Hawaii Heritage Center

As a San Francisco native, and having two dozen trips to Hawaii on my belt, I rarely went into Honolulu Chinatown as we eat Chinese regularly at home… and when I go to Oahu I am there to eat local food. But I like museums and small group tours, so when I found a food and culture tour of Chinatown, I thought I’d give the Hawaii Heritage Center «Chinatown Hidden Treasures Walking Tour» a shot.
It was $ 20 per person, but the guide (Julia) buys you food from three or four places to sample and they gave us a bottle of water to start. The walking tour was two hours long, and you also got a fascinating intro lecture inside the Museum (Karen who is also the Director).
The walking tours are Wed and Fri at 9:30am. I get into San Francisco Chinatown several times a month to go shopping, and being Chinese, I had pretty low expectations. However, I found this tour really enlightening as although I could not help compare to our Bay Area Chinatown, I also realized how much different Honolulu’s was with its own unique history and ethnic mix. This tour was one of the highlights of our two week visit.
We visited places where only locals will know where to get the best dim sum and pastries, fresh fruit smoothies and walked through the food and eating market place (that I will go back on my own) and several shops including an herbalist as we saw him measuring a potion with the same weigh scales Chinese have been doing for centuries.
Bring water, comfortable shoes and a hat. The walk is about two miles, but the tour goes at a very leisurely pace, and is slow and stopped often.
For the first time visitor, and for the veteran tourist, there is something to see and do for all, so put this hidden treasure on your list of the things to do.
aloha

A wonderful museum. It’s run on a shoestring by very dedicated volunteers who are a wealth of knowledge. I took the walking tour guided by Julia. She was fabulous! We went into temples, stores, and factories and got a behind the scenes look into many places. I think I would have been too intimidated to go into some of the stores on my own but Julia knew right where to go. She also purchased treats for the walkers along the way. This is a «must do» if you’re in the area. The museum costs $ 1 to come into, the walking tour is $ 20 per person, both are cash only.

This review is solely based on their lack of web presence and information. I tried to do a walking tour today and I saw online that the tour is $ 5. I went in and the first words out of the lady’s mouth are: «do you know the tour costs $ 20?». I said, «I thought it was $ 5– that’s what I saw online». She proceeds to tell me that it cost $ 5– thirty years ago. Well, if that’s the case, the $ 5 price posted online existed before the Internet so how does that happen. Anyway, they don’t offer kama’aina discount or any other type of discount unless you go in a group of 20 or more, plus its cash only. I didn’t do the tour because I would have to go to an ATM first, plus I got a bad vibe from her. It’s probably a cool experience, but its frustrating to deal with a business that knows there’s misinformation online but does nothing to fix it.

I took a walking tour of Chinatown with these people today. Prior to hitting the street we walked about inside the center and looked at the exhibits, and then listened to a small lecture about the history of Chinatown. All of the volunteers are friendly and knowledgeable. Chinatown itself is awesome and I’m glad I took this tour to familiarize myself with the area so I can go shopping here in the near future.
This little place is a cultural gem! You know, they are always looking for volunteers to help out. Spend some time and learn about history!