Afghanistan is a country in Asia which most Americans probably spent little time thinking about before the September 11 attacks in 2001. Even after the subsequent US invasion and thirteen year occupation of Afghanistan, I don’t recall ever seeing a single Afghan face in any media and I’d bet that most Americans wrongly think that Afghanistan is an Arabic country in the Middle East rather than one that shares a border with China. Afghans have been coming to the US in small numbers for about a century and small communities have coalesced in Fremont, northern Virginia, the Northeast, and the Los Angeles area, the focus of this piece. 

A CONDENSED HISTORY OF AFGHANISTAN

Archaeological evidence suggests that Neanderthals and other early humans lived in what’s now Afghanistan at least 52,000 years ago. Around 3000 BCE, farming communities of the Indus Valley Civilization arose in the area. Aryan people arrived in the area around 2000 BCE. In 330 BCE, after conquering Persia, Alexander the Great and his army arrived. The area’s strategic importance owed to its being located along the Silk Road and throughout its history the land has been contested and ruled by a succession of peoples, including Arabs, Durranis, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Greco-Bactrians, Hephthalites, Hotakis, Indo-Parthians, Indo-Scythians, Kidarites, Kushans, Mauryas, Mughals, Mongols, Pālas, Saffarids, Samanids, Sassanids, Shahiya, Timurids, and Uzbeks. So many dynasties have met their end in Afghanistan, in fact, that it’s acquired the nickname, “the Graveyard of Empires,” an historic lesson the British, Soviets, and Americans would arguably have done well to heed.

The Afghan tribes were united under Mīrwais Khān Hotak, and the Last Afghan Empire (the Durrani Empire) was founded by Ahmad Shah Durrani with its capital at Kandahar, today the second largest city in Afghanistan. The British, Persians, and Russians all attempted to conquer Afghanistan in the 19th Century and after the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880) the British, though ostensibly victorious, withdrew and officially established (with the Russians) the modern borders of Afghanistan, initially a British Protectorate. A third Anglo-Afghan War convinced the British to completely relinquish control in 1920.

In the 20th century, efforts to modernize Afghanistan were made under King Amanullah Khan, who made education both compulsory and co-ed. He also banned the muslim veil and which aroused the hostility of tribal and religious leaders, who forced him to abdicate the throne in 1929. Afghanistan’s next two leaders were both assassinated and Afghanistan’s political situation in the years that followed saw drought, corruption, extremism, and outsider meddling stymie democratization, liberalization, and modernization, which nevertheless developed gradually, culminating with the creation of the Republic of Afghanistan in 1973.

The country’s first President, Mohammed Daoud Khan, and his family were killed in a 1978 military coup led by members of the communist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who through brutal oppressive force attempted to transform Afghanistan into an egalitarian, secular, Marxist-Leninist country. To achieve their aims the PDPA invited help from the USSR, and when the Afghan people revolted in 1979, the USSR responded by launching an invasion. The US and Saudia Arabia responded by arming a largely foreign, Arabic jihadis known as the Mujahideen with $40 billion worth of cash and weapons. In the ten year conflict that resulted, some 1,500,000 Afghans were killed and roughly six million fled, mostly to Iran and Pakistan, but also to Europe and the US. 

The USSR withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 and their state collapsed two years later. Afghanistan plunged into civil war which ultimately ended with the creation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Violence continued, largely fueled by local forces who received support from India, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and the US — all keen to shape events to their advantage. The Pakistan-backed Taliban ultimately conquered the country and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 1996. In 2001, al-Qaeda, a force comprised largely of former American-armed Mujahideen and supported by the Taliban, attacked the US killing 2,996 people (excluding the hijackers). The US, in turn, invaded Afghanistan, an invasion which turned into America’s longest war, and one in which (as of 2015), 2,326 Americans and an estimated 92,000 Afghanis have died.

AFGHAN-AMERICANS

Despite the creation of a unity government and renewed efforts at self-sustainability, Afghanistan remains highly unstable and the flow of refugees has increased since the war’s official end. Afghan-Americans include people of various ethnicities including Pashtun, Baloch, Hazara, Tajik, Uzbek, and others. As of 2014 there were an estimated 97,865 Afghani-Americans. According to census data, 9,711 arrived between 1991 and 2000; 13,533 arrived between 2001 and 2010. In California, the largest communities are in Aliso Viejo, Fremont, Irvine, and Simi Valley.

AFGHAN CULTURE IN THE US AND LOS ANGELES

Despite the US’s long and complicated relationship with Afghanistan, most of us probably know little about Afghans. My mother referred to the crocheted couch throw as an afghan and I knew what an Afghan hound looked like.  In 1985, a portrait of a young refugee named Sharbat Gula was famously featured as the cover of National Geographic.  James Bond and Rambo both teamed up with the pre-al-Qaeda mujahideen in The Living Daylights and Rambo III. In college, a pakol was briefly part of my winter get-up.

Even with their increased presence in the US, overt displays of Afghan culture remain rare and obscure. Nowruz, the widely observed Vernal Equinox/New Year, sometimes is the basis of cultural festivals in the US, although it’s more closely associated with Persians than Afghanis. Occasionally an Afghanistan-focused photo exhibition will open, invariably of the war porn variety. In 2012, there was an event called Sounds and Rhythms of Afghanistan with Ballet Afsaneh, Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Despite the existence of an Afghan-American community, there are no locally based Afghan-American organizations that I know of.  There are, however, a few prominent Afghan-Americans. One of the first, and most interesting, was Wallace Fard Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam, who may or may not have been Afghani. Little of certainty can be said about Muhammad. The FBI, who produced a good deal of spurious information about Muhammad, alleged that he used 58 aliases. Before he arrived in Detroit in 1930, where he went door-to-door in the black community, peddling silks and claiming to have come from Mecca, he lived in Los Angeles, where he was involved with the short-lived Moorish Science Temple and acquired a police record with charges including a violation of the “California Wolverine Possession Act.” His World War I draft registration card listed his birthplace as Shinka, Afghanistan — although at other times he claimed to be from New Zealand. Karl Evanzz, author of The Messenger: The Rise and Fall of Elijah Muhammad, asserts that Wallace Fard Muhammad’s father was Zared Fard, a New Zealander whose parents hailed from a part of India now in Pakistan. The same author claims that the mysterious Muhammad died in Chicago in 1971, afther he disappeared from public in 1971.

Azita Ghanizada was born in Kabul in 1979 and her family left the country soon after the Soviet invasion. After receiving degrees in English and Journalism she moved to Los Angeles to work as an actress. She’s appeared as a guest star in numerous television series and as a regular on General Hospital: Night Shift and Alphas.

Daveed Kapoor is an sustainability advocate and architect who founded the architecture firm, Utopiad, which has given the adaptive reuse treatment to create homes, art spaces, offices. The green agenda has also extended to the creation of parcels and the proposal to cap freeways with parks.

Khaled Hosseini (خالد حسینی) is an Afghani physician, novelist, and former Angeleno.  He was born in Kabul in 1965 to a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a Persian language teacher at a girls’ high school. When Khaled was eleven, the family moved to Paris and, four years later, to San Jose. In Southern California, Hosseini earned his MD at University of California, San Diego and completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. After ten years of practicing medicine he wrote a novel, The Kite Runner, which was adapted into a successful Hollywood film of the same name after which Hosseini retired from medicine to pursue writing.

Naim Popal (نعیم پوپل) is an Afghan composer and singer born in Kabul in 1954. In high school he formed the band, Lalaha, in which he sang and played keyboards. He worked as a sound technician at the state-run Afghan Film and a producer at Radio Kabul. In 1975 he moved to Tehran in the pursuit of stardom, only to flee to Los Angeles after the Iranian Revolution.

AFGHAN MUSIC

Traditional music of Afghanistan reflects the cultural influences of Arab, Chinese, Indian, Mongolian, and Persian music. The lute-like dombra is favored by Hazaras and Tajiks. The rubab, a forerunner of the Indian sarod, is widely thought of as Afghanistan’s national instrument. One of the instrument’s best known players, Homayun Sakhi, now lives in Fremont.

The Taliban banned most music but since their removal from power, Kabul and Herat have re-emerged as important Afghan music centers. Religious sects such as the Sufis and Shi’a make music in a variety of genres, including manqabat, mursia, na’t, nowheh, and rowzeh. Chazals, ragas, and tarana — collectively referred to as klasik (or “Classical music”) — are composed by muusicians reputedly descended from those of the Indian royal court.

Afghanistan’s first radio station was founded in 1925 and destroyed in 1929. Radio Kabul was established in 1940. Ustad Farida Mahwash, the “voice of Afghanistan,” was a pop singer who enjoyed fame in the 1970s, a period widely considered to be the golden age of Afghani pop. She now lives in Fremont. Since the removal of the Taliban, pop and rap have emerged and enjoy a degree of popularity.

AFGHAN FILM

Given the nearly continuous instability throughout much of the 20 and 21st centuries, it should come as no surprise that the history of Aghani Cinema is a slight one. The first film produced in Afghanistan was Reshid Latif’s Ishq Wa Dosti (Love and Friendship, 1946). The government began funding the production of documentaries in 1968. Afghanistan never had a film academy and under the Taliban, the nation’s cinemas were closed, destroyed, or turned into teahouses. The Taliban also destroyed many of the films in Afghan Film’s archives.

Although Iranian, celebrated director Mohsen Makhmalbaf‘s Afghanistan-set film قندهار (Kandahar, 2001) seems to have helped spur the reinvigoration of Afghan Cinema. Siddiq Barmak’s اسامه (Osama, 2003) received widespread international acclaim and attention. Since the fall of the Taliban, though, most films made in Afghanistan have been foreign productions like the British In This World or the Hollywood film, The Kite Runner. Afghan directors have, conversely, mostly worked outside Afghanistan. Affandy Yacoob and Ajmal Yourish‘s Al Qarem was filmed in New York. 2012’s سنگ صبور (The Patience Stone), directed by French-based Atiq Rahimi, opened domestically in New York and Los Angeles.

AFGHAN CUISINE 

Afghan Cuisine is largely based upon barley, bread, chutney, grapes, maize, melons, milk, pomegranates, rice, torshi, wheat, whey, and yogurt. Kabuli palaw is widely regarded as Afghanistan’s national dish. Bata, dumplings, kebabs, korma, and quroot are also popular dishes and doogh is the most popular beverage. 

The first Afghani restaurant in the US, Bamian, opened in Falls Church, Virginia in 1975. In Los Angeles County, Azeen’s Afghani Restaurant restaurant opened in Pasadena in 2004 and Afghan Express opened in Gardena in 2010. Sadly, Afghan Express closed in 2013 and Azeen’s closed in 2016. I swear when Agra Cafe opened in Sunset Junctions it advertised itself as both an Indian and Afghan restaurant but I can’t prove that and perhaps it was just a dream. Agra is, after all, a city in Uttar Pradesh, far from Afghanistan… although it is a Balti house, and Baltistan does border Afghanistan. There is a place called De Lux Cafe in Montrose, which has only one (positive) review on Yelp and is listed as Afghani.

There are restaurants which though not dedicated to Afghani cuisine nevertheless serve Afghani items (are are claimed to by the highly suspect experts on Yelp). Those include Ariana (in Tarzana), S Gyros & Kabob House and Khybar Restaurant (both in Reseda), Family Meat Market (in Northridge), Kebab House (in Panorama City), all of which are not surprisingly in the San Fernando Valley.

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As always, if you have any corrections or additions, please suggest them in the comments. Thanks!

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

Every  schoolchild hopefully learns about the 19th century Chinese immigrants who built America‘s rails, the largest network in the world (if embarrassingly outpaced and outdated). The moderately engaged Angeleno will have spied names like Nippon Sharyo, Kinki Sharyo, and Hyundai Rotem our modern (and not embarrassing) local urban trains and correctly surmised that the very trains are Asian immigrants of a non-human sort. If you pay even more attention, or just read this Asian Pacific American Heritage Month-inspired piece, you can find out about a little about the Asian-American artists who created the art in several of Metro‘s bus and train stations.

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REUNION (Union Station)

The six, wing-like, sculptural, glass and metal bus shelters at Patsaouras Transit Plaza, known as ReUnion (1995), were designed by artists Kim Yasuda and Noel Korten in collaboration with architects Torgen Johnson and Matthew Vanderborgh. Yasuda was born in California and is a professor of art at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Patsaouras Transit Plaza — part of Union Station — is located in Downtown‘s Civic Center neighborhood and is the city’s main transit hub.

EPOCH (Union Station)

Patrick Nagatani‘s collage Epoch (1996) depicts ships, trains, and other forms of transit. It also includes a series of Eadweard Muybridge photos from 1887, which though safe enough for Victorians proved so offensive to some in the 1990s that they were briefly covered with a plastic tarp. Nagatani was born and raised in Chicago and obtained his Bachelor of Arts from California State University, Los Angeles (UCLA) and his Master of Fine Arts from the UCLA in 1980. In the 1980s he moved to Albuquerque where he teaches photography at the University of New Mexico.

REAL GREEN (Vermont/Athens Station)

Artist Kim Yasuda and architect Torgen Johnson again collaborated on real green (1995). Its inspiration is the nearby city of Gardena‘s agricultural past and represents a tree which, after protest, was spared by Caltrans when they made the station’s park-and-ride.  The poetic text was penned by Michelle T. Clinton and Rubén Martínez. Vermont/Athens Station is located on the border between the communities of Harbor Gateway North, Magnolia Square, and West Athens at the edge of South Los Angeles’s Westside and the Harbor Area. It is served by the Green line.

SPACE INFORMATION (Redondo Beach Station)

Carl Cheng‘s Space Information Station (1995) was made in collaboration with Escudero-Fribourg, Architects, and features sculptures of satellites and blue glass meant to evoke the South Bay‘s coastal geography and history of the aerospace industry. Cheng was born in San Francisco and raised in Los Angeles, where he received his BA and MFA from UCLA. He currently lives in Santa Monica. Redondo Beach Station is located on the border between the suburbs of Hawthorne and Redondo Beach in the South Bay and is served by the Green line.

HOLLYWOOD/WESTERN STATION INTERIOR 

May Sun‘s design for the Hollywood/Western Station interior (1999), created in collaboration with Escudero-Fribourg Architects, pays homage to the pan-ethnic heritage of Los Angeles with copper, granite, and porcelain panels combined with text and set in a field of tiled walls.  May Sun was born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong and San Diego. She received a BFA from UCLA and a MFA from the Otis College of Art and Design. Sun formerly taught at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Hollywood/Western Station is located on the border of the Hollywood neighborhoods of Franklin Village, Little Armenia, and Thai Town and is served by the Red line.

