United States Destinations

There's plenty to see in Honolulu

By Paula Fadden

With its swaying palm trees, beautiful beaches and balmy climate, often described as practically perfect, Hawaii fits the bill as a paradise for tourists.

Hawaii is a U.S. state made up of eight major islands. Among them, Maui, Molokai, Kauai and Hawaii, also known as the Big Island, have their fans, but it is Oahu, site of the capital Honolulu, that receives the most visitors -- millions each year.

Tourism central on Oahu is Waikiki, part of Greater Honolulu, with what is probably the world's most famous beach, more than 31,000 hotel rooms, and a host of shopping opportunities, nightclubs and restaurants, is tourism central.

It's a great place if you want to lounge on the beach, do a little shopping, go out a few times and simply relax, and many visitors never leave Waikiki.

But Honolulu has much else to offer, particularly if you are interested in Hawaiian history, culture and natural life.

One of the major sights in the city is The Bernice Pauhai Bishop Museum, the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is located in Honolulu in a complex of buildings, one of which is a Victorian masterpiece built at the turn of the century.

Open every day except Christmas, the museum houses a variety of exhibits ranging from the royal feather standards and capes of early 19th century Hawaiian royalty, plus hundreds of artifacts from various Polynesian islands, to displays on space exploration and the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame. There is also a busy planetarium.

Other cultural institutions in Honolulu include the Contemporary Museum, which exhibits the work of current artists. It has two locations, one complete with sculpture garden in the Makiki Heights area, and one right downtown in the First Hawaiian Centre.

The Honolulu Academy of Arts features work of European, Asian and American masters, as well as important art by local painters and sculptors.

A major landmark in downtown Honolulu is the bronze and gilt statue of King Kamehameha, a major figure in Hawaiian history who united its then-warring islands into one kingdom under his control. He is depicted wearing a feather cape and headdress and brandishing a spear.

Across the street is the elaborate Iolani Palace, official residence of King Kalakua and Queen Liluokalani, last monarchs of Hawaii from 1882 until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893. Guided tours are available.

Honolulu is a city with a cosmopolitan population and a unique mixture of racial and national backgrounds.

This is particularly apparent in the historic Chinatown district of downtown Honolulu.

Vietnamese, Laotian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean and Caucasian merchants sell their wares and perpetuate their cultural traditions in this 15-block-square area.

Chinatown is notable for its colourful open markets, restaurants and specialty shops such as herbalists.

Another interesting historic area is Merchant Street, centre of the old downtown section of Honolulu, its 19th and early 20th century brick-rococo buildings harken back to the days before Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state.

The waterfront has historically been an important aspect of this port city. Attractions for the visitor here include the Aloha Tower, which offers unusual views of the harbour and ocean from it's tenth-floor observation deck, the Aloha Tower Market Place, and the Falls of Clyde, a fully-rigged four-masted sailing ship that formerly carried sugar and oil across the Pacific.

Adjacent to the Falls of Clyde is the Hawaii Maritime Centre, a museum that traces the archipelago's maritime exploration from the era of Polynesian exploration to the days of the great ocean liners.

If the natural world is of particular interest, perhaps a visit to the Honolulu Zoo would be in order. Special focuses of the zoo are fauna of Islands of the Pacific and Tropical Forests. There is also a children's zoo.

The Waikiki Aquarium, at the east end of Waikiki Beach, is located on the shoreline next to a living reef. It features more than 2,500 organisms representing more than 420 species of animals and plants, with an emphasis on the aquatic life of Hawaii and the tropical Pacific. Programs include a night reef walk.

For further information contact the Oahu Visitors Bureau, 733 Bishop Street, Suite 1872, Honolulu, HI 96813; telephone 808-524-0722; fax 521-1620.

Detective Charlie Chan had real-life inspiration

By Colin F. Smith

Image courtesy of Honolulu Police Department website.

Image courtesy of Honolulu Police Department website.
Hawaii has been home to a number of fictional detectives, but none more renowned than Charlie Chan.

The Honolulu-based Chinese sleuth, with his moustache, white suit and Panama hat and his ready stock of illuminating proverbs, appeared in almost 50 movies between 1926 and 1947, as well as a Broadway play, radio and T.V. series and comic strip.

Chan, played by a series of actors including Warner Oland and Sidney Toler, solved mysteries all over the world, but only a single case in Honolulu, a murder that took place on a ship in the harbour. In this he was helped, or more usually hindered, by his sons, referred to as Number One Son, Number Two Son, and so on.

These screen appearances are in addition to the six novels written by the character's creator, Ohioan Earl Derr Biggers. The first, entitled The House Without A Key, appeared in 1925, and featured Sergeant Chan of Punchbowl Hill.

Biggers got his inspiration for the character from a real Chinese detective working for the Honolulu Police Department, Chang Apana. He read a newspaper article about the detective's exploits while visiting Honolulu on holiday in 1919.

Born in 1871, Apana joined the police force in 1898 after working as a cowboy on Hawaiian cattle ranches. He was a much less polished type than his fictional counterpart, having little education and being literate neither in his native Chinese nor in English, though he could read Hawaiian and spoke it fluently.

Apana's investigation style was also considerably more rough-and-ready. Known as fearless and energetic, he played a major part in fighting the opium trade in the early days of Chinese immigration, and carried scars on his face and body as a result of hostile encounters during his work. He was also the only man on the force allowed to carry a whip, which made him much feared.

After serving 34 years on the force, Apana retired in 1932. He died the next year and is buried at the Manoa Chinese Cemetery in Honolulu.

The whip Apana carried is among the memorabilia in the Honolulu Police Department Museum. A nod to Charlie Chan and author Biggs is provided in the name of The House Without A Key Lounge of Waikiki's Halekulani Hotel, which was the setting for the original novel.

Proverbs of Charlie Chan

Here are some words of wisdom from the great detective:

"Insignificant molehill sometimes more important than conspicuous mountain."

"Eggs should not dance with stones."

"Theory like balloon - easy to blow up, quick to explode."

"Truth, like football, receive many kicks before reaching goal."

"Race not always won by man who start first."

"Small things sometimes tell large stories."

"Man without relatives is man without trouble."

Visit http://www.chinatownhi.com for more information.