China’s Tricked Out Lao Tou Le 

Posted on April 4, 2026 by High School Voices

(Photo courtesy of Land Rover Media Centre)

By Guan Xiong Qiao

A 76 year old man named Sun from Henan Province driving without a license racked up 279 traffic violations in one year. In China, you get 12 points when you get your driver’s license, and when you lose the 12 points, you will be required to take a 7-day driving course in order to have a valid license. For this grandpa, he had over 800 points taken off his record, but what’s even worse is that he never even had a driver’s license in the first place. Because in China, a driver’s license isn’t required for the vehicle this traffic-violating grandpa drives, a lao tou le, which literally translates to English as “old head’s joy”, meaning an “old man’s joy”. The lao tou le is a popular small electric vehicle, usually driven by the elderly in China.  While Sun’s case gets more attention because of how extreme his situation is, there’s legitimate concern over road safety and how these types of drivers and their tiny lao tou le vehicles will put other normal drivers and pedestrians in danger, increasing public risk and the chance of traffic accidents.

The electric lao tou le vehicles usually have 3 or 4 wheels, and in all outward appearance looks just like a normal car, but it’s not large enough to be classified as an actual car. Instead, it’s classified as an e-bike, which also allows it to avoid many vehicle regulations. Lao tou le are some of the cheapest vehicles to get in China, with a price range normally around 10,000 to 30,000 yuan or about $1,500 to $4,000 USD,  making them especially affordable for elderly and low income citizens. Why is it so cheap? Aside from being small and electric, and drivers of this type of vehicle not needing a driver’s license to operate them, there’s no tax and no insurance needed in owning a lao tou le, which lowers the overall cost, so buying one isn’t any harder than buying a bicycle. 

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John Doe Chinaman wins 2026 Bancroft History Award

Posted on April 2, 2026 by Jeff

Joe Doe Chinaman book cover showing old picture of a Chinese man

The book John Doe Chinaman by Princeton Professor Beth Lew-Williams has won the 2026 Bancroft Prize. Columbia University gives the Bancroft Prize annually to distinguished works in either or both American history and Diplomacy. A quick synopsis of this book:

In this eye-opening account, Beth Lew-Williams describes a legal architecture redolent of Jim Crow but tailored specifically to people often referred to only as “John Doe Chinaman” or “Mary Chinaman” in official records. Enforced by police and tax collectors, but also by schoolteachers, missionaries, and neighbors, these laws granted the Chinese only limited access to American society, falling far short of equality or belonging. Cementing stereotypes of Chinese residents as criminals, invaders, and predators, they regulated everything from healthcare to education, property ownership, business formation, and kinship customs. Yet in the face of these limitations, Chinese communities reacted resourcefully. Many fought, evaded, and manipulated these laws, finding ways to maintain their prohibited traditions, resist unfair treatment in court, and insist on their political rights.

Interestingly enough, Lew-Williams is a descendent of one of the Rock Springs Massacre survivors. The Princeton History Professor is also the author of The Chinese Must Go.

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Ube’s Popularity Causing Shortages

Posted on March 30, 2026 by Jeff

Picture of Ube root - Ube Popularity Causing ShortagesA few years ago, I asked whether Ube is becoming ubiquitous.  The answer today is in some ways yes, yet in other ways no, with Ube’s popularity causing shortages in some Filipino American neighborhoods. A definite downside of mainstream representation.

How did it reach this point? Ube flavor is being incorporated into more and more products. Starbucks sells a iced ube coconut macchiato. UK based coffee chain Costa is also selling a sweet Ube hot chocolate and an Ube Frappe. This demand strains ube suppliers worldwide. Philippine production has actually dropped, while China and Vietnam are increasing shipments. Climate change is said to contribute to the problem. There are reports that people are substituting purple sweet potatoes or even using purple coloring to cash in on the hot ube trend.

