[ A WALKING TOUR ]
Roots of modern
China in isle building
This is the first site on our walking tour in which the location matters more than the building. According to the city's tax-key maps, the Lum Yip Kee Building was essentially built in 1903, opened in 1910 and had a new facade created in the 1970s.
It doesn't look particularly historic. But it was at this location that Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the founder of modern China, met regularly with members of the Tung Meng Hui "Alliance Society" while planning revolution in China.
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen planned China's future in Chinatown's Lum Yip Kee building.
Sun had island roots, and visited here at least six times. Sun Mei, his older brother, arrived here in 1871, becoming a merchant and rancher on Oahu and Maui. Raising his family in Hawaii, he arranged for Sun to join him and Sun went to work in his brother's store. At 14, Sun entered Bishop's College School, later renamed Iolani, and later received a prize in English grammar, awarded by King Kalakaua.
Sun became interested in Christianity and his older brother sent him back to China to cool off. Sun's experiences in orderly, peaceful Hawaii colored his perceptions of political chaos in China, and he began working to unite the country.
Traveling back and forth, Hawaii became a second home for Sun as he organized political activities throughout the islands. There's a statue of him at the entrance of the Chinese Cultural Plaza and a bust of him in Keokaha, Maui, where his brother eventually settled.
Lum Yip Kee Building
Opened: 1910 (1970s facade) Architect: Unknown Style: 20th Century Commercial Address: 80 King St. National Register: 1973 (District #73000658) Hawaii Register: No
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Quicktime VR Panorama
Click on pictures to view panaromas
BURL BURLINGAME / BBURLINGAME@STARBULLETIN.COM
Every Sunday in the Star-Bulletin Travel section, rediscover the charms of old Hawaii through a tour created by the Honolulu Historic Trail Committee and Historic Hawai'i Foundation and supported by the city's Office of Economic Development. The yearlong project commemorates Honolulu's bicentennial.
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See Honolulu City Highlights
Various Honolulu historical organizations have clamored for years to have some sort of survey created of downtown Honolulu's historical sites. The mayor's Office of Economic Development stepped in last year to create order, and 50 locations were chosen as representative of Honolulu's history.
There is, of course, far more history in Honolulu's streets than indicated here, but these sites give the high points and can be visited on a walking tour lasting about three hours.
To commemorate Honolulu's bicentennial, the Star-Bulletin kicks off "Holoholo Honolulu" today, a year-long project to examine these historic properties. For the next 50 Sundays in the Travel section, stories and photographs will illuminate these sites.
But that's just the tip of the architectural iceberg. Viewers can step right into these locations via the magic of QuickTime Virtual Reality, a computer process that allows visitors from around the world to feel as if they're standing right there on the street.
WE'RE ALSO looking for old photographs of these sites to scan for public use. If you have anything, let us know:
Write to:
Holoholo
Honolulu Star-Bulletin
7-210 Waterfront Plaza
500 Ala Moana
Honolulu, HI 96813.E-mail:
bburlingame@starbulletin.com