THE WHEELS OF CHANGE (Chinatown Station)

Chusien Chang‘s The Wheels of Change (2003) is based on the 9th century text, 易, commonly known as the I Ching. The 八卦, an eight-sided Taoist symbol, pays tribute to the Chinese who built the US’s railroads. The design of the station’s benches reference the neighborhood’s historic Italian, Croatian, Mexican, and Chinese inhabitants. Chang received her MFA from UCLA. Chinatown Station is located on the border between the Downtown neighborhoods of Chinatown and Dogtown and is served by the Gold Line.

RIVER OF TIME (Monrovia Station)

The centerpiece of Cha-Rie Tang‘s River of Time (2015) is a sculptural, monolithic rock topping and surrounded by a ceramic and glass tiled motif which extends throughout the station. Tang is a Pasadena-based artist who received a Bachelor of Science in Art and Design from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Monrovia Station is located in the San Gabriel Valley foothill suburb of Monrovia and is served by the Gold Line. 

BUFFER ZONE (Little Tokyo/Arts District Station)

Buffer Zone (2009) is a collaboration between artist Hirokazu Kosaka and Ted Tokio Tanaka Architects. The station’s canopies are meant to evoke Japanese archery bows whilst the benches are modeled after targets. The platform itself is modeled after a tatami. Kosaka was born in Wakayama, moved to California in 1966 and graduated from the Chouinard Art Institute. Little Tokyo/Arts District Station is located in Downtown’s Little Tokyo neighborhood. With the completion of the Regional Connector, Little Tokyo/Arts District Station will be supplanted by the 1st Street/Central Avenue Station, currently under construction.

LANDINGS (Soto Station)

Nobuho Nagasawa‘s Landings (2009) is comprised of stainless steel bird sculptures and a a ceiling-mounted fiberglass sculpture, incorporated into an interactive steel, glass, and acrylic setting. New York-based Nagasawa was born in Tokyo and raised in Europe and the US. She studied at the CalArts. Soto Station is located in the Eastside neighborhood of Boyle Heights and is part of the Gold Line.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS OR TRAVELING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT (RAIL) (East LA Civic Center Station)

Clement Hanami‘s Through the Looking Glass or Traveling at the Speed of Light (Rail), (2009) is a Lewis Carroll-inspired steel sculpture depicting oversized plants and a giant magnifying glass. Hanami was raised in East Los Angeles and is currently the Art Director at the Japanese American National Museum. East LA Civic Center Station is located in Eastside community of East Los Angeles and is served by the Gold line.

LUCKY CALIFORNIA (Laurel Canyon Station)

Phung Huynh‘s Lucky California (2005) is a series of steel panels and terrazzo decorated with surrealistic depictions of cherubic Chinese taikonauts, flying oranges, and California poppies inspired by China’s charming space program posters of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. Huynh is Associate Professor of Art at Los Angeles Valley College, where she teaches courses in drawing, painting, and design. Laurel Canyon Station is located in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Valley Village and is served by the Orange line.

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So there you have it, something to look for next time you’re waiting for a bus or train… and something to dream about if you’re at one of the 6,200 bus stops (77.5% of them) which lack any sort of shelter or aesthetic considerations whatsoever! As always, additions and corrections are welcome.

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

Uyghurs are an Asian people who mostly live in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, which most view as their homeland. There are significant diasporic populations in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Russia. The US also has a small population, most of whom live in either the Washington, DC or Los Angeles metropolitan areas. Unrecognized by US census and lacking either their own state or a fashionable political cause (e.g. Tibet), they’re decidedly low profile. In Los Angeles their cultural profile is so far almost entirely limited to the restaurant scene.

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The first people known as the Uyghurs were a coalition of nomadic Tiele tribes in the Altai Mountains, the valleys south of Lake Baikal, and the Yenisei River. They overthrew the Turkic Khaganate and established the Uyghur Khaganate in 744 CE. At its most expansive, the Uyghur Khaganate stretched from the Caspian Sea to Manchuria and had its capital as Ordu-Baliq, in modern day Mongolia. The Khaganate was invaded by the Yenisei Kirghiz and collapsed in 842 and many of the Uyghurs resettled among the Karluks and in Gansu, Turpan, and the Tarim Basin.

The Uyghurs went on to found two kingdoms, the Ganzhou Kingdom (established in 850 with its capital near Zhangye), and the Kingdom of Qocho (established in 856 with its capital in Qocho). The first kingdom was absorbed by the Western Xia in 1036. The Kingdom of Qocho, also known as Uyghuristan lasted into the 1335.

The Uyghurs were absorbed by the Mongol Empire and the Tarim Basin was conquered by the Dzungars in 1680. The Qing Dynasty Chinese arrived soon after and from 1687–1758 waged the Dzungar-Qing War, with the Uyghurs generally siding with the Chinese. The long conflict culminated with the genocide of an estimated 600,000 Dzungars, after which China began settling Chinese of various ethnicity in the region.

The Republic of China was founded in 1912. In the 1920s, the Uyghurs staged several uprisings against Chinese rule and in 1933 successfully regained their independence, forming the East Turkestan Republic, which was re-conquered by China the following year. The Second East Turkestan Republic, backed by the USSR, existed from 1944-1949, when Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic of China (PROC). After they were made part of the PROC, many of East Turkestan’s republicans fled to Turkey and elsewhere. The PROC conquered neighboring Tibet the following year and for whatever reason, that has long been a cause cause célèbre inspiring Hollywood films, benefit albums, protests, concerts, and “Free Tibet” bumper stickers. Both Tibet and East Turkestan were admitted to the UNPO on 11 February 1991.

The highest profile incident involving Uyghurs came with the detainment of 22 Uyghurs in Guantanamo Bay in 2002. Although none viewed the US as an enemy, they’d been rounded up by China as “terrorists.” Although determined not to be enemy combatants, the last of the Uyghurs remained in Guantanamo Bay until 2013, when they were transferred to Slovakia.

UYGHUR CUISINE

As mentioned in the introduction, the most obvious signs of Uyghur presence in Los Angeles is in restaurants. Several of the local restaurants offering Uyghur dishes are Hunanese. Around 5,000 Uyghurs live around Taoyuan County and other parts of Changde in Hunan province, believed to be descended from Uyghur general Hala Bashi and his soldiers, who were sent to Hunan by the Ming Emperor in the 14th century to crush the Miao rebels.

Uyghur cuisine bears the influences of Central Asia and China. Common meats include sheep, cow, camel, chicken, and goose. Common vegetables include carrots, eggplants, celery, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. The typical Uyghur breakfast included tea, naan, hardened yogurt, olives, honey, raisins, and almonds. The most common dish is polu (pilaf), usually cooked with rice and a mix of carrots, raisins, apricots, chicken, or mutton. Chuanr (kebabs) are also popular, as is the stir-fried noodle dish, leghmen, which may have originated with Chinese lamain. There are several varieties of lamb pies including samsa, göshnan, and pamirdi. Shorpa is lamb soup. Other typical items include sangza (crispy, fried, wheat flour), youtazi (steamed bread), toghach (tandoor bread), and the bagel-like girde.

In Southern California, Uyghur restaurants and restaurants serving Uyghur dishes include China Islamic Restaurant (in Rosemead), Feng Mao Lamb Kebab (in Wilshire Park), Omar’s Xinjiang Halal Restaurant (in San Gabriel), Silk Road Garden (in Rowland Heights), Mao’s Kitchen (in Melrose), and Mas’ Chinese Islamic Restaurant (in Anaheim).

UYGHUR ORGANIZATIONS

Among the few organizations representing Uyghurs are the World Uyghur Congress, base in München, Germany, and the Uyghur American Association, based in Washington, DC.

FURTHER READING

For more about Uyghurs in Southern California, check out Trip Advisor’s “A Rare Uyghur Restaurant, and Worth the Trip!,” and Clarissa Wei’s “Silk Road Garden: Discovering Uyghur Cuisine In Los Angeles” and “Xinjiang Cuisine in Los Angeles: Halal Food And Hand-Pulled Noodles.”

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

Eater LA just published a piece titled Essential Los Angeles Vegetarian Restaurants. As a vegetarian I read it with interest but was left a bit unsatisfied. I’ve eaten at seven of the seventeen restaurants on Eater’s list and have enjoyed the dining experience at each, but I do have a few quibbles:

1. Mohawk Bend isn’t a vegetarian restaurant. They do have vegetarian options, as does every local restaurant that I’ve ever been to — with the exception of Saigon Flavor in the San Gabriel Valley.
2. Speaking of the San Gabriel Valley, not a single of Eater’s picks is from that region, even though every Angeleno whose ever dined out knows that region as the place with all of the best restaurants.

By shunning the SGV, the good listiclers at Eater have served up a list which will no doubt please members of the KKKK (the Kale Kinwa Kombucha Klan), which is fine for folks who choose vegetarianism out of health concerns or because they can’t get enough of those ancient grains, raw greens, and beverages which taste like they were filtered through unwashed yoga pants. On the other hand, there’s almost nothing for vegetarians whose health concerns are more for the animals and planet, rather than themselves… vegetarians, say, who love battered, greasy, fried, chunks of salt-and-MSG-seasoned gluten, chemically flavored to taste like chicken.

I made this map for those people (and myself), and because it’s Asian Pacific Heritage Month (and because it’s what I want to eat 88% of the time) it’s specifically a map of vegetarian Asian restaurants. 

食福 いただきます कृपया भोजन का आनंद लीजिये Selamat makan 맛있게 드세요 Kainan na ทานให้อร่อย 食飯 राम्ररी खानु होला تامىغىڭىز ياخشى بولسۇن ཞལ་ལག་ཉེས་པོ་གནང་རོགས། Chúc ngon miệng

MY TOP 10

BULAN (Thai — Fairfax and Silver Lake)

FINE GARDEN (Chinese and Taiwanese — San Gabriel)

HAPPY FAMILY (Chinese — Monterey Park, Rosemead, and Rowland Heights)

INDIA SWEETS & SPICES (Indian — Atwater Village, Canoga Park, and Culver City)

NEW DELHI PALACE (Indian — Pasadena)

PARU’S (South Indian — Little Armenia)

SAMOSA HOUSE (Indian — Culver City and Silver Lake)

SHOJIN (Japanese — Del Rey and Little Tokyo)

VINH LOI (Vietnamese — Reseda)

MORE ON VEGETARIAN ASIAN RESTAURANTS

For further reading about Asian vegetarian restaurants in Los Angeles, see Kristie Hang’s 10 Vegetarian Restaurants You Need To Try In The San Gabriel Valley and Clarissa Wei’s Four great vegetarian Chinese restaurants and Where to Eat Vegetarian Chinese Food in Los Angeles. Also check out Green Menu, an Alhambra-based non-profit which promotes plant-based diets and offers members all sorts of exclusive offers at vegan, vegetarian, and vegetarian-friendly restaurants of all sorts of cuisine.

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

HMONG LOS ANGELES

The Hmong are a stateless people who mostly live in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Approximately 281,000 Hmong lived in the US, as of the 2010 census, and the state with the largest population is California. While most California Hmong live in either Fresno or Sacramento Country, several thousand live in Southern California, mainly in and around San Diego, North Orange County, and Long Beach. There are few obvious indications of their presence, and just as they are stateless at home, they are similarly enclave-less here.

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Both DNA and linguistic evidence suggest that the Hmong lived in Southern China at least 2,000 years ago. The Chinese refer to the Hmong as “Miao,” an official designation which collectively encompasses several southern minorities, including some neither linguistically nor ethnically closely related. According to their own history, the Hmong originated in Zhuolu Town, Hebei, in China’s north, around the third millennium BCE. The legendary king, Chiyou (known in Hmong as Txiv Yawg), is claimed as their ancestor. According to various historical accounts, Chiyou was said to have been a fierce leader, possessed of four eyes, six arms, and a bronze, bull-like head with two horns. He is also claimed not just to be the ancestor of the Hmong (and all Miao), but the Dongyi (“eastern barbarians”), Nanman (“southern barbarians), and the Koreans. Conflict between the dominant Chinese people, the Han, and the Hmong led to their long migration, ultimately into Southeast Asia, where most live today.

During the Vietnam War and the so-called Secret War (the Laotian Civil War), the American military and CIA recruited Hmong to wage guerrilla war against the Viet Cong and Laos’s Pathet Lao insurgents. Saigon, the last stronghold of the US-backed South Vietnam, fell to North Vietnam on 30 April 30 1975. Vietnam invaded Laos in December 1975, and under the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975, 3,466 Hmong insurgents were allowed admission into the US. In May 1976, 11,000 more Hmong were admitted. By 1978, the population of Hmong-Americans had grown to about 30,000, still mostly comprised of fighters affiliated with the US-led effort and including General Vang Pao, who transitioned from Major General in the Royal Lao Army into community leader of the Hmong-American community. After the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980, more Hmong arrived, this time many more not directly involved in the US-backed insurgency. They continued to settle primarily in California and Minnesota. Today there are also a large Hmong communities in Milwaukee and Wasau, Wisconsin.

ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY

In Southern California, most Hmong were presumably processed at Camp Pendleton, in northern San Diego County. About 3,000 Hmong lived in North Orange County in the early 1980s — a not insubstantial number — but one dwarfed by much larger influx of Vietnamese, who established Little Saigon in the late 1970s in Westminster and whose highly visible presence soon spread across a vast area which today includes parts of Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Santa Ana, Midway City, Stanton, and Huntington Beach. Today Vietnamese comprise over 6% of Orange County’s population whilst Hmong are outnumbered by Koreans, Taiwanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Indians, Japanese, Cambodians, Pakistanis, Thais, Indonesians, and Laotians. Garden Grove is home to the Hmong of Orange County Association, though, who are responsible for organizing Hmong New Year festivities, held in November or December at the end of the rice harvest.

In 2007, Vang Pao, then living in Westminster, was charged with attempting to overthrow the government of Laos. The federal government dropped all charges in 2009 and the former military leader died in 2011 at the age of 81, after attending Hmong New Year celebrations in Fresno. He was survived by his youngest wife, May Song Vang, who assumed his position as a community leader but herself passed away in the city of Orange in 2013.

LONG BEACH COMMUNITY

A larger Hmong community arose in Long Beach, where in the 1980s they were estimated to number around 8,000. There, too, the Hmong are overshadowed by another refugee population from Southeast Asia, the Cambodians. Numbering around 20,000, Long Beach is home to the largest community of Cambodians outside of Cambodia. In 2007, an area home to many Cambodians and Hmong was designated Cambodia Town, the first recognized Cambodian enclave in the US.

The Hmong Association-Long Beach, was founded by Yang Cha in 1981. Programs they offer include instruction of traditional Hmong dance (taught by Gorlia Xiong and Shayna Lee), music programs Qeej not Gangs (taught by Qeej Master Nao Lee Thao) and a drum group (led by Master Chang Kai), Paj ntaub Hmong needlework (taught by Paj ntaub instructor, Chong Lee Vang), and Hmong language classes taught by Teng Yang, Nancy Yang, and Mary Yang. Since 1980, they’ve hosted Hmong New Year festivities in Cambodia Town, Long Beach’s El Dorado Park.

