TheBus #2 from Waikiki drops you at Hotel and Bishop streets, in front of the gleaming high-tech Executive Center in downtown Honolulu. Just five minutes' walk away down Hotel Street, the faded green-clapboard storefronts of Chinatown seem like another world. Traditionally the city's red-light district, the narrow streets leading down to the Nuuanu Stream are still characterized by pool halls, massage parlors and heavy-duty bars.

It's well worth delving into a few of Chinatown's inconspicuous alleyways. Some of its old walled courtyards are now modern malls, but the businesses remain much the same as ever, and you can still find herbalists weighing out dried leaves in front of vast arrays of bottles. Pig snouts and salmon heads are among the food specialties at Oahu Market , on N King and Kekaulike streets.

Chinatown

• Chinatown

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