While I mentioned representation, some reports say that many people have no idea that ube is from the Philippines. I could not find evidence for this either way. Still, many, probably most places that that sell ube flavored products don’t mention the Philippines or Filipino cuisine at all.  Says Eater food writer Bettina Makalintal:

Everyone’s drinking ube now, but they don’t even really know the flavor. They’ve reduced it to this thing that’s just purple. The thing that’s hard is that it feels like one of those things where it feels like the byproduct of your culture … hitting the mainstream, where you just lose control of it in the cultural conversation. That is the trade-off of visibility.

(photo credit: Remi Tournebize licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)

 

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Forgotten Island Movie to Explore Filipino Folklore

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Jeff

Forgotten Island Movie Poster showing two hands clasping, with bracelets showing Filipino mythological monstersAs 8Asian writers, John and I get press releases from movie studios promoting their work. I was pleasantly surprised to see an announcement about Filipino culture being explored in the upcoming Forgotten Island movie. From the synopsis in the movie trailer:

While celebrating their last night together, Jo and Raissa stumble upon a mysterious portal that transports them to the fantastical island of Nakali, packed with magical and mythological creatures they grew up hearing stories about from their Filipino families.
Some of these figures will become friends, some foes. Joined by well-meaning-but- hapless weredog Raww (Dave Franco) and a small-but-mighty pack of pals, Jo and Raissa must face The Dreaded Manananggal (Tony winning icon Lea Salonga), the most feared creature on the island. When they discover that the memories of their entire friendship are the price for returning home, Jo and Raissa will race to find a way to leave the island before they forget each other forever.

The movie boasts a number of Filipino and Asian American stars, with singer/songwriter and actor H.E.R. as Jo. Liza Soberano voices Raissa.  In addition, the synopsis lists the following:

The film’s all-star voice cast also includes Emmy nominee Jenny Slate (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Dying for Sex), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place, Top Gun: Maverick), BAFTA nominee Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness, Ghostlight), global comedy superstar Jo Koy (Haunted Mansion, Jo Koy: Live from Brooklyn) and Emmy winner Ronny Chieng (The Daily Show, M3GAN).

For those of you that don’t know, a manananggal is a vampire like creature whose upper body with wings can detach from its lower body. Somewhat different for Lea Salonga to play a villain – interesting casting!

Polygon somewhat cynically calls its KPop Demon Hunters meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One does have to wonder about if the creators Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado of (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish) used KPop Demon Hunters success in their pitch for this movie. I have included a featurette below about the creation of the movie.

Forgotten Island is set to premiere in theatres on September 25.

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Larry Itliong’s Son Responds to Cesar Chavez Abuse Revelations

Posted on March 24, 2026 by Jeff

In the response to a New York Times investigation, Larry Itliong’s Son Responds to Cesar Chavez Abuse Revelations in this Emil Guillermo Op-Ed.  Jonny Itliong tells Guillermo:

I’ve been fighting people for years who think Cesar Chavez was a saint.He never f****ing was.

For those of you who don’t know, Larry Itliong was a Filipino labor leader who was a co-founder of the United Farm Workers. The abuse news and Dolores Huerta’s account that Chavez raped her did not surprise on Johnny. He and others have long been upset about how Filipino Americans’ role in the UFW has been downplayed by Huerta and in movies like the 2014 Movie Cesar Chavez.

Jonny Itliong has some other choice words in Guillermo’s piece. Check it out. Some other pieces that may be of interest:

(Cesar Chavez photo credit: the Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection at the UCLA Library the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.)
(Larry Itliong Mural photo credit:  Timothy Biley under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license)

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Filipino American Stories at the Smithsonian: How Can You Forget Me

Posted on March 20, 2026 by Jeff

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A martial arts teacher looking for practice space found 26 steamer trunks in the basement of an old building in Stockton.  These trunks belonged to former members of the Filipino American fraternal organization called Legionarios Del Trabajo. The contents of those trunks became the basis of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum called How Can You Forget You? Curated by Sam Vong, this exhibit reveals Filipino American Stories of the Manongs, Filipino farm workers who came to the mainland US in the early 20th century.

