,” she states.
Wong agrees, recalling how important annual observances such as Chinese New Year and Ching Ming are in her family.
“Everything is done in a traditional and ritualistic manner,” she says. “That’s why I’m proud to represent the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese people of our diversified population.
“After all, Hawaii is the crossroads of the Pacific, and we have a responsibility to be a cultural liaison between East and West.”
Both Wong and Kam will make goodwill trips to China this year as part of their reign. Both are looking forward to seeing places on their official itinerary, but also seeking places of their personal roots. Both have family linkages to places in China, and they hope they will experience those places.
So, whether yours is a personal journey to Chinese heritage like Kam and Wong, or simply an appreciation for the arts and culture of China, this is a time of celebration. Kung hee fat choy and let’s party!
Schedule of Events
Friday, Jan. 23, 6 to 10 p.m.
60th annual Narcissus Festival and Choy Cheng, Traditional Lion Dance Blessing and Chinatown Open House
In Chinatown and at Chinatown Cultural Plaza. Traditional lion dance blessing at 8 S. King St. Narcissus Queen and court visit Chinatown businesses and patrons. Celebration at Chinatown Cultural Plaza, with food vendors, arts and crafts booths, entertainment. Free.
Saturday, Jan. 24, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Chinatown Open House
Chinatown Cultural Plaza. Food vendors, ethnic and local entertainment, martial arts and weapons demonstrations. Free.
Night in Chinatown & Keiki Festival
On Maunakea Street. All-day block party with food booths, traditional New Year’s arts and crafts, two stages of entertainment, cultural demonstrations, and Chinese lion and dragon dance performances. Hosted by Miss Chinatown and court. Free.
Night in Chinatown Parade
Begins 4 p.m. on Hotel Street at State Capitol and proceeds to Maunakea Street. Participants include festival queens and courts, cultural organizations, kung fu martial artists, lion and dragon dance associations, including 150-foot dragon. Free.
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