BRENDA SONG

Actress Brenda Song was born in Carmichael (in Sacramento County) in 1988 and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her father is Hmong and her mother, Thai. Song began working as a child model and commercial actress before landing a lead female role on the Disney Channel’s insufferable The Suite Life of Zack & Cody in 2005. She went on to star in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2007), and had a prominent role in the well-received David Fincher film, The Social Network (2010).

JERRY YANG

Xao “Jerry” Yang is a poker player from Temecula and the winner of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event. Yang was born in Laos in 1967 and his family spent four years in a refugee camp in Thailand before coming to America. Yang currently lives in Madera.

HMONG RADIO AND MUSIC

Of California’s estimate 91,224 Hmong, far more live in the Central Valley than in Southern California, something I only became aware of a couple of years ago when I was driving back from Sequoia National Forest and I stumbled across a radio station playing some very appealing, soulful and funky pop music sung in an unfamiliar language. Of course Shazam couldn’t just admit that it didn’t recognize any, suggesting over and over again that I hold my device closer to the speaker rather than admit any shortcoming. When I got home I looked up the station and found out that it was KBIF 900 AM, “the Central Valley’s Asian Voice.” I’m not sure whether the music that I heard was Hmong or Lao, as the station plays both. Whatever the case, I was surprised to learn of the Central Valley’s Hmong population. Having gone to college in the Middle West, I knew of the Hmong community in St. Paul but no others.

Maly Vu & X2V Concert 1995 – France

Back then I remember hearing about Hmong rappers and it seemed that hip-hop was popular in the community. There are also pop singers like Maly Vu, Blong Yang, and Cua Yaj. Traditional Hmong music is often vocal or features traditional instruments like the qeej and raj (two types of reed pipe), the ncas (a jaw harp), and nplooj or nblaw (leaves).

HMONG CINEMA

I’m not aware of any Hmong films having been made in Asia but there are not surprisingly, Hmong-Americans making films, including directors Kak Lee and Moua Lee. In 2008, Hmong actors and non-actors were featured prominently in director Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino. Its star, Bee Vang (from Fresno), is apparently working on his own short, Sunset on Dawn/Kho Neeg. Co-star Ahney Her, sometimes as Whitney Yang, has gone on to act in several films. Co-star Choua Kue has also continued to work in film.

HMONG FOOD

Most dishes of the Hmong kitchen aren’t unique to the Hmong people and are merely Hmong adaptations of Chinese, Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese dishes. I couldn’t find any restaurants which claim to specialize in Hmong cuisine but Vientiane Thai Laos in Garden Grove serves Hmong sausages as well as Thai and Laotian dishes commonly eaten in Hmong households.

HMONG ORGANIZATIONS & MEDIA

In addition to the already mentioned Hmong organizations, the Southern California Hmong are also served by the Association of Hmong Students, UCLA, the Lao Hmong Family Association of San Diego, the Hmong Alliance Church Santa Ana, and the Hmong Alliance Church San Diego. The Hmong are a member of the UNPO. Hmong media and websites include Hmong Journal, Hmong Times, Peb Hmong, and The Hmong Tribune.

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As always, hit me with any additions and corrections. Thanks!

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

In Europe there are several formalized traditions of botanical garden design including the Dutch, English, French, Greek, Italian, and Spanish. In Asia, there are at least long-established Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Persian schools and May being Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I’m focusing on Los Angeles’s Asian-style gardens.

The tradition of Japanese-American nurseries stretches back to the 1850s, when Japanese immigrants began establishing them in California. Takanoshin Domoto began importing azaleas, camellias, carnations, chrysanthemums, lilies, and wisterias in the 1880s. The California Flower Growers Association was formed by Japanese-Americans in 1906. The European vogue for Japanese art and design began at least as early as the 1860s and continued into the early 1900s, when some wealthy westerners created their own Japanese-inspired gardens. Japanese-Americans dominated not only the floral and gardening trade, but the landscaping one as well, into the late 1960s, around the time the gasoline powered leaf blower transformed landscaping into an artless, noisy, and pointless “blow-and-go” chore.

There are still signs of Asian influence on Southern California lawns whether they be the Buddhas, shi, and tōrō which share yard space with gnomes and pink flamingos; the occasional, carefully sculpted shrub; or the five gallon Pearl River Soy Sauce bucket containing a money tree placed on an apartment staircase.

Obviously I’m not going to make a directory of every private patio jungles, backyards, nor attractive but fenced off parks such as the small but pretty one in front of the LA Korean Festival Foundation’s Koreatown headquarters. Nor is this directory limited to purely public spaces — but all are open to the public. As always, corrections and additions are welcome.

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JAPANESE GARDEN and CHINESE GARDEN (San Marino)

The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens was founded by railroad magnate and art collector Henry E. Huntington. The Japanese Garden was created in 1912 and opened to the public in 1928. Within the garden is a Japanese home (built around 1904) a teahouse (built in Kyoto in the 1960s), a bonsai collection, the moon bridge (built by Toichiro Kawai), and a zen court and has been used to portray Japan in films like Beverly Hills Ninja.

The Chinese Garden’s Chinese name is 流芳園 (or, “garden of flowing fragrance”). It’s among the largest Chinese gardens outside Asia. It was made in collaboration between architects and artisans from Suzhou and local builders and gardeners. It opened in 2008.

Both gardens and all of the Huntington are worthy of frequent visits although San Marino is underserved by public transit. Metro‘s 177 stops 1.75 kilometers away at the campus of the California Institute of Technology and their 177, 180/181, 687/686, Rapid 780, and Foothill Transit‘s 187 lines all stop about 2.5 kilometers north at the campus of Pasadena City College.

YAMASHIRO (Hollywood Heights)

Yamashiro was originally designed by architect Franklin Smalls as the private residence of cotton importers Charles and Adolph Bernheimer, built between 1911 and 1914. It was supposedly modeled after a fortress the brothers saw near Kyoto. The brothers sold the estate in 1924 and built another Japanese-inspired estate in Pacific Palisades, which before long slid into the ocean. Yamashiro and the Bernheimer Gardens passed through several hands, serving as a club house, event space, school, and apartments until 1960, when Thomas Y. Glover began its transformation into a bar, then a restaurant. It’s served by Metro’s 156, 212/312, 217, 222, and Red lines.

HANNAH CARTER JAPANESE GARDEN (Bel-Air) — TEMPORARILY CLOSED 

The Hannah Carter Japanese Garden was designed by Nagao Sakurai and built from 1959-1961, inspired by gardens in Kyoto. The .6 hectare garden is named after the wife of Edward Carter, chairman of the Regents of the University of California. It was donated to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1964. UCLA announced its intention to sell the garden in 2011 and began receiving bids in 2012 but the Los Angeles Superior Court granted a temporary injunction halting the sale of the garden and activists are trying to save it. Although closed right now, assuming it is saved and again opens to the public, it’s served by Metro’s 2/302, 234, and Rapid 734 lines.

DESCANSO GARDENS’ JAPANESE GARDEN (La Cañada Flintridge)

Descanso Gardens is a 61 hectare botanical garden which was formerly the property of newspaper magnate E. Manchester Boddy. He ceded the site to Los Angeles County in 1953. It began as a camellia garden, the plants of which were acquired from two Japanese nurseries during World War II, when mainland Japanese-Americans were sent to concentration camps. Over time a rosarium, lilac garden, live steamer, bird sanctuary, xeriscape, gift shop, and Japanese Garden were added, the latter designed in the early 1960s.

The Japanese Garden includes a Japanese tea house known simply as “茶室,” designed by Wayne Williams and Whitney Smith. During the summer it becomes the “Camellia Lounge” and serves cocktails. The Japanese Garden annually hosts an annual Cherry Blossom Festival in spring and the Japanese Garden Festival in autumn. The garden is served by Glendale Beeline‘s 3, 32, 33, and 34 lines and LA DOT‘s Commuter Express 409 line.

GAN IWASHIRO (Little Tokyo)

Gan Iwashiro is a rooftop garden that created in 1977, located on the rooftop of what was originally a New Otani Hotel. Although it’s modeled after a 16th garden created in Edo for 加藤 清正 (Katō Kiyomasa), a Japanese daimyō, it’s referred to by its current stewards, the DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown, as Kyoto Gardens, presumably because before DoubleTree took over it was a Kyoto Grand Hotel. The first time that I visited it it there was such a dense fog that I couldn’t see the street below, which was pretty amazing. It’s served by Metro’s 30/330, 40, and 442; and LA DOT’s DASH Downtown A and Commuter Express 534 lines.

JAMES IRVINE JAPANESE GARDEN (Little Tokyo)

It’s Japanese name is the Seiryu-en Garden but principal funding came from James Irvine, hence its honorific title. The 790 square meter garden was created in 1979 by Takeo Uesugi for the newly inaugurated Japanese American Community & Cultural Center. Work was largely done by volunteers from the Southern California Gardeners’ Federation and the Pacific Coast Chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association largely using trees donated by Frank Yamashita and the San Gabriel Nursery. It’s served by LA DOT’S DASH Downtown A line.

CALIFORNIA SCENARIO (Costa Mesa)

Being in Orange County, California Scenario obviously isn’t in Los Angeles County, but adding “Orange County” to the title of this piece would be as clunky as this sentence. California Scenario was created in 1980 by Isamu Noguchi for Henry Segerstrom, developer of Costa Mesa’s two main cultural hubs: the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and South Coast Plaza. The serene oasis is tucked between anonymous corporate highrises, the 405, a TGIFriday’s, and a parking structure — which just makes it feel that much more magical. It’s served by Orange County Transit Authority‘s 172, 211, and 464 lines.

EARL BURNS MILLER JAPANESE GARDEN (Long Beach)

The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is a half-hectare Japanese Garden situated on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. It designed by Edward R. Lovell for Loraine Miller Collins in honor of her late husband Earl Burns Miller. Work began in 1980 and it was dedicated in 1981. I once helped set up a wedding there although I can’t remember who it was that was getting married! It’s served by Long Beach Transit lines 91, 92, 93, 94, 0121, 121, 171, and 173.

DONALD C. TILLMAN WATER RECLAMATION PLANT JAPANESE GARDEN (Sepulveda Basin)

The 2.5 hectare Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant Japanese Garden was designed by Koichi Kawana and is actually three gardens, the Zen meditation karesansui, wet-strolling chisen, and the Shoin Building which includes a teahouse. Located in the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, its purpose is in part to get Angelenos to overcome their aversion to reclaimed water. Its design is modeled after the 19th century chisen-kaiyushiki gardens built for private estates. It was dedicated in 1984. It’s served by Metro’s 154, 164, 236/237, and Orange lines.

HSI LAI TEMPLE’S ARHAT AND AVALOKITESVARA GARDENS (Hacienda Heights)

Hsi Lai Temple (佛光山西來寺) is a Buddhist monastery in the built as the first overseas temple of Taiwan’s Fo Guang Shan sect. It was built from 1986-1988. The site includes several buildings: The Bodhisattva Hall, the memorial pagoda, the meditation hall, the dining hall,the Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center, and the main shrine. It also includes two gardens, the Arhat Garden (十八羅漢), the statues of which depict the Buddha’s first eighteen disciples, and the Avalokitesvara Garden (慈航普度), in which statues depict the bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara (Guan Yin), and her acolytes, the Four Heavenly Kings. It’s served by Foothill Transit’s 185 and 285 lines.

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

Today the first train left from downtown Los Angeles to downtown Santa Monica left 7th Street Metro Center. It was the first passenger train to run between the two downtowns since October 1953 (although freight trains ran until 1988).

The first train departs for downtown Santa Monica, and thus the Westside was dragged kicking and screaming into the 1990s. On the Eastside, as I approached Downtown on the Gold Line, I eavesdropped on the two young women sitting next to me and deduced that one was local and the other visiting from Boston. The local was explaining to the visitor the differences between Cal-Mex and Tex-Mex and when the visitor asked about Chinatown, the local told her that Chinatown is home to a largely older, Vietnamese and Cantonese population whilst the “SGV” is the “new Chinatown.” The Bostonian asked her about visiting Koreatown and the local assured her that Koreatown is imminently “Metroable.”

A short time later, riding the subway towards 7th Street Metro Center, three strangers discussed with excitement the opening of the Expo Line extension and reminisced about the 1990s, when they watched the Red Line being constructed. The woman, wearing the baggy houndstooth pants favored by kitchen workers, said she’d have to wait until a day off to ride. The two men continued to talk about the specifics of the Downtown Regional Connector. I was impressed with just how connected all of these transit users were.

On the 7th Street Metro Center platform there were more transit fans, making a point of waiting until 11:28 to take the first passenger train to the Westside in 63 years so that they wouldn’t have to disembark in Culver City, the line’s former terminus, and then move to the back of the line to re-board.

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

Samoan-Americans are the second largest group of Pacific Islanders in the US, after Hawaiians. In fact, there are more Samoans living in the US than in the Samoan Islands. The largest population on the US mainland live in Los Angeles, home as of 2010 to 54,000. Nearby San Diego is home to 31,000. In neither are there official Samoan enclaves but there is evidence of their presence reflected in the existence of Samoan churches, restaurants, cultural expressions, and organizations.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SAMOA

Archaeological evidence suggests that the Samoan Islands were first colonized by Polynesians perhaps as many as 3,500 years ago or as recently as 800 years ago. Polynesians are an ethnic subset of the Austronesians, who originated in Taiwan. Whereas the leaders of most Polynesian societies were appointed based upon heredity, Samoan leaders were chosen in part based on demonstrable skills in a system known as Fa’amatai.

In 1722, Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to site the islands and they were renamed the Navigator Islands by French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville in 1768. However, since there were none of the spices, silks, or precious metals which European explorers sought, the islands remained relatively unmolested by Europeans until the 1830s, when missionaries and traders began arriving and establishing rubber, coconut, and cocoa plantations.

In the late 1800s, England, Germany, and the US all struggled to colonize Samoa and the islands were divided into two territories, one a German colony known as German Samoa, and the other an American territory known as American Samoa. Rule of German Samoa was transferred to New Zealand and independence was finally granted in 1962. American Samoa, on the other hand, remains an unincorporated and unorganized territory, ruled by America but whose citizens are afforded few of the same rights. As nationals, rather than citizens, Samoans serve in the US military and are free to seek employment in the US but cannot vote in US elections or hold political office unless they relocate to the US and become citizens.