Stockton and the Manongs

Stockton was once the largest community of Filipinos outside of Asia. A freeway built through the middle of it destroyed it. I grew up turn the last parts of its existence. Only faint memories of Stockton remain from my youth. I remember visiting Filipinos there who had houses with big yards where they grew Filipino vegetables that I had never seen before, such as alugbati (malabar spinach in English).

The title of the exhibition comes from this embroidered pillow case. The curators do not know the original intent of the message. To me, it captures that tragic life of the manongs. Their work in the US was originally to be a temporary work. Sadly, they often would never go home and end up dying alone with no family in the United States.

A Pleasant Surprise at the Smithsonian

The very existence of this exhibit pleasantly surprised me.  US government websites pages talking about minorities have been deleted. Displays talking about slavery have been altered. Amazingly enough, displaying the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s first how in the museum of American History definitely defies the current zeitgeist. In a historical context, the exhibit covers the beginning years of the Philippine Diaspora.  That Diaspora continues today and is a major factor in the Philippine economy was well as to the American health care system.

The Smithsonian Museum of American History is located at 300 Constitution Ave. NW, in Washington, DC. The exhibit closes in 2027. If you are not able to see it in person, here some resources to the history of the manongs:

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8Asians at Alysa Liu Celebration Rally in Oakland

Posted on March 15, 2026 by John

The Oakland and the Bay Area has been celebrating Alysa Liu and her Olympic Gold. I’m based in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I was fortunate enough to attend the Alysa Liu pre-Celebration Rally press conference and Alysa Liu Celebration Rally on a beautiful and  sunny Thursday afternoon.

Pre-Celebration Press Conference.

The press conference started around 11:00 AM at Oakland City Hall. It was packed with media.

In attendance were were Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, Alysa Liu and her coach & choreographer Massimo Scali and Phillip DiGuglielmo are pictured below:

90% of the questions went to Alysa. Alysa seems very down-to-earth in person and kind of reminded me of a former colleague of mine – very casual. I’ve heard many of the questions before, including one about the controversy regarding fellow Olympian and San Francisco Bay Area native Eileen Gu representing China in the Winter Olympics  (12:45 in our video above). The press conference itself last about 25 minutes.

At the Rally

Prior to the rally getting started, I was able to spot Alysa’s dad in the crowd as the press section was right behind the VIP section:


The whole celebration rally had a ton of Oakland and Bay Area luminaries speaking or performing at the celebration rally starting around noon under the cloudless blazing sun, which was televised and streamed live for the 1.5+ hours, including by NBC Bay Area:

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KPop Demon Hunters Sequel Confirmed

Posted on March 13, 2026 by Jeff

Picture of Maggie Kang, who will return as co-director and Screenwriter in KPop Demon Hunters SequelPicture of Chris Applehans, who will return as co-director and Screenwriter in KPop Demon Hunters Sequel

Netflix has just confirmed that a KPop Demon Hunters Sequel is on its way! Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, co-directors and also screenwriters on the previous version, will return.  Maggie Kang says:

“I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters. There’s so much more to this world we have built, and I’m excited to show you. This is only the beginning.”

In the meantime, we will soon see how many awards the film will win at the 98th Academy awards this coming Sunday.  It is currently nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original song for Golden. The Huntr/X singers will also perform at the awards show.

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Oakland Celebrates Alysa Liu

Posted on March 11, 2026 by Jeff

The city of Oakland celebrates Alysa Liu and her Olympic accomplishments with a billboard (see video above) and a rally in downtown Oakland. This celebration in Oakland City hall on Thursday March 12 event requires registration. Alysa Liu fans grabbed the free tickets in record time! Oakland residents have also put up a mural in Oakland’s Temescal district commemorating her achievements.

