Ridge stopped in Honolulu last night on his way to a nine-day trip through Asia and left this morning after a quick run on the beach and breakfast with Gov. Linda Lingle.

Lingle said Hawai'i needs to become a "destination city" for China and spoke to Ridge this morning about the idea. Ridge seemed supportive.

"I pledge to work with the Commerce department to see if we can do anything to accomplish that goal," Ridge said.

Under existing agreements with China, Chinese tourists cannot simply book a flight to Hawai'i, Lingle said.

"In order to travel outside of China as a tourist, you are only permited to go to those places that have an approved destination site status," Lingle told reporters. "Hawai'i is not an approved destination site and our Department of Economic Development and our tourism liason are working closely with China to carve out Hawai'i as an exception."

Such an exception would only apply to Hawai'i and not anywhere else on the Mainland, Lingle said. Her administration will work on this through the year and is "cautiously optimistic."

But the difficulty Chinese citizens have in obtatining visas could hinder the flow of Chinese tourists, she said. Chinese business travelers already can visit Hawai'i, but they, too, have trouble obtaining visas, she said.