SAMOAN AMERICANS

The largest population of Samoans outside of Samoa live in Honolulu. The second largest community live in Long Beach, where as of 2010 there were 4,513. There are also substantial populations of Samoans in the neighboring Harbor communities of Carson and Wilmington, the South Los Angeles Eastside community of Compton, and the Southeast Los Angeles community of Hawaiian Gardens. Elsewhere in Southern California, there are Samoan communities in Garden Grove and Oceanside. There is also a town called Samoa in Humboldt County, featured in the 1986 film, My Chauffeur… although it’s not home to any Samoans.

Many came to Los Angeles in the early 1900s, finding work on farms or in factories. As American nationals, Samoans didn’t face the same restrictions and national quotas as other Asians and Pacific Islanders. Many more Samoans immigrated to California after 1951, when the US Navy closed its base in Pago Pago and afterward recruited 1,000 Samoans to come to the US to fill military-related jobs. Many settled in the Harbor town of Carson and the Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro.

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SAMOAN SPORT

Although rugby, cricket, netball, volleyball, and football are all more popular in Samoa, the islands are known amongst American football spectators for producing athletes in that sport. In 2015 there were 200 on the American Samoans on the rosters of Division I college American football teams and quite a few play for NFL teams. One such player is Troy Aumua Polamalu, who was born in Garden Grove in 1981. He played for USC, reportedly claiming that he believed that the Almighty had influenced his parents to name him “Troy” because the Lord desired that he play for the Trojans (although at least ten universities have Trojans as mascots). After college he played for the NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

SAMOAN CHURCHES

Religion plays a big part in the lives of most Samoans. The Congregational Christian Church of Samoa (CCCS) was established by missionaries of the London Missionary Society who arrived in 1830. By 1839, Samoans were already sending their own missionaries to other islands of the Pacific to spread the gospel. The Congregational Christian Church of Samoa became an independent denomination in 1963. In 1980, the Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa split from the Christian Church of Samoa.

Samoan congregations in Southern California include Compton Samoan SDA Church (Compton), Congregational Christian of New Hope (Santa Ana), Dominguez Congregational Christian Church (Compton), Fale Ole Faipu Omea Samoan Congregational (San Bernardino), First Samoan Congregational (Carson), First Samoan Congregational Christian (Harbor City), First Samoan Congregational Christian (Huntington Beach), First Samoan Congregational Christian Church (Oxnard), First Samoan Congregational Christian Church of San Luis Rey (Oceanside), First Samoan Congregational Church of Mesa Margarita (Oceanside), Fourth Samoan Church (Long Beach), Garden Grove Samoan Assembly (Garden Grove), Los Angeles First Samoan Church (West Athens), Malamalama Community Church (Long Beach), Methodist Church of Samoa (Long Beach), Ola Fou United Samoan Church of America (Lomita), Ola Mo Keriso (San Diego), Samoan Church of Long Beach (Long Beach), Samoan Community Christian (Pico-Union) Samoan Congregational Christian Church of South LA (Carson), Samoan Congregational Church, Second Samoan Church (Long Beach), Taeao Ole Talalelei (Carson), The Congregational Christian UCC in Hacienda Heights (Hacienda Heights), United Samoan Congregational, Vai Ole Ola Congregational (Lakewood), and Wilmington Peteli Christian Church (Long Beach).

SAMOAN MUSIC

Traditional Samoan musical instruments include the fala, a rolled up mat beaten with sticks, blown conch shells, jaw harps, nose flutes, and panpipes. The traditional Samoan dance is the siva. The pātē, a type of drum, was introduced for the Cook Islands by missionaries. Missionaries later introduced the guitar and the ‘ukulele, which are also popular. In the 20th century, pop, rock, and rap became popular with Samoans although it should be noted that Van Nuys punk band Angry Samoans do not include any Samoans amongst their members.

The best known Samoan-American music group Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., from Carson and comprised of brothers Paul, Ted, Donald, Roscoe, Danny, David, and Vincent Devoux. All were or are members of either the West Side Pirus or Samoan Warrior Bounty Hunter gangs. After their brother Robert DeVoux was shot to death in a San Pedro gang fight, the surviving brothers moved to Japan, where they originally amassed a following as The Blue City Crew. 

SAMOAN GANGS

In Southern California, gangs have been an issue for Samoan immigrants since the 1970s. As with many immigrant populations, the Sons of Samoa formed in 1976 to protect Samoans from black and Latino gangs in the Harbor and South Los Angeles. As with most protectionist gangs, the Sons of Samoa themselves eventually became involved in methamphetamine trafficking, extortion, and murder, often of fellow Pacific Islanders in other gangs, such as the Scott Park Pirus, West Side Pirus, and Park Village Compton Crips. In 1992, Jean-Pierre Gorin released the documentary, My Crasy Life, now part of the Criterion Collection, about Samoan gangs in the Harbor area.

In 2004, a Samoan gang members Frankie “Dirt” Pule and Walley Tuuamalemalo killed rival gang member Tasene Tauanuu at the annual Los Angeles Samoan Flag Day festivities, something which Dirt bragged about in a rap, which helped earn him a 40 year sentence for second degree murder. Another fatal gang fight disrupted the weeklong festival in 2008.

SAMOAN FESTIVALS

Los Angeles Samoan Flag Day has been the biggest locally observed Samoan festivity since it was implemented in 1985. Although the holiday commemorates the first time the US raised the American flag in their country, it’s been tweaked into a celebration of Samoan heritage and culture. It’s held for a week in August every years in Carson’s Victoria Park. Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific also hosts the Pacific Islander Festival – Tafesilafa’i Festival, which brings together not just Samoans but all Pacific Islanders and showcases crafts, food, music, and dance.

SAMOAN DANCE

Samoan dance is an important aspect of Samoan culture and traditional Samoan dances include maulu’ulu moa’ (“to sprinkle”), manu siva tau (a war dance), siva afi (fire knife dancing), taualuga (“jumping”), sa’asa’a, fa’ataupati (“slap dance”) and sasa (“clap dance”). Dance group Samoa Matalasi performed somewhere.

The Tama’ita’i Dance Group was founded in 2009 by choreographer and costume designer Kuegi Toilolo in Long Beach. Leaso Tufuga and Unica Luna formed Tausala Polynesia in Carson in 2010. Tui Letuli founded the Pacific Talent Academy of the Arts in Torrance in 2012.

SAMOAN CUISINE

Samoan Cuisine is, like all Polynesian cuisine, based primarily on the animals and plants found on the islands. Plant ingredients include bananas, coconut, rice, taro, and various sea vegetables such as sea grapes. Commonly eaten animals include crayfish, pigs, octopus, snapper, and tuna. A popular and emblematic dish is palusami, coconut cream wrapped in taro leaves baked in an earth oven called an umu.

The second most popular variety of Girl Scout Cookie, the Samoa (also marketed as Caremel deLites) — caramel coated vanilla cookies sprinkled with toasted coconut and laced with chocolate stripes — are not Samoan in origin.Spam, whilst not Samoan in origin, is also popular in Samoa. Health officials believe the heavily processed, super caloric tinned meat, part of England’s lasting colonial legacy, is largely to account for the fact that over 80% of Samoans are obese and suffer from obesity-related illnesses.

Local restaurants serving Samoan dishes in Southern California include and Island’s Best (Long Beach), and Poly Grill & Bakery (Carson). As far as Samoan markets go, Samoana Market & Bakery, formerly in Long Beach, seems to have recently closed but Boutique Samoa remains open in Anaheim.

SAMOAN ORGANIZATIONS

Other organizations representing Samoans include Samoan National Nurses Association, Samoan Affairs Central Region, and the Samoan American Federation.

FURTHER READING

Adele Salamasina Satele’s An Emerging Samoan-American Community in Los Angeles, California (1977)

*****

Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

A comprehensive playlist of  the music of Los Angeles would have to include film scores, the cool jazz, surf bands, frat rock, folk-rock, Sunset Strip psychedelia, Chicano soul, country rock, hardcore punk, Paisley Underground, hair metal, gangsta rap, and G-funk, and lists of performers and bands associated with Los Angeles invariably include plenty rock groups, soul singers, and rappers, nearly all of whom are either black or white. Even though Los Angeles is the world’s great Pan-Asian city, and Asians comprise both the city’s largest and fastest-growing racial minority, they’re practically invisible from nearly every musically-related listicle cluttering local blogs and weeklies, in the process rendering our colorful music history black and white. This being Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, however, I decided to do something about that.

I started by thinking about the Sooyoung Park‘s Ear of the Dragon — but for some of the nineteen Asian-American (and Canadian) bands on that seminal compilation, their entire recorded output seems to be limited to their inclusion on the album and in most cases they’re not from California. So this list is primarily drawn from my own admittedly knowledge with the addition to a few unfamiliar K-pop stars I found out about on Wikipedia.

I know there are loads more Asian-Angeleno musicians out there, because I’ve seen some of them performing at Jologs Fezt, the Lotus Festival, night markets, Songkran, and Tết; at Thai restaurants, on Paris By Night, on videos shot at La Lune, and elsewhere — and I’ve seen the stores selling instruments all over the San Gabriel Valley and North Orange County and think it’s fair to assume that they’re aren’t just for show. I know this can never be a comprehensive directory (I don’t even think that I’d want it to be — apologies to my fifteen year old neighbor who briefly took guitar lessons and learned that awful song by fun.) but of course additions and corrections are encouraged.

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apl.de.ap

apl.de.ap is the stage name of Allan Pineda Lindo, born in Angeles City, Pampanga, in 1974. He came to the US when he was fourteen and attended John Marshall High School in Los Feliz and apl.de.ap still gets his nails done nearby at Nails Station. He began rapping in 1988 in ATBAN Klann (ATBAN is an acronym for A Tribe Beyond a Nation) which evolved into the Black Eyed Peas, who themselves evolved from a backpack rap group into a mainstream pop act.

AMBER LIU

Taiwanese-American vocalist Amber Josephine Liu was born 18 September 1992 in Los Angeles and went to highschool in Woodland Hills. Known professionally as Amber, she’s currently a member of Korean pop group f(x). She released her solo debut, the EP Beautiful, in 2015.

BEI BEI 

Bei Bei He (荷蓓蓓) was born in Chengdu and began playing guzheng when she was seven. She studied guzheng performance in Central University of Nationalities in Beijing and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. After relocating to Los Angeles she continued to study at Azusa Pacific University, Citrus College, and Fullerton College. She released her debut, Quiet your mind and listen, in 2006. She owns Hacienda Music in Hacienda Heights.

CHARMAINE CLAMOR

Charmaine Clamor is a Filipina jazz singer who interprets traditional Filipino songs. Clamor was born in Subic–Zambales, Philippines. She moved to the US when she was sixteen. She released her debut, Searching for the Soul, in 2005.

CHHOM NIMOL

Chhom Nimol was born in Cambodia and as a child lived in a refugee camp in Thailand. She won Cambodia’s Aspara Awards in 1997 and moved to the US in 2001. That year she joined Dengue Fever, a band who make pre-Khmer Rouge-style rock music, when members (including Dr. San) approached her after a solo performance in Cambodia Town.

DUMBFOUNDEAD

Dumbfoundead is the stage name of rapper Jonathan Park, born in Buenos Aires in 1986 and raised in Koreatown from the age of three. He attended John Marshall High School and released his first solo album, DFD, in 2011.

ELI KIM

Ellison “Eli” Kyong Jae Kim was born in Los Angeles in 1991 and is currently a member of K-pop band, U-KISS, where he performs the group’s raps.

EMILY’S SASSY LIME

Emily’s Sassy Lime was the first all Asian-American rock band, comprised of Wendy and Amy Yao, and Emily Ryan. They formed in 1993 and in 1995 they released their album Desperate, Scared But Not Social and appeared in the video for The PeeChees‘ “Mad Doctor.” They broke up in 1997 after which the Yao sisters continued making music and Emily Ryan starred in the film, Scumrock. Fliers for their shows were featured in the Orange County Museum of Art‘s Alien She exhibition in 2015.In 2016, a fanzine “focused on writings and artwork by and about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders” was launched, titled named Would Be Saboteurs Take Heed after one of Emily’s Sassy Lime’s songs.

FAR★EAST MOVEMENT

Far★East Movement was formed in Los Angeles in 2003 by Kev Nish (Kevin Nishimura), Prohgress (James Roh), J-Splif (Jae Choung), and DJ Virman (Virman Coquia). They released their debut, Folk Music, in 2006. They had a number one hit with “Like a G6” in 2010, making them the first Asian-American group to top the charts.

FROM THE VALLEY

From the Valley are a Woodland Hills-based band comprised of Edizon Dia (guitar and vocals), Leonard Zipagan (guitars), Macky Domingo (bass), and Francis Nuega (drums).

HIROSHIMA

Hiroshima is an Asian-American Jazz group formed in Los Angeles in 1974 by Dan Kuramoto, (wind instruments and band leader), Peter Hata (guitar), June Kuramoto (koto), Johnny Mori (percussion and taiko), Dave Iwataki (keyboards), and Danny Yamamoto (drums). Their first vocalist was Nancy “Atomic Nancy” Sekizawa, later celebrated for her role in transforming Little Tokyo‘s Atomic Cafe into a popular punk and new waver hangout. All were born in Los Angeles except Kuramoto, who moved to Los Angeles at a young age from Saitama Prefecture. They released their self-titled debut in 1979. In the years since they’ve moved into smooth jazz and new age territory.

IAMMEDIC

IAMMEDIC is a pop group formed in 2010 Enik Lin, formerly of Burning Tree Project. Lin soon added Danny Park, Andre Harris, and DJ Yup to the line-up.

JOHN LEE

Korean-American guitarist/vocalist John Lee formed aMiniature in San Diego by with bassist Colin Watson in 1990. The “a” in the band’s name is silent and was added to avoid confusion with a jazz combo named Minature. They disbanded in 1997.

JOANNA WANG 

Joanna Wang (王若琳) is a singer-songwriter and daughter of producer Wang Zhi-ping (王治平). She was born in Taiwan but raised in San Gabriel, where she attended Gabrielino High School. She released her debut, Start from Here, in 2008 – a double disc set including one disc of the songs sung in English and the other in Chinese. Although she began her career as a pleasant if fairly conventional jazz vocalist, she quickly evolved into a wonderful weirdo who seems to improbably draw upon early baroque, film scores, pico pop, and shibuya-kei in a way that manages to somehow evoke Jonathan Richman, Toog, and Wendy Carlos — all at the same time.

LEMONA 

Lemona is a Los Angeles-based rock band comprised of Jazzie, Reden, and Leonard Zipagan; Jan Bersamira; and Dave Janiola.

LIU QICHAO 

Liu Qichao (刘起超) is a Los Angeles-based, Chinese born multi-instrumentalist associated with the Asian-American Jazz scene. He graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He’s collaborated with the Kronos Quartet, Jon Jang and the Pan Asian Arkestra, and the African Chinese Sextet. He also leads his own ensemble, Chi Music. He was married to guzheng player Zhang Yan (张燕), who died in 1996.