In other news, Alysa Liu has decided not to attend the 2026 Skating world championships later this month.,

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Allstate Check First Blue Man

Posted on March 6, 2026 by John
Allstate Check First Blue Man commercial, showing blue graduate from the University of Kansas I really love this Allstate commercial called Allstate Check First Blue Man! At first I thought the Asian American fan body painted in blue might be a Duke Blue Devil fan (I got my MBA from Duke). It turns out, student body president “Stephen Long” is graduating from the University of Kansas:
“Checking first is smart. So check Allstate first and you could save hundreds on car insurance. You’re in good hands with Allstate.”
I’m glad that this commercial shows that Asian Americans can be hardcore sports fans, just like any other American. I first saw this commercial while watching a Duke men’s basketball game back in January when it first aired, but couldn’t find it on YouTube until recently. I also love how the commercial shows a shocked, ashamed and angry Asian American mother and father (portrayed by actor Keisuke Hoashi as self-identified on Instagram profile as “Hollywood’s #1 Asian Everyman!”) at the graduation ceremony. Is that somewhat stereotypical? I mean, maybe some non-Asian American parents would be super proud of their son being such a hardcore fan. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the acting credits for the graduating senior nor the mother. Personally, I find the “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk” a bit weird for a sports cheer …
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Alex Honnold Free Solo of Taipei 101

Posted on March 4, 2026 by John

[Editor’s note – I missed this post from John until recently. A little dated but still interesting!]

You might have seen, read or heard of Alex Honnold free solo of Taipei 101. Taipei 101 is one of the tallest buildings in the world, based of course in Taipei, Taiwan. It only took Alex 1 hour, 31 minutes to free-solo the 1,667-foot skyscraper! Netflix streamed the whole event live.

Alex Honnold free solo of Taipei 101
I didn’t watch the event live since I was busy that weekend, but immediately saw on social media once Alex climbed to the top of 101. I caught most of the event later in the evening. If you have a Netflix subscription, you can watch the whole event here: Skyscraper Live

 

As a Taiwanese American, I have visited friends and relatives in Taiwan since the Taipei 101 opened in December 2004. It takes about 37 seconds on a super fast elevator to go from the 5th floor to the observation deck on the 89th floor. As the name suggests, the building has 101 floors and has become an icon for the city of Taipei and the country of Taiwan with its unique bamboo inspired architecture.

I was already aware of Alex. The documentary Free Solo catapulted Alex to general public fame, as it documented Alex’s free solo of  climbing the 3,000-foot El Capitan at Yosemite without any gear.

Alex is an extremely physically fit and experienced climber with nerves of steel. Prior to the climb, he had commented that climbing Taipei 101 was not technically challenged, but physically challenging. After watching the event after he completed the climb, I agree. I think climbing El Capitan was more technically difficult. During the event, Netflix did have these pre-recorded video vignette where Alex went into more details regarding the physical challenges that were different from climbing a skyscraper rather than a mountain.

Congratulations to Alex on accomplishing a life long goal! Taipei 101, amazingly enough, allowed Alex to climb the building. The payoff was fantastic in regards to the free publicity for Taipei 101 as well as Taiwan. I can’t even imagine what the global reaction would have been if Alex had fallen and died. I had read that the live stream had a 10 second delay just in case.

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Oldest Asian American film included into the National Film Registry

Posted on February 26, 2026 by Jeff

Poster for "The Oath of the Sword," the oldest Asian American filmThe Oath of the Sword,  the oldest Asian American film, has been included into the US National Film Registry. Produced in 1914, it is the story of a Japanese couple separated when the man goes to study at UC Berkeley. Studying at UC Berkeley?  Definitely very Asian American!

The film was considered lost when it was rediscovered by Northeastern Professor Denise Khor. Notably, UC Berkeley serves as a location in the movie. It doesn’t seem to be available on streaming anywhere, but National Film Registry has the film.

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