Hawaii’s Chinatown

Hawaii’s Chinatown traces the arrival of Chinese sojourners to Hawaii as early sugar plantation laborers then rising into successful merchants, politicians and community leaders in Honolulu’s waterfront. Overcoming hardships, prejudice and catastrophes, sojourners endured and assimilated into Hawaii while retaining Chinese customs and traditions. Interviews with several historical authorities, relatives of prominent figures along with extensive use of historical photos, archival films and original documents illustrate the Chinese immigrants history in Hawaii. Major calamities such as the Smallpox and Bubonic Plagues, Great Fires of 1886 and 1990 are graphically recounted by photo montage and actor descriptions. Featured mini-biographies include: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the Father of Modern China and his connection to Hawaii as described by his great-grandson, Charles Wong; Honolulu Police Detective Chang Apana whose life exploits were fictionalized as the novel/film character, Charlie Chan; and “The Money Dragon” author, Pam Chun retells the life of her great-grandfather, L. Ah Leong the Merchant Prince of Chinatown, who had five wives and lived through the periods when Hawaii was a Kingdom, Republic and under U.S. Territorial control. The last interview with the late Sen. Hiram L. Fong, the first Chinese-American United States Senator as he recalls his childhood days in Chinatown. Historians from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu Police Department and Honolulu Fire Depart…