LYNDA TRANG DAI 

Lynda Trang Đài was born Lê Quang Quý Trang Đài in 1968 in Vietnam and came to Orange County‘s then-emerging Little Saigon community in 1979. She was a popular singer in the Vietnamese-American community, where she was often described as the “Vietnamese Madonna,” making her recording debut with 1989’s “Crazy Love.” She was also a staple of the popular Vietnamese variety program, Paris By Night. She currently operates Lynda Sandwich, a Westminster bánh mì cafe.

MARIQUEEN MAANDIG

Mariqueen Maandig was born in 1981 and became the singer of West Indian Girl in 2004. She left that band in 2009 after her engagement to Trent Reznor. In 2010, Maandig and Reznor formed How to Destroy Angels.

MIKE SHINODA

Michael Kenji Shinoda was born in 1977 in Agoura Hills, where he co-founded Linkin Park in 1996. In 2003 he formed Fort Minor. He’s also produced tracks for several rap artists and co-founded the music label Machine Shop Recordings. Additionally, several pieces of his art have been featured in the Japanese American National Museum.

MING & PING 

Ming & Ping are an electronic pop duo, comprised of one person — Bao Vo. Vo began the project in San Francisco in 2002 before moving to Downtown Los Angeles. His debut, MingPing.com, was released in 2004.

MR. CAPONE-E

Mr. Capone-E is a Pakistani-American sureño rapper, born Fahd Azam in West Covina. He began his recording career in 2000 and later founded Hi Power Entertainment, one time home to former Bone Thugs-N-Harmony members Bizzy Bone and Layzie Bone, as well as Chicano rappers including Mr. Criminal, Lil Tweety, and others.

NICHKHUN HORVEJKUL

Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul was born in Rancho Cucamonga in 1988. After completing high school he briefly coached the Rosemead High School badminton team. He joined K-pop band 2PM in 2008.

NICOLE JUNG

Nicole Yongju Jung was born in 1991 in Los Angeles and went to school in Glendale. She later moved to Korea and became a member of K-pop group, Kara, in 2007. In 2014 she embarked on a solo career, releasing her debut, First Romance, in 2014.

SANDRA VU

Sandra “Sandy Beaches” Vu was born in Orange County.  She played flute on Giant Drag‘s “Hearts and Unicorns” in 2005. She joined Midnight Movies and appeared on their second and final album, Lion The Girl. She began recording as Sisu and released the single, “Sharp Teeth” in 2010. She was the drummer for Dum Dum Girls from 2011-2015 but is now focused on Sisu.

STEVEN CHEN

Steven Chen joined rock band Airborne Toxic Event in 2006. They released their self-titled debut in 2008.

STEVE LEE

Steve Lee is the younger brother of comedian Bobby Lee. He previously performed as Quangou both solo and in the duo, Noblehops. He’s currently known as SteeBee WeeBee as part of the group, Mangchi.

TIFFANY HWANG

Stephanie Young Hwang was born in 1989 in San Francisco and raised in Diamond Bar, here she attended Diamond Bar High School. In 2004 she joined K-pop bands Girls’ Generation-TTS and is currently based in Korea. She released her solo debut EP, I Just Wanna Dance, in 2016.

TIMOTHY DELAGHETTO

Timothy DeLaGhetto, also known as Traphik, was born in 1986 in Billings, Montana and raised in Paramount. After graduating from Paramount High School he attended California State University, Long Beach, from which he dropped out to pursue rapping and YouTube stardom. He released his debut, Rush Hour, in 2009.

TONY KANAL

Tony Ashwin Kanal is best known as the bassist of pop band No Doubt. He was born in London in 1970 and came to Anaheim when he was eleven. He joined No Doubt in 1991 and began a relationship with singer Gwen Stefani. During the band’s first hiatus, Kanal began collaborating as co-writer with other pop stars and production.

TQ

After singing primarily in Vietnamese venues for over a decade, TQ  (née Nadine Nguyen) made her recording debut in 2012 with the Italo-inspired “Let’s Go to Tokyo.” She signed with ZYX Music, the well known Eurodisco label.

TYGA

Tyga is a pop star Micheal Ray Stevenson in 1989. His stage name is an acronym for Thank You God Always. He was born to Vietnamese and Jamaican parents. He was engaged to Blac Chyna, who later married Rob Kardashian whilst Kardashian’s stepsister, Kylie Jenner, dated Tyga.

ZIP CODE

Zip Code are  a rock band comprised of Jojo, Reden, and Rendez Zipagan with Tim de Ramos and Jan Michael Bersam. They formed as Brownsugar in 2000.

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More biographical information needed for Ann Do, Chhim Sreyneang, Choeun Oudom, Chhom Chhorvin, Colleen Deekan, Darany, Dariya, Hem Vannak, Jennifer Hwang (Meho Plaza), Jolida, Kavee Thongprecha, King Soriya, Lim Molyna, Meas Somaly, Ram Roeun, Rithy, Romaly, Sothy Eng, and Sok Srey Lalin.

*****

Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

One of the great things about traveling is seeing things in other countries that it would be nice to have at home, things like arts funding, betel nut beauties, caning, compulsory voting, developed cycling infrastructure, elevenses, free state colleges, green roofs, gun control, pub culture, universal healthcare, pot cafés, salted licorice, and trains that travel faster than mobility scooters, to name a few. When I visited Taiwan a few years ago, I fell in love with night markets and it heartens me that they’re now starting to proliferate in Southern California. As an Angeleno who doesn’t particularly like our weather or the Hollywood superhero franchise factory, night markets are the sort of thing that make Los Angeles the place I choose to live.

For the unfamiliar, night markets are nighttime open air street markets in which crowds of food-loving urbanites stroll and eat and shop and eat. Having only been to ones in Taiwan I can only comment with personal experience on the ones there, where they sometimes occupy purpose-built marketplaces but even more often occupy streets and thus resemble nocturnal open streets events, like a ciclovia with a focus on stinky tofu rather than cycling. They’re quite popular in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and especially Taiwan. Since the Los Angeles area just happens to have the largest Cambodian, Korean, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, and Taiwanese communities outside of their respective homelands, it’s natural that night markets would flourish here.

As far as I know, the first American night market was San Francisco‘s intermittent Chinatown Night Market Fair, which I believe was inaugurated in 2001. Soon after, however, the nascent American night market seen migrated to Los Angeles, the world’s great pan-Asian city. Ideally, night markets are tightly interwoven into the fabric of a city, not placed in the suburban Oort Cloud. They also function better as regular occurrences than special events. Although few are thus far placed in accessible areas or occur more than a few times a year, they’ve nonetheless reached the point where it’s hard to keep them all straight. So for that reason, and because summer is night market season, and in recognition of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, here’s my guide to Southern California’s night markets.

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D6 NIGHT MARKET

The D6 Night Market was inaugurated in 2015, at San Diego‘s Mira Mesa Community Park, in the Mira Mesa neighborhood. It’s served by several lines of San Diego’s MTS buses but is very far from any train stations. It returned on 21 May 2016 and admission was again free.

DTLA NIGHT MARKET (one-off event)

DTLA Night Market was held at a parking lot near Staples Center, within a block of stops on Metro‘s Blue, Expo, and Silver lines, making it arguably the most integrated into the urban fabric of all Southern California night markets, thus far, but sadly, a one-off event. Specific efforts were made with DTLA Night Market to appeal to non-Latinos, not just by featuring more Anglo and Latino vendors, but by banning stinky tofu! It was held on 20 and 21 June, 2014.

KTOWN NIGHT MARKET

KTown Night Market is held in Los Angeles’s most densely-populated and most vibrant neighborhood, Koreatown. The first one was held in 2014 and it’s now held once a year, next on 17 and 18 June. Admission at the door is $5. It takes place on the campus of Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, conveniently located between Wilshire/Normandie and Wilshire/Vermont stations, less than half a kilometer from each.

LITTLE SAIGON NIGHT MARKET

The Little Saigon Night Market, launched in 2014, is held at Phước Lộc Thọ, a mall known in English as “Asian Garden Mall” — despite the fact that that’s not a translation of its Vietnamese name. This year the night market will take place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 17 June – 14 September. The mall is intermittently served by OCTA 64 bus and the nearest train station, Santa Ana Station, is located nearly eleven kilometers east. Admission is free.

LONG BEACH NIGHT MARKET IN CAMBODIA TOWN (scheduled)

The Long Beach Night Market in Cambodia Town was scheduled to take place in Cambodia Town in 2015 but was pushed back due to construction. The group’s Facebook page doesn’t currently list a specific date or location but assuming it takes place somewhere in Cambodia Town, that neighborhood is well-served by Long Beach Transit buses and the Blue line’s Anaheim Street Station is located just east of the walkable neighborhood.

MALAYSIAN KITCHEN NIGHT MARKET (one-off event)

Santa Monica‘s Malaysian Kitchen Night Market was Los Angeles’s second night market, a one-off event held in December 2010 on the Third Street Promenade. It was organized by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation with the stated purpose of promoting Malaysian culture and food.

MONTEREY PARK NIGHT MARKET (defunct)

In 2004, Monterey Park hosted a small night market on Saturdays, not to be confused with the MPK Night Market. It lasted for a couple of years and I think it took place near City Hall. It was almost certainly the first night market in Southern California andany additional information would be much appreciated!

MPK NIGHT MARKET

Night markets returned to Monterey Park in 2014, with the launch of the MPK Night Market, organized by the folks behind the KTown Night Market (KCM Agency). The first year it began in July and continued once a month in August and September, always with free admission, in Barnes Park. In 2015 it returned as a mere two day event, which occurred in 17 and 18 July. There’s no mention of a 2016 MPK Night Market yet, which doesn’t bode well. If it does return, however, Barnes Park is served by Metro’s 70 bus and is located 4 kilometers from Atlantic Station, the nearest train station.

OC NIGHT MARKET

The OC Night Market is organized by the same folks behind 626 Night Market. It’s currently held three times a year (13-15 May, 17-19 June, and 26-28 August) at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa. Admission is $5. It’s served by the occasional OCTA bus but the nearest train station, Tustin Station, is located 12.5 kilometers away.

SAN DIEGO NIGHT MARKET 

The San Diego Night Market is takes place at Kearny Office Park (in the Convoy District) on 25 and 26 June. It was first launched in 2013 and admission is $2. It’s served by San Diego MTS‘s 27 bus and is quite far, I believe, from any train station.

626 NIGHT MARKET

The first 626 Night Market was held on a single city block in Old Town Pasadena, in 2012. It was organized by Jonny and Janet Hwang who seemed like all of us to underestimate the untapped craving for such an experience. In the end, perhaps 20,000 people descended onto a single city block, completely overwhelming vendors, the neighborhood, and expectations. It was thus relocated to Pasadena’s Civic Center District where it was alloted sufficient breathing room and almost overly organized. For the third installment, the night market moved to the vast, disconnected parking lot desert of Arcadia‘s Santa Anita Racetrack. The nearest train station, Arcadia Station, is located about 2 kilometers east. The 626 Night Market is currently held four times a year, 2-4 July, 22-24 July, 5-7 August, and 2-4 September. Admission is $3.

TASTE OF NIGHT MARKET (one-off event)

Taste of Night Market was a one-off (so far) event held in Santa Monica and organized by the folks behind 626 Night Market. In order to avoid a disaster on the level of the first 626 Night Market, tickets were priced at $65. However, in the monied Westside, where $65 ain’t no thang by a chicken skewer, the high price failed to prevent the event from being overwhelmed, judging by the harsh one star average review on Yelp. Yelpers are a notoriously hard to please and perhaps overly entitled bunch, but when the highest review is just two stars, something is up. To me this just proves that even Westsiders need night markets… but perhaps a better location would be a more transit friendly location like Palms or Culver City — both of which have sizable Indonesian and Indian presence. Think about it!

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FURTHER READING AND LISTENING

Elizabeth Lee‘s “Asian Night Market Finds Home in Southern California“

Elson Trinidad‘s “The Night Market Sees the Light of Day” and “2014 Is the Year of the Night Market“

Alex Schmidt‘s “626 Night Market Highlights Southern California’s Asian Cuisine“

Richard Chang‘s “Food-filled night markets are crossing into the mainstream and headed our way“

*****

Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

I’ve heard Vietnamese and Koreans friends talk about how much Koreans and Vietnamese drink. More than once have I found myself drinking more than I should, egged on by Thai friends, Filipino family, and in one case a Japanese salaryman. No one drinks like Europeans, though, and European nations predictably occupy the top ten rankings of alcohol consumption per capita. The top Asian nation, Korea, only ranks #17. The top 100 only includes a few Asian and Pacific Island nations, in fact: Kazakhstan, Palau, Laos, Japan, Thailand, Mongolia, China, and Vietnam — in that order. That’s not to suggest that alcohol isn’t an important part of Asian culture and history, though. Asia, after all, gave us sake, soju, cheongju, choujiu, gouqi jiu, goryangju, huangjiu, kumis, meijiu, shōchū, umsehu, Singha, and cognac. Asia also gave us Asian bars, and while Asian restaurants are the fodder of a thousand listicles, acknowledgments of Asian bars are almost non-existent.

If a bar doesn’t serve Asian alcoholic beverages, what makes it Asian? And if it serves food, which it probably does, is it a bar? What if karaoke is the focus and drinking merely a helpful social lubricant? What if a bar is a white guy’s inauthentic kitsch version of an Asian or Pacific Islander bar, such as a tiki bar? Where is the line drawn between Asian bars, lounges, and nightclubs? What if the bar is owned by an Asian-American but mostly caters to non-Asians, or the other way around? Those all sound like fine things to discuss over drinks and I will consider adding any and all to my map of Los Angeles’s Asian bars.

So help me build this map of Asian bars by giving me your suggestions be they Asian-owned dives, Little Saigon bikini bars, Koreatown booking clubs and hostess bars, Little Tokyo izakayas, San Gabriel Valley pijiu wus, lounges with table service, nightclubs, taverns, tiki bars, &c. Please do not give me any hookah bars, coffee bars, juice bars, noodle bars, strip bars, sushi bars, oyster bars, or bar-b-ques — unless there is a wet bar within them.

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MY TOP LOCAL ASIAN AND PACIFIC AMERICAN BARS

CAFE BLISS (Koreatown)

Cafe Bliss is an almost intimidatingly sterile, dimly lit, norebang which I imagine is what a bar on a space station might look like, not one situated within an historic Churrigueresque building designed as one of the West’s first car-centric markets (Chapman Park Market, 1929). The bar scenes in Michael Mann‘s film, Collateral, were filmed here and I’ve still yet to see that despite being a Cruise-head! It’s served by Metro‘s Red and Purple lines.

