Hawaii Heritage Center

We had an absolutely outstanding experience on the Chinatown walking tour with the Hawaiian Heritage Center. Karen’s introduction alone was worth it — she shared the fascinating history of immigration to Hawaii and the origins of Chinatown with such passion, knowledge, and warmth. You can truly feel how much heart, time, energy, and personal dedication she has poured into this incredible project over so many years. Her personal stories add a deeply human touch that makes the experience unforgettable. What impressed us most was how Karen tailors her introduction to each group. Since we were from Germany, she even shared personal memories about her friendship with the German architect who designed the USS Arizona Memorial — an unexpected and very moving connection that brought history to life. Edwina then guided us through Chinatown’s markets and hidden corners, offering intimate insights into the lives of people you would never get to meet as a regular tourist. It was eye-opening, educational, and deeply touching. One of us had already done this tour before — yet it felt like a completely new experience this time. Different details, new perspectives, and fresh stories were shared, all of them equally fascinating. This is not just a walking tour; it’s a heartfelt journey through culture, history, and humanity. We can’t recommend it highly enough!

I did the tour provided by this amazing Heritage Center. They first spent the first 30 minutes giving us in depth history of Chinatown in Hawaii, and then we spent the next 1.5 hours walking around Chinatown. The history plus walking around was amazing and tour guide was well known around there. The food portion was a nice touch, not much, but enough to keep us interested. There was only a weird moment where the tour guide would leave us at the table to find us food, but didn’t tell us where they were, so we would would just sit around and wonder if they would ever come back. I think small communication throughout the tour can be improved. Also, it wasn’t enticing to visit some shops geared towards luring tourists to buy things.

If you're into history, curious about Chinatown, enjoy walking, and sampling food, then don't hesitate to take this 2+ hour walking tour! Karen gave us a deep overview on the arrival of the workers (surprisingly first Greeks as well as Portuguese, Irish, and Scottish before plantation owners decided to recruit from Chinese villages). She also provided details about influential, history-changing Chinese with Chinatown ties as well as interesting trivia such as the arrival of the bubonic plague in the late 1800s. Afterwards Brenda took us around Chinatown, including into various shops. Thanks to her, we tried a variety of things I never knew existed and I often shop at Asian grocery stores. For example, we tried apple bananas, dragon eyes, and haw flakes (candy made from fruit of the hawthorn tree). We wholeheartedly recommend this tour!

We stumbled across the Center while walking through Chinatown and are grateful for the educational displays. The friendly docent was happy to chat, answer our questions, and recommend food spots. Everyone visiting Honolulu Chinatown should stop by the Center. If it's closed, the window displays are still informative and interesting.

A wonderful overview of the history of Chinatown. You come away with an understanding and appreciation of the melting pot that Hawaii is. The volunteers at the center are very knowledgeable and dedicated to sharing the unique history of Chinatown. Karen and Edwina were friendly and approachable. At $25, one of the best tour options on the Island.

I went on this tour last Friday. What a wonderful learning experience with our guide, Julie, a retired elementary school teacher and librarian. It is a two hour walking tour of Chinatown with edible tastings along way. The history of Chinatown is so interesting. Having the stops at various places to taste the food was indeed so enjoyable that today I went back to the Bakery to buy the sesame covered peanut bars for gifts for my friends in Massachusetts. Also had one for myself too. Learn about the various residents of Chinatown and get recommendations where to ear. Thank you Hawaii heritage Center for providing this opportunity.

I helped chaperone a visit with 28 elementary school children. After a brief introduction, they easily led 3 groups of children, teachers, parents, etc... through Chinatown and even curtailed the trip to meet our curriculum. The tour guides were all wonderful. I recommend bringing water on the tour since we went on a hot day, and we walked well over 2 miles! Fascinating and helpful information.

They offer walking tour which last for 1.5 to 2 hours for USD30 per person with included food tasting. The guides there were helpful and answered many of our questions with enthusiasm. Feel free to ask them about interesting places in Chinatown

A "must do" tour where you visit Hawaii so you can get a thorough understanding of all the ethnic orgins of the people of Hawaii. The museum is wonderful but to go on the walking tour adds to the experience as you get four tastings as you tour thru Chinatown.

We passed this site many times in the past while enroute to either dine or market in Chinatown but had not ventured in, until today. From the outside, we peered at several poster boards and some Chinese artifacts that were brought in by Chinese immigrants who were either laborers in the sugar cane fields or merchants or scholars. After having lunch in Chinatown, we roamed into this small "museum". We were met by two women with whom we struck up a conversation because our families (grandparents) had once lived in Chinatown during the late 1800's through early 1900's. Our conversation covered our memories of Honolulu's Chinatown as well as growing up in Hawai'i. The two women are also longtime Honolulu residents and have a lot of cultural and historical knowledge about the Chinese in Hawai'i. There is a nominal charge of $1 to enter and browse through the exhibits. Some of the exhibits brought out many family remembrances as I recognized many items from my family home or some that have been passed down to me and my siblings. There were also exhibits featuring the Portuguese, Puerto Rican, Filipino and Japanese immigrants whose heritages have also shaped our local culture. It didn't take long to browse through the exhibits which I felt were displayed quite well. There were some areas which were blocked off by extra "inventory" and it seemed a bit messy or disorganized. But, for the most part, the exhibits were maintained fairly well. As we were leaving, we were once again reminded about this museum's on-going cultural education since they offer guided walking tours about Chinatown on Wednesdays and Fridays. The 9:30AM tour takes about 2 hours and yes, they take you to historical sites and even make about 4 stops at various restaurants in Chinatown for food samplings. The cost of the tour is $30 which includes your admission into this small museum. You don't even need reservations unless you're a group of 20 or more. If you're a visitor or even if you're a longtime local resident, the tour might be something you might be interested in taking. I can't say that I'd recommend it YET because we've not taken the tour. But, I'll update this review if I do take the tour. Rating: 3.3 stars

Lovely tour guide and quaint walk around Chinatown. Because the tour is run by the heritage center you'll get more personal and passionate information (and treats) versus a larger blasé tour company just trying to make money. This history walk is fun and worth your time! (Bonus: Top notch restaurants and fresh produce markets in the area.)

We had a wonderful tour with Karen. She grew up in Honolulu and has been helping the heritage center for about 40 years. She has seen Chinatown's transformation over the years and told so many interesting historical stories and shared intriguing facts that I come to appreciate Chinatown a lot more. The best part of the tour is the food. We tasted a few authentic dishes from the Chinese market that I wouldn't have thought to try. It got us back to the market later that day for more. Overall we learned a ton about the history of Chinatown and highly recommend this tour.

This was my first trip to Hawaii visiting a friend who has been living here for three years. She was tired of doing the same old regular tourist stuff in Wakiki and she found this tour in a magazine. Although the museum itself could use a little TLC--- I can't fault them for the space as the staff are all volunteers. Karen walked us around Chinatown for three hours giving the most in-depth history tour I've ever experienced. Karen was engaging, funny and up to date on Chinatown's (and Hawaiian)history. She knew all the shop owners---she took us in to multiple eateries to try the food, gave us tips on where the best prices were and was a pure joy to be around. Although we wandered Chinatown for three hours, she told us that it was only 10% of the history and that we should come back and take another tour to learn the history and knowledge from another volunteer. Most definitely worth the $30 expense.

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!

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

I'm sorry to say that cannot recommend this as a stop. I've visited several times in the last two years and the people here are consistently unfriendly. I've also gone on their tour. The guide didn't know the most basic history of the neighborhood. Basically their tour is a pitch for someone to give the center a million dollars so they can build a new site.

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.