An informal Cantonese course was offered at UCLA in Spring 2026 to foster cultural preservation, language learning, and community building among students. Developed by doctoral student Cheer Wu in response to growing demand for Cantonese instruction and with support from the UCLA Asia Pacific Center, this course brought together heritage speakers and beginners alike to explore the language through conversation, music, and cultural engagement. Participants saw this class as a meaningful way to reconnect with their identities, strengthen family and community ties, and celebrate Cantonese culture.
Posted: 6/7/2026
On February 9, 2026, the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive celebrated the legacy of Hua Wenyi with a roundtable discussion and performances by the Kunqu Opera Society USA and UCLA Kunqu students from the UCLA Music of China Ensemble, directed by Chi Li. This celebration event was co-sponsored by the UCLA Asia Pacific Center.
Posted: 2/20/2026
When the end of monsoon season first left unaccompanied Chinese merchants in Southeast Asian ports for months at a time, they formed local diaspora communities in a process that has spanned at least 18 centuries.
Posted: 2/12/2026
In collaboration with the Asia Pacific Center, the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering co-hosted a November 6, 2025 screening of “A Chip Odyssey," Taiwan's first feature-length documentary chronicling how the island of 23 million people became the world's indispensable hub for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
Posted: 11/10/2025
The Cantonese Arts and Culture Endowment has been established at UCLA with a generous gift from May Chong '79, a longtime supporter of UCLA. She established this fund to preserve and promote Cantonese traditions, arts, and language and to foster education and cultural exchange and community engagement for future generations.
Posted: 10/29/2025