EBISU (Little Tokyo)

Ebisu is a Japanese tavern with a nautical theme. The bar’s namesake, Ebisu (恵比須) is the Japanese god of fishermen and luck. It’s served by Metro’s Gold Line.

FAR BAR (Little Tokyo)

Far Bar is a nice little bar tucked into an alley with a big selection of Japanese whiskeys. Once inside it turns out to be a much larger place, with an upstairs, a main room, a bar and a fairly secluded outdoor patio. The downside is long waits at the two needlessly gender-specific restrooms. Far Bar is served by the Gold Line.

GOOD LUCK BAR (Los Feliz)

A visit to Good Luck Bar is presumably nothing like a visit to China, but it is a bit like a visit to the set of a 1940s Hollywood film set (if not filmed) in China. Although it feels like a relic of the mid-20th century, the Los Feliz bar was only established in 1994, at the height of the so-called Swing Revival. That’s because its kitschy, retro, “exotic” Chinese atmosphere came courtesy of owner Sean MacPherson, who based it upon the aesthetics of the long-closed Chinatown bar, Yee Mee Loo. It’s served by Metro’s 2/302 and 175 lines as well as LA DOT’s DASH Los Feliz lines.

HONDA-YA (Little Tokyo)

Honda-Ya is an izakaya located on the top floor of Little Tokyo Galleria. Although large and located within a mall, the atmosphere and decor make it one of Los Angeles’s most relaxing izakaya. It’s served by the Gold Line.

JURASSIC (Industry)

Jurassic is a themed Taiwanese pijiu wu with a dinosaur theme. Historical inaccuracy is never of major importance at themed pijiu wu’s and Jurassic is no exception. The centerpiece is a large, fake skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a creature unknown until millions of years after the end of the Jurassic Era. The staff usually wear fringy Coachella-type clothing, I suppose to suggest a sort of primitivism that humans presumably would’ve shown if the Flintstones were viewed as a documentary. Then again, the lunacy is part of the theme because as often as not, the staff also dress as anime characters, French maids, gothic lolitas, sexy schoolgirls, &c. Jurassic is served by Foothill Transit‘s 281 and 282 lines.

OB BEAR (Koreatown)

I used to come to OB Bear for the beer served in water cooler-like jugs. After they got rid of those, I went to Beer Town but they started demanding that patrons order food in addition to beer. So then I went next door to Soju Town. Both have since closed so maybe I should go back to OB Bear, which still has nice atmosphere. It’s served by Metro’s Purple and Red lines, which stop less than half a kilometer away at Wilshire/Vermont Station.

THE PRINCE (Koreatown)

The Prince began life as “The Windsor” in the 1920s and has a British theme not dissimilar to that of the nearby HMS Bounty, which is no doubt why it was chosen to portray a Manhattan restaurant on Mad Men. However, where the Bounty feels like a relic of the early 20th century, the Prince acquired new layers as time has passed and now hip-hop plays over the speakers for a mostly Korean clientele drawn as much by the fried chicken as the drinks. The Prince is served by Metro’s 20, 61, and 481 lines and the Metro Purple line’s Wilshire/Vermont station is only half a kilometer away.

TONGA HUT (Valley Glen)

Brothers Ace and Ed Libby opened the Tonga Hut in 1958, during the height of the Tiki craze. By the early 2000s it had literally faded under the neon beer signs… or maybe that was just the thick layer of dust. It still had charm, albeit the sort one associates with abandoned buildings inhabited by a dedicated group of characters. In 2005, the fountains began flowing once again and it presumably took on an appearance resembling the original. The Tonga Hut is served by Metro’s 164 and 167 lines. The nearest stops on the Orange line are about 2.5 kilometers south.

UNCLE YU’S (San Gabriel)

The full name of Uncle Yu’s is “Uncle Yu’s Indian Beer House,” which is sort of confusing because the food is typical of a Taiwanese pijiu wu, and thus not remotely Indian. The “Indian” is used in the sense of Columbus‘s historical mistaking of Native Americans for East Indians. Thus the staff dress vaguely like the indigenous people of the plains did hundreds of years ago and the log cabin ambiance that suggests a Clearman’s North Woods Inn rather than a tipi. If none of this makes sense, just imagine that when Taiwanese open beer houses they draw a theme out of a hat, do zero research into the subject, and then run with it.  Sometimes, as with Uncle Yu’s it works. Other times, as with Magic Restroom Café, it does not. Uncle Yu’s is served by Metro’s 76 line.

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

California has by far the largest population of Laotian-Americans of any state, 58,424 as of 2010. There are large communities in both northern and southern California, with roughly 7,120 living in the Los Angeles area. There they maintain a relatively discreet profile, reflected mostly by the presence of a handful of restaurants either specializing in Laotian food or offering Lao dishes.

LAOTIAN HISTORY

Modern humans have lived in what’s now Laos for at least 46,000 years. A human skull discovered in Tam Pa Ling Cave in the Annamite Mountains is the oldest human fossil yet found in Southeast Asia. Agricultural villages emerged in Laos around 4000 BCE and by around 1500 BCE, a complex society had developed.

The history of Laos can be traced back to the kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao, founded by Lao prince Fa Ngum in 1354. The kingdom dominated much of Southeast Asia for four centuries until the death of Sourigna Vongsa in 1694. A few years later, in 1707, it split into three kingdoms: Luang Phrabang, Vientiane, and Champasak.

In 1893 the three kingdoms were reunified by colonial France part of French Indochina. Laos produced tin, rubber, and coffee for the French but wasprimarily viewed and used as a buffer between their more economically important occupation of Vietnam and British-influenced Thailand. At various points during World War II, France, Thailand, Japan, and China all occupied Laos. Laos declared independence in 1945 but in 1946, France re-conquered the state.

The Indochinese Communist Party formed the organization Pathet Lao to resist (alongside the Vietnamese Việt Minh) French Colonial forces and Laos won a more lasting independence in 1953, when it was re-established a constitutional monarchy. In 1960, Laos (already involved in a civil war between the royalists and communists) was dragged into the Vietnam War and a secret military operation in which was known amongst the CIA Special Activities Division (and later the public) as the Secret War, in which the US dropped tons of cluster bombs on Laos, killing an estimated 350,000 Laotians. In 1975, Laos’s king was overthrown and the Pathet Lao made installed a Communist government. In the aftermath, the US began accepting Laotian refugees.

From 1975-1996, about 130,000 ethnic Hmong and 120,000 Laotians of other ethnicities came to the US. Laos is a multi-ethnic society and Laotians include ethnic Lao, Khmu, Hmong, Thai, Puthai, Lü, Katang, Makong, Chinese, Vietnamese, and many others. Other Laotian refugees settled in France or Canada. Within the US, following California, Texas, Minnesota, Washington, Tennessee, Illinois, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Oregon all have small but substantial populations. Most Laotian-Americans live in urban areas, the largest being around Seattle. After Seattle, smaller communities are found around the San Francisco Bay, Dallas-Fort Worth, Sacramento, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, San Diego, Fresno, and Los Angeles, where an estimated 7,120 Laotians are estimated to live.

About 2,588 Laotians live in Orange County, particularly in diverse North Orange County, where most live in Santa Ana, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Fullerton, and Westminster. In 1990, when Seng Chidhalay launched the Lao language paper, Laos Sampanth, he did so from Santa Ana. When the exiled Laotian royal family visited California in 1995, they toured the city of Westminster.

PROMINENT LAO-CALIFORNIANS

My not-terribly-intensive research has turned up a handful of somewhat prominent Laotians with ties to California. Two b-boy brothers from San Diego who refer to themsevles as Lancer and EraNetik were featured on a talent show called America’s Got Talent as part of a team called Body Poets. Khan “Bob” Malythong, a badminton coach in Fremont, is also a notable competitive badminton player. Authors TC Huo, Nor Sanavongsay, and Bryan Thao Worra are associated with the communities of Oakland, Dublin, and Hemet, respectively. Lao-Chinese-Indian-Thai-American comedian and Upright Citizen’s Brigade veteran Kulap Vilaysack is co-founder of Garage Comedy.

LAOTIAN CUISINE

Typical Lao items include sticky rice, larb, chicken salad, jaew (a dipping past made from chilis), tam mak hung (a sour and spicy papaya salad), kaeng no mai (a bamboo soup), herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Wild game and insects, especially red fire ants, are not uncommon. Common beverages include beer (beerlao) and lao-lao, a rice whiskey, or the less alcoholic lao-hai. Lao cuisine is similar to Thai cuisine, albeit characterized by greater extremes of sourness, bitterness, and heat.

Lao cuisine is recognizably influenced by its neighbors Thailand and Vietnam. Khao-pun from the former and pho and spring rolls from the latter are both common. Yunnanese food is common in the capital and largest city, Vientiane. The influence of colonial France is evident in the presence of khao jii (baguettes), omelets, pâté, coffee, condensed milk, and croissants.

Local restaurants serving Lao food include Spicy Lao and Vientiane Thai Laos Restaurant (both Garden Grove), Tai-Kadai Kitchen (Rosemead), and The Original Hoy Ka Hollywood (Hollywood Studio District). San Diego is home to Bane Phonekoe. There are Laotian markets for sale on the shelves of Thai & Laos Market in Anaheim’s Little Arabia. Sadly, Hoy Ka Lao (Monterey Park) closed in 2015.

LAOTIAN RELIGION

Roughly two thirds of Laotians are Buddhist. Nearly a third follow polytheistic, animistic, and often shamanic indigenous religions. A small minority, about 1.5%, practice Christianity. In the US, Lao Buddhist congregations often first meet in a home, gradually adapted into a house of worship through the addition of decorative art. In Southern California, Lao wats include Wat Lao Buddhasamakhee (Santa Ana); Wat Phosayaram of Orange County (Stanton); Wat Lao Buddhist Samakitham (Riverside); and Wat Lao Buddhaharam, Wat Lao Boubpharam, and Wat Lao Navaram Buddhist Monastery (San Diego). Local Lao Christian congregations include Lao Baptist Church (Whittier) and Laotian Vientiane Church (Riverside).

LAOTIAN FESTIVALS

Several public holidays are observed in Laos, including Boun Khoun Khao (a rice harvest festival), Lao National Day (marking the establishment of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 1975), and the Rocket Festival, to name a few. Perhaps the most important festivals are the various New Year’s observances, with Hmong observing theirs around December, Chinese and Vietnamese observing theirs around February, and Lao New Year, celebrated around April and related to the New Year also observed by Cambodians, Nepalis, Sinhalese, Tamil, and Thai. Also known as Songkran, the holiday is observed with festivities at local Lao wats and San Diegos’ Lao Community Cultural Center.

LAOTIAN MEDIA & ORGANIZATIONS

Paul Odom launched Lao Roots Magazine in San Diego in 2007, which has since ceased publication. Former contributor Siamphone Louankang then launched LaoAmericans.com. Local organizations serving the Laotian community include the Laos-Chinese Friendship Association, based in Monterey Park.

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

The landscape of Los Angeles is full of murals. Occupying as they do public rather than private space, their creators have to assume at their creation that their existence is temporary. They’re rarely respected by artless taggers and once sufficiently damaged, graffiti removers usually obliterate them with their own artless paint jobs. Increasing they’re annihilated by community colonizers, who move into old businesses and whose bourgeois aesthetic sensibilities prefer blank walls to murals. The lucky ones crack and fade in the sun unless they’re preserved or restored, which occasionally they are.

Because Los Angeles is the world’s great pan-Asian city and because it’s currently Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I thought it would be nice to highlight the murals created by APA artists. I’ve listed and mapped the works of which I’m aware but I’d love to add more, whether they’re commissioned artworks, street art, commercial murals, &c. So please leave suggestions in the comments.

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Chinese Celestial Dragon — Tyrus Wong, 1941 (951 N. Broadway)

The Chinese Celestial Dragon mural was painted in 1941 by artist Tyrus Wong, a Chinese-born artist and kite maker celebrated for his work on the Disney film, Bambi (1942). In 2015, when he was 104, he was the subject of a biographical documentary titled Tyrus. The mural is located on a tower at New Chinatown Center Plaza and was restored by Fu Ding Cheng in 1984. It’s served by Metro‘s Gold, 28, 45, 83 and LA DOT’s DASH Downtown B lines. 

Epoch — Patrick Nagatani, 1996 (800 N. Alameda St.)

Patrick Nagatani’s collage Epoch (1996) depicts ships, trains, and other forms of transit. It also includes a series of Eadweard Muybridge photos from 1887, which though safe enough for Victorians proved so offensive to some in the 1990s that they were briefly covered with a plastic tarp. Epoch is located inside Union Station and is thus served by all of the transit lines which pass through Union Station.

Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana — Eliseo Silva, 1995 (1600 Beverly Blvd.)

Eliseo Silva’s large Gintong Kasaysayan is located in Unidad Park, which began life as the the Candy Chuateco Community Garden in 1993. The mural and park are served by Metro’s 14/37 line.

Home is Little Tokyo — Tony Osumi, Sergio Diaz, and Jorge Diaz, 2005 (S. Central Avenue & E. 1st St.)

The mural Home is Little Tokyo was designed by Tony Osumi with substantial input from the Little Tokyo community and depicts several eras and aspects of the neighborhood. It’s served by Metro’s Gold and LA DOT’s DASH A lines.

Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market mural — Thomas Suriya, 1986 (1601 E. Olympic Blvd.)

Thomas Suriya’s two large murals at the Wholesale Produce Market cover 613 square meters and depict giant floating produce. Most produce in the Southwest passes through the Produce Market, a vast complex the new owners of which hope to transform into a mixed-use community known as Row DTLA. The market and mural are served by Metro’s 53 and 66 lines.

Picture of Viewing Waterfalls in Summer Mountains, Palace in Heaven, and Four Beauties Catching Swimming Fish, anonymous, 1968 (913 N. Broadway)

Three scroll-like tile murals, in three different styles, were created by an unknown artist in 1968 and adorn a wall of a building that’s been home to Plum Tree Inn since 1979. The mural is accessible via Metro’s Gold, 28, 45, 83, and LA DOT’s DASH Lincoln Heights/Chinatown lines. 

Sen Bana No Saki (Thousand Blossoms) — Kazuko Kayasuga Matthews, 1981 (400 E. 2nd St.)

Kazuko Kayasuga Matthews’s Sen Bana no Saki mural adorns the western wall of Little Tokyo’s Honda Plaza. The abstract designs represent emblematic Japanese family crests known as mondokoro (紋所) or kamon (家紋). It’s served by Metro’s Gold and LA DOT’s DASH A lines.

Senzo — Jerry Matsukuma, 1981 (356 E. 1st St.)

Jerry Matsukuma’s Senzo is a six meter tall tile mural that incorporates text and photography to relate the experience of Little Tokyo’s Issei pioneers. It’s served by Metro’s Gold Line. 

