CHING YOUNG, whose formal name was Ching Yuk Hom, emigrated from the Chung San District of China at the turn of the century. He settled in Kapaa with two other brothers and was a partner with other immigrant Chinese. Together they ran a mercantile store and restaurant, known as “KWONG CHONG KEE.” In 1906, CHING YOUNG and one of his brothers leased a small parcel of land from the Wilcox family and began a small general merchandise store and rice mill in Hanalei. By way of a traditional Chinese Matchmaker, he met and wed his wife, Dang Ha Ching. DANG HA CHING was born in Hanapepe. She was the third and youngest child of DANG DAT PO and DANG CHANG SHEE. A traditional Chinese wedding was conducted with the entire traditional wedding garment ordered from Hong Kong. The newly wed couple settled in Kapaa, where their first two daughters, Florence and Ellen were born. Her wedding garments are on display at the Kauai Museum. With a sense of adventure and with the intent of improving life for their family, CHING YOUNG and his family moved to Hanalei in 1911 to assume full time operation of the rice mill and general merchandise store. He renamed both operations as the CHING YOUNG STORE and the CHING YOUNG RICE MILL. While in Hanalei, Mr. and Mrs. CHING YOUNG were blessed with six additional children. Hawaii’s developing economy in the early 1900’s required hard work and discipline. Every child had duties and worked from a very young age, helping their parents with the retail and milling operations. During the rice growing years in Hanalei, the mills or retail stores acted as the bank for many farmers. Groups of farmers would affiliate with a rice mill or retail store. During the year, the store would provide the family with merchandise. At the time of the rice harvest, they would bring their rice to the mill and accounts would be settled. If it were a bad harvest, the store would have to carry the account for another year. The mill would often be unable to sell all of the rice and would have to either take a loss or stockpile the rice until the market improved.