Manoa Chinese Cemetery

A very calm, pretty place to walk through and contemplate life.
What can you say about a cemetery? It is a solemn place, for sure. But this is beautifully maintained and I especially like the pet cemetery area with the Chinese Zodiac sculptures. Very pretty.

Historic Cemetery in historic Manoa Valley. This cemetery is over 100 years old and records in a poetic way the Chinese migration to Hawaii. Walking among the tombstones is like a history lesson. Very sad and serene is the Children’s section created during a time when many children died due to illness.

We come here twice every year. Once to pay respects during bi San and then during my husband’s birthday. Its always kept cool being surrounded by the mountains and in the valley. Its a very old cemetery, but the grounds and headstones are well maintained. The roads however are a bit narrow and bumpy with deterioration. It’s okay, just drive slowly, your car will be alright.
Parking can be challenging during bi san time with people paying respects, but you’ll always find a spot. Just may have to walk a teenie bit.

In a quiet section in the backside of Manoa Valley, herein lies the Manoa Chinese cemetery. The peaceful still of the green mountains and the ambiance of nothingness greets the wind and the silence of old Hawaii. There is a serene chill here and it’s pretty epic. I know why people love Manoa and chose to live in the back of the valley — beyond the University of Hawaii — Manoa campus. With that said, why review a cemetery? My paternal grandparents are interred here that I know of and possibly many forgotten cousins and relatives are here too — which I don’t know. On a nice Sunday morning, my family and I came over here for the yearly Chinese Memorial Day aka Bai San. It always is a poignant moment where you see your own mortality when you visit a cemetery and realize that life is short.
Certainly making the most out of life is a great thing. I chose to do just that with travel and running marathons. The Manoa Chinese cemetery is located on East Manoa Road, basically in the tail end of Manoa Valley. Nearby is the Manoa Shopping center. The cemetery is quite large with many persons and couples interred here. Many people choose their headstones to be vertical, versus flat on the ground like other burial grounds. The grounds seem to be kept clean and tidy, so that’s good. Some amenities include a water faucet for those bringing flowers and ceremonial space in front of the head stone for candles, inscence, and other ritual type offerings to loved ones. Other amenities offered here included chicken wire, so that offerings of paper money and gold shaped paper can be burned as an offering to loved ones as well, symbolizing wealth and prosperity in the afterlife.
I probably may not see myself here eventually, but it’s a nice place to be. Very serene and lush makes this place well worth the trip, although I wouldn’t want to come here at night. Plenty of people come here from time to time, to reflect and hang out with their loved ones who’ve passed on. The roads in and out of here are kind of narrow and not paved that well, but it is what it is.
Support local!
B+

Tai Po and Tai Goong are here too. Roads a bit narrow and hard to park. Small, quiet cemetary. But kept clean.