Shades of Chinatown — Steven Wong and others, 2003 (421 W. College St.)

Shades of Chinatown was created by Steven Wong with help from the Youth Leadership Council of Chinatown and Lincoln Heights and is designed to portray Chinatown’s diversity. It’s served by Metro’s Gold, 81, 90/91, 94, 96, and Rapid 794 lines. 

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Lost Asian-Angeleno murals include Dong-in Park’s Koreans (1989 – 690 Wilshire Pl.) and Hitoshi Yoshida’s Flight of the Angel (1989 – 407 E. Third St.). Carol Nye’s Chinese American Women in L. A. (1994 – 711 N. Main St.), was taken down from Metro Plaza Hotel in 2000.

Special thanks: Public Art in LA

See also: Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles

*****

Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

I assume that for most Americans, thoughts of the mall evoke the 1980s or an earlier era, when certain classes of young teenagers longed to spend their free time eating at places like Sbarro or Orange Julius, shopping at Banana Republic or the Limited, watching Hollywood blockbusters at the multiplex, and feeding tokens to machines at the arcade. Today malls across the nation are dying, vacant but for a few a smattering of offices for insurance companies and tax preparers and half-decorated with dry fountains and dusty planters.

In Asian-American communities, on the other hand — and for whatever reason, they seem to continue to fill a vital role largely resembling the manner in which they did in the Reagan era, although now young people socialize face-to-face and face-to-screen over boba or cards — often all at the same time. Unlike the malls of old, the modern Asian-American mall typically has a food court worth making a dining destination and the parking lots host not just cars but night markets. Perhaps most importantly of all, whereas the ‘80s mall was seemingly generic and interchangeable by design, the modern Asian-American mall seems to prize individuality.

A visit to the mall in my youth made me short of breath, sore of joint, and emotionally fatigued… but I a visit to an Asian-American mall is something that I actually look forward to. For this reason, because it’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and because Los Angeles is the world’s great Pan-Asian Metropolis, I have made a map of the region’s Asian malls. It includes malls which cater mostly to Asian-Americans by design and evolution (i.e. Westfield Santa Anita). It includes large, enclosed malls; outdoor shopping plazas; shopping centers; and lowly pod malls. I’d love for readers to contribute more so please give me your malls in the comments.

Here are my top ten local Asian-American malls…

ASIAN GARDEN MALL/PHUOC LOC THO (Little Saigon)

Phước, Lộc, and Thọ are the human personification of prosperity, status, and luck — the three attributes which are said to form the basis of a good life. Perhaps by way of avoiding this explanation to non-Chinese and non-Vietnamese, the mall in English is known as Asian Garden Mall. The mall, developed by Frank Jao and opened in 1987, is the most iconic structure in Little Saigon and gets bonus points for hosting a night market. It also has a sculpture, created by James Dinh, titled Of Two Lineages, representing Vietnamese-American success in Orange County. The mall is served by OCTA’s 64 line.

ATLANTIC TIMES SQUARE (Monterey Park)

Atlantic Times Square is a mixed-use commercial/residential mall like the Americana at Brand at Glendale which is presumably why it’s nicknamed the “Asian Americana.” Unlike the Americana, however, there’s not that much attention paid to creating a Prisoner-like village vibe and there’s no trolley, just a vast subterranean parking structure, and most nights most of windows of the 210 condominiums are dark. Business turnover tends to be high (although Happy Family and Daiso remain constant) and the AMC regularly showcases amazing Chinese films too unpretentious for arthouses. The mall was built by developer Ronnie Lam and opened in 2010. The mall is served by Metro’s 260 line.

DIAMOND PLAZA (Rowland Heights)

Diamond Plaza is a popular mall in the eastern San Gabriel Valley suburb of Rowland Heights (sometimes colloquially referred to as “Little Taipei”), which borders and serves the largely Asian-American suburbs of North Orange County. Since it opened in 1995, it’s parking lot has been an endless traffic jam filled with cars content to just idle for hours, their occupants entering and exiting them to refuel with tea and food or play cards. It’s served by Foothill Transit’s 178, 289, 482, and 493 lines.

EAGLE ROCK PLAZA (Eagle Rock)

Eagle Rock Plaza has over the years gone by several official names including its current one, Eagle Rock Plaza (which it opened as in 1973), Westfield Shoppingtown Eagle Rock, and Westfield Eagle Rock but most people I know refer to it simply as the “Filipino Mall,” a reference to the national and ancestral origins of most of its customers as well as the orientation of its tenants, which include a Seafood City, a Pinoy Blockbuster, a Jollibee, a Chowking, and a Leelin Bakery (formerly a Goldilocks). The Filipino Mall is served by Metro’s 28, 81, 83, 180/181 lines and LA DOT’s DASH Highland Park/Eagle Rock.

EASTGATE PLAZA SHOPPING CENTER (Torrance)

Eastgate Plaza was built in 1985, in a nondescript vaguely Mission Revival style so ubiquitous in that era that it’s a wonder it’s not invisible. The inside is far more interesting, though, home to as it is to mostly Japanese tenants, which have included video stores, book stores, a food court, and others all anchored by a Mitsuwa Marketplace. In fact, I would pit Eastgate Plaza against some Japantowns and I suspect Eastgate Plaza would often come out the victor. Eastgate Plaza is served by GTrans 2 and Torrance Transit lines 3, Rapid 3, and 5.

KOREATOWN PLAZA (Koreatown)

Koreatown has several wonderful malls, including the nearby Koreatown Galleria, but Koreatown Plaza remains a favorite. Not long after moving to Los Angeles I went on a mini-vacation to Koreatown, spending most of my day in the mall, which opened in 1988. There I dined for my first time on jajangmyeon, shopped at the market, and and even bought myself a souvenir pendant to commemorate the experience. It’s served by Metro’s 28, 207, Rapid 728, Rapid 757, and LA DOT’s Commuter Express 534 lines.

LITTLE TOKYO GALLERIA (Little Tokyo)

From the outside, Little Tokyo Galleria looked more like a giant cold storage warehouse than a mall. It was built in the Smog Check Revival style in 1985, when it opened as Yahoan Plaza and was perhaps meant to withstand an attack from the Soviets. In 2000 it was purchased by a Cuban-American who renamed it the Little Tokyo Galleria. It formerly housed a wonderful video game arcade but always seemed to be on life support, never less than 35% vacant, until a group of Korean developers bought it in 2009 and remodeled the exterior, adding windows and generally softening and lightening its grim appearance and breathing new life into it. It’s served by Metro’s 18, 53, and 62 lines as well as LA DOT’s DASH Downtown A line.

SAIGON PLAZA AND DYNASTY CENTER (Chinatown)

Many of Chinatown’s businesses are owned by older, Cantonese immigrants. Saigon Plaza Chinatown Plaza & Dynasty Center, though, is specifically a hub of stalls operated by ethnic Chinese from Cambodia, Laos, and of course, Vietnam. The top floor is like a bustling, crowded bazaar. The bottom floor turns into a winding, largely empty labyrinth that seems to descend deeper and deeper into the bowels of Chinatown before depositing the visitor back on the street, confuse, blinking, and disoriented.

SAN GABRIEL SQUARE (San Gabriel)

San Gabriel Square is known to many as “Chinese Disneyland.” A more clever nickname, also widely used, is the “Great Mall of China.” San Gabriel is home to several large malls including Hilton Plaza and the even larger Life Plaza Center. Biggest of all, though, is the 20,400 square meter San Gabriel Square. Inside are several types of businesses including jewelry stores, boutiques and a 99 Ranch Market but the real attraction are the many restaurants serving Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese food. It’s served by Metro’s 76 and 487/489 lines.

THAILAND PLAZA (Thai Town)

Thailand Plaza was built in 1992. Though small it houses within its walls a restaurant (Jinda Thai), a supermarket (Silom), a book and music store (Dokya Bookstore), and other businesses.  Its layout is somewhat uncharacteristic of most malls, with sidewalk-facing storefronts and an interior parking structure from which most of the businesses are accessible. Located at the mall’s driveway is a spirit house, a feature common of many Southeast Asian cultures believed to provide shelter for spirits. Thailand Plaza is served by Metro’s Red line.

*****

Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

Most of the world’s major religions — and many minor — were born in Asia. The Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Bahá’í, Druze, Samaritanism, and Bábism), were all born in West Asia; Iranian religions include Zoroastrianism, Yazdânism, Ætsæg Din, Ahl-e Haqq, Mandaeism, and Manichaeism; South Asia gave birth to the Dharmic religions of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism; and East Asia produced Taoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism. That noted, the Abrahamic regions are rarely if ever characterized as Asian religions. Abraham, Jesus, and Muḥammad — although all were born in Asia — are never labeled “Asian.”

In Los Angeles it’s fairly safe to assume that many local Muslims and Christians actually are Asian, however, and an exhaustive directory of Asian-American congregations would include many mosques and a huge number of churches. As an agnostic architecture fan, many of those churches are worth appreciating as they — along with post offices, city halls, libraries, and steakhouses — are generally amongst the most interesting structures found in many a suburb. However, for the sake of my sanity, I’m excluding them from this piece and instead focusing exclusively on religions with South and East Asian roots — i.e. Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and Taoist. As always, additions and corrections are encouraged.

As of the 2010 census there were 57,183 Tongans living in the US, making them the fourth largest Pacific Islander group after Hawaiians, Samoans, and Chamorros. 22,893 Tongans then lived in California, with 6,489 calling the Inland Empire, Orange, or Los Angeles County home. In Los Angeles, the communities of Carson, Hawthorne, Long Beach, and Lennox are where most local Tongans are found, although there are few obvious signs of their presence and no enclave official or otherwise.

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TONGAN HISTORY

The Kingdom of Tonga (Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga) is an archipelago comprised of 169 islands, 36 of which are inhabited. It has a population roughly 103,000 people, the majority of whom live on the main island, Tongatapu. The capital and largest city, Nuku’alofa, is home to about 25,000 Tongans.

The ancestors of modern Tongans are believed to have arrived on the archipelago between 1500 and 1000 BCE. The Tuʻi Tonga Empire arose around 950 CE and reached its largest expanse around between 1200 and 1500. The first Europeans to visit the islands were Dutch explorers Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire, who passed through in 1616. James Cook visited Tonga several times in the 1770s and referred to them as the “Friendly Isles” — before meeting his untimely end at the hands of Hawaiians.

The first Christian missionaries arrived in 1797 and today Christianity continues to play a major role in the lives of most Tongans. The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga is the state church and 90% of Tongans practice a form of Christianity. Tonga was unified by Taufa’ahau, who converted to Methodism and took the title King George Tupou I in 1845. The independent Tonga became a British Protectorate during World War II. Full independence was only restored in 1970.

Significant numbers of Tongans began arriving to the US around the same time although by 1980 there were only 6,200 counted Tongan-Americans. The Mormon church played a huge role in encouraging Tongan immigration and in the 1980s, Tongan immigration rose 184%. Most settled in the South Bay, South Los Angeles, and Harbor areas where many found work as caregivers or employees at Los Angeles International Airport.

TONGAN CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES

Most Tongans observe Christian observances and additionally, the traditional New Year’s Day (“Ta’u Fo’ou”), the first communion-like “Faka Me,” and on 4 June, Tonga Emancipation Day. There are few official public displays of Tongan culture in Los Angeles, although the Aquarium of the Pacific’s annual Pacific Islander Festival promotes the culture of all Pacific Islanders, including Tongans.

Traditionally, Tongans are organized around large family clans known as “kainga,” and that tightly-knit tribalism is evident in several Tongan organizations, most visibly in Tongan churches, which locally include Free Church of Tonga (with congregations in Century Palms and Riverside), Lennox Tongan United Methodist Church (in Lennox), Free Wesleyan Church Tonga (Inglewood), and formerly, North Hollywood‘s Los Angeles Tongan Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

A south side Inglewood neighborhood bordering Lennox is claimed by the mostly Tongan gang, the Tonga Crips, whose founders were formerly Raymond Avenue Crips and whose members refer to the neighborhood as “Inglewatts.” In 1989, a Tongan Crip Gang click formed in the capital of Mormonism, Salt Lake City.

Less questionable organizations serving the Tongan community include the Tongan Community Service Center, founded in Hawthorne in 1988, the Saturday Tongan Education Program, founded by Pomona College’s Asian American Resource Center, and the Tongan American Youth Foundation.

Prominent local Tongans include Ofa Tulikihihifo, the all-time leading basketball scorer for California State University, Northridge and the LAFD’s first Tongan firefighter, and former NFLer Chris Ma’umalanga, who organized the Tonga High School Conference at California State University, Dominguez Hills to help combat high dropout rates in the community.

TONGAN MUSIC

I suppose it should come as no surprise that local Tongan music makers include the Inglewood Crips, the members of which include Tongan Crips. The highest profile Tongan-American musical group were Minnesota’s family act The Jets, initially comprised of the eight eldest siblings in a family of nineteen(!) Traditional Tongan music is closely tied to dance, especially the formal lakalaka. Other genres of music and dance include siva kakala, kailao, ma’ulu’ulu, me’etu’upaki, and tau’olunga.

TONGAN CUISINE

Traditionally, Tongans cooked a midday meal in earthen ovens and then ate leftovers at night and the next morning. Meals usually consisted of bananas, breadfruit, coconuts, fish, taro, yams, and raw shellfish. Pigs were eaten on special occasions. A popular beverage is kava, a drink with sedative, anesthetic, euphoriant, and entheogenic properties.

Post-contact culinary inventions include ‘otai (a drink made from coconut and watermelon), topai (boiled doughboys served with syrup and coconut milk), and hopi (home brew made from water, sugar, yeast, and fruit). Highly processed, super caloric, un-nutritious imports like white bread, soda, mutton flaps, crackers, corned beef, and Spam are also popular and not coincidentally, 90% of Tongans are currently overweight, with 58% classified as obese, making it one of the most obesity-plagued cultures on earth.

A search for Tongan restaurants in Los Angeles usually yields Tonga Hut, a wonderful if not-even-remotely-Tongan tiki bar in the San Fernando Valley. Lennox’s El Zorro Market has a dedicated Tongan section, featuring kapa pulu (canned corned beef), kapa ika (canned fish), kapa niu (coconut milk), sipi (lamb), kumala (sweet potato), rice noodles, and ma pakupaku (breakfast crackers). Someone, it seems, needs to open a Tongan restaurant!

