Posted on: Wednesday, August 4, 2004

OUR HONOLULU

By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Members of the China Club believe in the old adage, "You can't have enough of a good thing."

With more than 130 Chinese societies in Our Honolulu, what other reason could there be for starting another one?

T-shirt mogul Michael Zhang, the China Club's exuberant president, can tell you, but he talks so fast he's hard to follow. By listening closely and asking him to start over, I began to see that Chinese societies here are in dynamic evolution at the dawn of the 21st century.

Look at the evidence.

The immigrants who joined Hawai'i's traditional Chinese societies came here to be laborers on sugar plantations at $3 a month. Members of the China Club came here to go to college and become business executives with six- figure salaries.

Many early Chinese immigrants needed help to write a letter home. Of the China Club's 16 members, six have doctorates, six have master's degrees and four have bachelor's degrees. Only men belonged to the first Chinese societies. The China Club has six women.

Members of a traditional Chinese society tended to come from the same village. China Club members come from as far apart as Beijing and Shanghai.

One thing hasn't changed. A hundred years ago, immigrants banded together to help each other in the new world. That's exactly why the China Club started. Members trade information and business tips. Say incoming president Jeff Liu wants to add another art gallery to his chain. Other members tell him where they've seen a good location, who might give him a good deal, etc.

Something else hasn't changed: the Chinese love for food and socializing. Past president Henry Ou, whose travel agencies will take you anywhere in the world, is a prime example. Ou belongs to seven other Chinese societies, is president of three and vice president of three more.

By comparison, there are only four major Japanese societies in Our Honolulu.

It may have something to do with the shape of dining tables.

It's no accident that the China Club meets over dinner, and that they've sampled other ethnic foods, but never Japanese. "It's because Japanese restaurants have square tables," Ou said. "Chinese like to sit at round tables so they can all talk to each other at once."

Already the China Club is adapting to new challenges. The most recent member is not a businessman but a scholar, Bishop Museum archaeologist Tianlong Jiao.

The China Club has found a way to match the fast pace of modern life. They elect two presidents instead of one, because they travel a lot. If one president is in Singapore, the other runs the meeting. Also, their terms are for four months, not a year. Since everybody wants to be president, this way they can.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.