Chinese culture

[street_fighter]

Does anyone hapen to know if Maui has a Chinese cultural center? What programs does it offer? Also, I have heard that there is an area (near 'Kwock Hing Society Temple'?) that is referred to 'Maui's Chinatown'. Does anyone know what kind of bussinesses/orginizations that are in this area to give it this name?

Thank you very much (sorry if this is not the right section >_<).

[Miulang]

Re: Chinese culture

Does anyone hapen to know if Maui has a Chinese cultural center? What programs does it offer? Also, I have heard that there is an area (near 'Kwock Hing Society Temple'?) that is referred to 'Maui's Chinatown'. Does anyone know what kind of bussinesses/orginizations that are in this area to give it this name?

Thank you very much (sorry if this is not the right section >_<).

This temple is up in Keokea (near Kula Sanitarium). I think this area was first settled by Chinese immigrant farmers, which is why it is referred to historically as "Maui's Chinatown". There is a little park with a statue of Sun Yat Sen in the area too (fantastic view of the sunset . There's very little commercial activity in Keokea now: there's Mama's Coffeehouse (coffee served there is grown, ground and brewed on Maui...local artists gather there once a month to talk story) and next door is an art gallery. The Chinese are now very well integrated into mainstream Maui life, so there really is no distinct Chinatown anymore. There's also a Chinese temple in downtown Lahaina that's on the Lahaina history walk.

Miulang

[street_fighter]

Re: Chinese culture

Oh I see. Thank you very much. And does anyone know if there is a chinese culture center in Maui?

[oggboy]

Re: Chinese culture

Not that I know of yet, but I will keep you posted!
OGGBOY

[Miulang]

Re: Chinese culture

The best I could come up with is this list of Chinese Associations in Hawaii. I think most are located in Honolulu. I can't for the life of me remember if there is a real Chinese cultural organization left on Maui. I think most of these are probably Taiwanese or HongKongese (recent) groups, though.

Miulang

[oggboy]

Re: Chinese culture

You got me on your side.
Oahu, big time as far as Chinese Culture.
The only place I know of is Lahaina town, you no where I takling about Miulang. Other then that, small kine Lion dance at the Maui Mall. My Aunty live up in Keokea, by Fong Store. Chinese people we`re plenty in the sugar cane day`s on Maui. Hana had there own plantation, Kipahulu, Haiku. Other than that we don`t have a China town like Oahu.
OGGBOY

[gondola]

Re: Chinese culture

I haven't visited China but I know some of their culture beliefs from movies that I've seen. Chineses people are very business minded and I know for a fact that they follow certain family traditions...am I right?

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: Chinese culture

Maui probably doesn't have anymore "tongs" because they were created to help new immigrants in a new world with housing and jobs, etc. If they still exist, it's probably more a social gathering place for local Chinese to meet and talk story, the occasional ma jong tournament, civic club meetings and kung fu class. Not business like the plantation days. This is most likely the same for all the islands except Oahu.

Honolulu, being a major maritime hub in the Pacific, still has many tongs in "business" because we still have Chinese immigrants coming from areas of China that the local tongs represent. This is the first "port of call" and from here they may travel to the different islands or the mainland with a list of contacts for jobs and housing obtained from their tong.

In the early days, especially on the mainland, the Chinese were "not there". They were looked down upon and treated worse than dogs. Help for housing and jobs was non existent from the local and US gov't so the Chinese created their own organizations or tongs to help their own. Some tongs have obtained some notoriety as "underworld" organizations. Maybe, maybe not. Many are still active in larger cities like New York and Los Angeles, both having large maritime facilities and major airline hubs where many immigrants still enter the US.

Amazing what one can learn even from fictional suspense novels, yeah?