There’s no faster growing population in Austin than its Asian community, a term that includes so many cultures, traditions, and nationalities. That 8% (and growing) of residents who can trace their family roots back to Asia, or who have moved here as part of the current expansion, represents a thriving component of our cultural life, and May, officially Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, is the perfect time to explore and appreciate more aspects of Austin’s diversity.
Join the CelebrASIAn
The Asian American Resource Center has become a hub for the city’s growing and diverse AAPI communities, and they’ll all come together for this afternoon of celebration and sharing. With delectables from Guam and Cambodia, and performances including singers of the Austin Japanese Minyo Group and the colorful motion of the Don Bosco Lion Dance, this is exactly the kind of event for which the AARC was built.
Sat., May 14, 11am-3pm
Asian American Resource Center, 8401 Cameron
austintexas.gov/aarc
Stream Austin’s Asian American History
Austin’s Asian community is almost as old as the city itself, with newspaper stories about Chinese migrants as early as 1874. In 2018, the AARC and the Smithsonian Learning Lab worked together to create an online timeline of the rich and diverse impacts and influences that Asian American Austinites have had on their home city’s story. Browse through stories and photographs, or use this invaluable resource as an educational tool to reconsider what you think you know about ATX.
Waves of Hope: learninglab.si.edu/news/austins-asian-american-pacific-islander-roots
Get in Shape the Bollywood Way
In Hindu stories Mayura, the sacred peacock, dances in the monsoon. That flash of color and motion inspired Shruti Anand, who took her training in the classical Bharatanatyam school of dancing, added Bollywood flair and yoga’s emphasis on limber health, and for the last decade has got bodies moving though Monsoon Dance. Want to move beyond the lessons? Maybe even think about trying out for the Mayur dance team.
Monsoon Dance, 8650 Spicewood Springs #118
512/765 6676
monsoondance.com
Take a Lesson in Tea
Gong fu cha: The term translates roughly as “making tea with skill,” and the West China Tea Co. does exactly that in its dedication to the rituals around infusion. It’s not the leaves themselves – important as they are – as much as the whole refined process. Sample the experience through one of their special events like the monthly CommuniTEA, or reserve a hosted tea sit for an introduction to the Chinese ceremony.
Daily, noon-8pm
West China Tea Co., 4706 N. I-35
512/887-8324
westchinatea.com
Laugh Your Way Around Asia
The “Best of Austin”-winning comedy troupe Y’All, We Asian wraps up AAPI Heritage Month with a bang and a laugh, with a pupu platter of local and Texan mirthmakers, including the low-key scathing KC Shornima fresh off her killer set at Moontower Just for Laugh’s New Faces of Comedy showcase.
Y’All, We Asian presents A Big Ol’ Comedy Showcase
Fri., May 27, 8pm
AARC, 8401 Cameron
Y’All We Asian
Five Ways to Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
A version of this article appeared in print on May 6, 2022 with the headline: Five Ways to Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
This article appears in Abortion Rights.