FURTHER READING

Elson Trinidad’s “Visibility From Invisibility: The South Bay’s Tongan American Community“

Emily Alpert Reyes’s “L.A.’s close-knit Tongan community struggles with poverty“

Alejandra Molina’s “Tongans building Inland presence“

*****

Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

Even though I’m more “no money” than “new money,” I share the latter’s collective love of statuary. When wondering through the city or suburbs I’m pleased by the presence of garden gnomes or bodhisattva or fast food mascots. Nothing churches up a home like a yard full of tiny replicas of Michelangelo‘s David. This being Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I thought it would be fun to compile a directory of public statues created by or depicting Asians and Asian-Americans. Obviously, I’m not going to count every countertop Budai figurine, every shī guarding a warehouse, every temple figure, every tiki bar moai, &c. That being said, I encourage your additions… as long as they’re located in places accessible to the public.

BRUCE LEE (Chinatown)

The two meter-tall bronze statue of actor and martial artist Bruce Lee was donated by the Bruce Lee Foundation. Although born in San Francisco, Lee moved to Los Angeles in the 1960 where he acted on television and operated a martial arts studio in Chinatown. The statue was designed by an anonymous statue in Guangzhou.

BUDDHA WITH A FLOWER (Chinatown)

The state, Buddha with a Flower, is located somewhere in Chinatown’s Central Plaza. I don’t know the artist, date of its dedication, or exact location.

CHIUNE SUGIHARA (Little Tokyo)

Pasadena-based Ramon G. Velazco‘s statue of Chiune Sugihara was dedicated in 2002. Sugihara was a diplomat who during World War II, at no small risk to his family and self, issued transit visas to 6,000 Jews so that they could flee to Japan.

CONFUCIUS (University Hills)

A statue of famed teacher, politician, and philosopher Confucius (孔子) on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles was another gift from the government of Taiwan. It’s located on the school’s Street of the Arts.

HARMONY (Little Tokyo)

Sawako Shintani‘s Harmony (1985) is a large bronze bas-relief depicting a group of abstract figures. Shintani was born in Kobe in 1939 and moved to Los Angeles in 1970. It was formerly located at 332 East Second Street and in 2009 was relocated nearby to Weller Court.

KOREAN COMFORT WOMAN (Glendale)

A statue of a young Korean “Comfort Woman” was unveiled in 2013, commemorating the sexual slavery of many Korean women by the Japanese military during World War II. It was created by artist Bok Lim Kim.

NINOMIYA SONTOKU (Little Tokyo)

Junichiro Hannyo‘s statue of Ninomiya Sontoku (1983) stands in front of Manufacturers Bank. Ninomiya (二宮 尊徳) was a was an agricultural leader, philosopher, moralist and economist known as the “peasant sage” who lived from 1787 – 1856.

SUN YAT-SEN (Chinatown)

The statue of Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) was commissioned by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and dedicated on 12 November 1966 — the birthdate of the famed revolutionary,medical practitioner, and first president of the Republic of China. It was made in Taiwan by an anonymous sculptor.

*****

Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

Public art, by its definition, is only public when located in an open public space. Increasingly corporate plazas patrolled by security guards are what often pass for public space and private organizations determine what hours of what days the public are allowed to view “public art” which in many cases could be considered “plop art,” the sort of generic, interchangeable, multi-million dollar abstractions created by international artists to satisfy civic programs which require developers to devote a tiny percentage of their costs to public art. However, at least in the cases of Los Angeles’s two best known Asian-American enclaves, Chinatown and Little Tokyo, the creators of public art have in every case made clear attempts to engage and reflect their surroundings. Because Los Angeles is the world’s great Pan-Asian Metropolis and May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, here’s a look at public sculptures, memorials, and monuments in and around Los Angeles. As always, additions and corrections are welcome!

*****

CHINATOWN GATEWAY (Chinatown)

Hong Kong-based architect Rupert Mok‘s Chinatown Gateway was unveiled in 2001. It features two dragons meant to symbolize luck and prosperity.

FILIPINO WORLD WAR II VETERANS MEMORIAL (Filipinotown)

During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt lured 120,000 citizens of the Philippines into the US armed services with the promise of American citizenship. 200,000 Filipinos ended up fighting with US forces and about half were killed. In 1946, after the war’s conclusion, President Harry S. Truman signed Congress’s Rescission Act, which denied military benefits and citizenship to Filipinos. In 1990, congress finally granted US citizenship to Filipino veterans. In 2006, Missouri-born artist Cheri Gaulke‘s Filipino World War II Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Filipinotown.

FRIENDSHIP KNOT (Little Tokyo)

Shinkichi Tajiri‘s Friendship Knot (1972) was originally known as Square Knot and was on display at Tajiri’s home in the Netherlands. It was renamed Friendship Knot by the Friends of Little Tokyo Arts, who procured and relocated the piece and invested it with a new meaning, the “unity between two cultures.” To me it suggests the sort of unity described in the Kama Sutra but who knows what Tajiri was thinking when he made a giant square knot for his home.

GO FOR BROKE (Little Tokyo)

Roger Yanagita‘s Go For Broke Monument honors Japanese-Americans who served in the US Army during World War II and lists the names of 16,126 nisei soldiers. It also features an inscription about Japanese-Americans who were interned in concentration camps during the war. Design and construction began in 1991 and it was dedicated in 1999. Although freely accessible to the public, it’s unfortunately located in the middle of a parking lot.

HARMONY (Little Tokyo)

Harmony (1996) is a mixed-media sculpture designed by Nancy Uyemura and adorns the entrance of the Casa Heiwa Public Housing Project. The piece depicts the “personal journey of the spirit” and “family relationships in balance.” In 2007, deteriorated aluminum panels were replaced with porcelain ones.

JAPANESE VILLAGE PLAZA FOUNTAIN (Little Tokyo)

The Japanese Village Plaza was designed by Korean-American architect David Hyun as part of the revitalizion of Little Tokyo. I’m not sure who designed the fountain, though, although it probably was dedicated with the plaza in 1978.

KOREAN BELL OF FRIENDSHIP (San Pedro)

The Korean Bell of Friendship is a massive bell housed in a stone pavilion located in San Pedro‘s Angel’s Gate Park. The bell, modeled after the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok the Great of Silla, and was a gift from Korea presented in 1976, to mark the US bicentennial.

LA BALLONA (Culver City)

Shanghai-born, Los Angeles-based artist May Sun‘s La Ballona is a mixed-media piece installed in 1995 at Culver City City Hall‘s courtyard. It’s meant to suggest Ballona Creek and to commemorate the native Tongva nation.

LISTENING FOR THE TRAINS TO COME (Chinatown)

May Sun’s Listening for the Trains to Come was created in 1992 and installed in 1993. According to the artist the piece “pays homage to the Chinese railroad workers who built the railroad bed for the Southern Pacific.” Somewhat ironically, it’s located in a parking lot… but in 2003, the launch of the Metro Gold Line spelled the return of trains to the area.

MONUMENT TO ASTRONAUT ELLISON S. ONIZUKA (Little Tokyo)

Isao Hirai‘s Monument to Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka was dedicated in 1990. It commemorates the Challenger space shuttle crew, all seven of whom were killed shortly after lift-off in 1986. Among the crew was Onizuka, the first Japanese-American astronaut in space. The artist, Isao Hirai, was then president of Hawthorne‘s Scale Model Company.

MONUMENT TO HAIKU AND TANKA

Monument to Haiku and Tanka, located in Japanese Village Plaza, consists of several wooden panels decorated with haiku and tanka poems. The artist and the piece’s date of creation are unknown to me.

SEVEN STAR CAVERN WISHING WELL

Liu Hong Kay‘s Seven Star Cavern Wishing Well was created in 1939 out of concrete mimicking natural forms. It’s creator, who also went by Henry, took his inspiration from the Seven Star Cavern in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region — although to my knowledge that cave was never covered with odd colors of paint and tiny wishing wells.

STONERISE (Little Tokyo)

Seiji Kunishima‘s Stonerise was created in 1984, from four, large, black blocks of African granite and seven small black stones of Indian granite. Seiji Kunishima was born in Nagoya in 1937.

TERMINAL ISLAND JAPANESE MEMORIAL (Terminal Island)

The Terminal Island War Memorial was dedicated in 2002. It was funded by the Terminal Islanders Club, a group of Japanese-Americans who lived in the no longer extant Terminal Island fishing village of Furasato before their forced removal during World War II and the island’s subsequent redevelopment. The memorial was designed by Henry Alvarez.

TO THE ISSEI (Japan)

Isamu Noguchi‘s To the Issei was completed in 1981 and is located in Isamu Noguchi Plaza, in front of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. Isamu Noguchi was born in Los Angeles in 1904 and died in 1988.

TOWERS OF PEACE, PROSPERITY AND HOPE (Japan)

Michihiro Kosuge‘s Towers of Peace, Prosperity and Hope is an abstract sculpture consisting of three bronze-topped stainless steel towers meant to suggest “toro,” “garan,” and “origami.” It was dedicated in 1989. Kosuge was born in Tokyo in 1943 and lives in Portland.

TOYO MIYATAKE’S CAMERA (Japan)

Nobuho Nagasawa‘s Toyo Miyatake’s Camera, dedicated in 1993, depicts an oversized box camera on a tripod and which projects images onto a screen behind a window at the Japanese American National Museum. It’s named after photographer Toyo Miyatake, who documented the experiences of Japanese-Americans interned at the concentration camp in Manzanar during World War II. Nagasawa was born in Japan and now lives in New York City.

WATER LENS TOWER (Victor Heights)

Carl F. K. Cheng‘s Water Lens Tower was dedicated in 1992 and is located at the Kaiser Mental Health Center and is, although funded by the CRA as public art, fenced off from and effectively inaccessible to the public. Cheng was born in San Francisco in 1942 and received both his BA and his MA from University of California, Los Angeles.

WISHING BELLS, TO PROTECT AND SERVE (Civic Center)

Sook Jin Jo‘s Wishing Bells, To Protect and Serve was dedicated in 2009.The piece was commissioned by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and is meant to honor both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Japanese character of neighboring Little Tokyo. The artist was born in Gwangju and moved to New York City, where she is based. 

YAGURA TOWER (Little Toyko)

Yagura Tower mimics the appearance of a traditional Japanese fire tower. It was designed by local architect David Hyun as part of the redeveloped Little Tokyo in 1978. It’s inarguably now the most iconic structure in the neighborhood.

*****

Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Click here to offer financial support and thank you!

Last year, 2015, I visited London for the first time. I’m only getting around to writing about it now because I’m leaving for Mexico in a few hours. I wanted to write about visiting the UK earlier but it just seemed so unnecessary, like writing a book about World War II or making a documentary about the Beatles. There’s probably not that much to say about London that hasn’t already been said, and by far more insightful writers than me, so I’ll try to keep it short.

There are hundreds if not thousands of major cities in the world. Naturally I’d like to visit them but unless something radically changes, that’s not likely to happen so I have to be selective when planning trips around the world. London is 8,750 kilometers from Los Angeles — roughly the same distance to Tokyo, Asuncion, or Dakar. Flying all the way across an ocean just to go to England seemed a bit like trekking across the country to eat at a Red Lobster or TGIFridays.

My preconceived notions of London were largely (de)formed by film — especially the sort of bad British-Hollywood co-productions Anglophiles love because they portray the metropolis as quaint backwater populated entirely by white English men who are passably charming and falling in love with American girls or British girls played by American actresses. And that accent! The characterless RP accent of common to ancient humans, authoritative aliens, and fairy-folk.

I had a similar distaste of the Los Angeles portrayed in film. The realization finally arrived that mainstream cinematic depictions of London might bear as little resemblance to the real London as Hollywood depictions of Los Angeles do to Los Angeles. What if London, in other words, is the Los Angeles of Europe? And why did it take so long for this thought to occur?

I chalk it up to my “England problem,” which I was born with when I inherited the family name, “Brightwell.” It’s a fine name as any, I suppose, but throughout my life people have seen fit to address me as “Mr. Brightwell” in an affected, unpleasant English accent with depressing and disappointing regularity. I’ve never encouraged it, having as I do the grown-ass-man’s natural aversion to all varieties of Ren Faire/Cosplay nonsense. I also resent the fact that people with equally English surnames like Smith, Jones, Taylor, Williams, and Brown are spared this indignity. I suppose that people might think that I enjoy it because I’m also regularly and just as wrongly assumed to be an Anglophile.

I can’t point to anything I’ve done to promote this misperception either, but I also generally don’t waste too much time in refuting it because the problem, as I see it, lies with Anglophiles and Anglophila, not me. I can eat every sort of cuisine on Earth, watch films from every country, read books in every language, and listen to music from every culture and Anglophiles will still assume that I’m one of them, I suppose because amongst the many things I like are are the inevitable British products and for Anglophiles there are only two countries in the world, our embarrassing one and the wonderful one we stupidly fought a war of independence against.

I can add that I have never spelled words in the British manner, I’ve always resented the fact that some of my brain cells are devoted to an even casual awareness of the British royal family, I’ve never worn or owned anything with a Union Jack (or any other nationalist emblem of empire), I don’t enjoy most comedies which depend on cross-dressing or funny voices for laughs, have never had nor especially wanted to have low tea, and I have banished antiquated and stupid British Imperial Units from my usage… but my protestations inevitably fall on deaf ears… and all Anglophiles have deaf ears, because how else can one explain their love of Oasis?

Funny enough, many of the the English things that I do enjoy, things like 2-step, Free Cinema, World of Twist, William Morris wallpaper, English Folk music, Go-Kart Mozart, porter, Liberty London, the pre-Raphaelites, chav-watching, English cuisine, and The Wind in the Willows are not things I associate with Anglophiles, who tend to listen to bad music and wear style-less Lonsdale T-shirts, which being adwear, is as tacky as American Eagle, Aeropostale, or Abercrombie & Fitch but for Anglophiles is invested with a cultural capital which requires the recognition and approval of other Anglophiles because otherwise it’s just a dumb T-shirt with words written on it.

But again, what if London, like Los Angeles, bears little resemblance to the cinematic portrayal and tourist experience? What if London is the Los Angeles of Europe? The best way to know a city is aimlessly ramble around it so that’s what I did — and although I came away thinking it’s the most Londony-place on Earth, it did end up reminding me more of Los Angeles than any other city I’ve yet visited.

*****

There are differences and similarities between London and Los Angeles worth noting. London is old and new. Unlike museum cities whose final chapters seem to have been written decades ago, London continues to show signs of life — breathing, growing, and changing. Londinium may’ve been founded by the Romans in 47CE but they left and it wasn’t again resettled until the Anglo-Saxons arrived in 886 and re-named it Lundenburh. After that it was erased and redrawn over and over by fire, the most notorious being the Great Fire of London, which left nothing of pre-1666 London but the pattern of streets. Modern London really took off in the 18th Century, when it began expanding in all directions and absorbing neighboring towns which became its neighborhoods.

Los Angeles’s origins also lie in pre-history. The Chumash lived in and around the Los Angeles Basin as early as 11,000 BCE. The remains of the so-called Arlington Springs Woman, found on the Channel Islands (of California, not England’s), are the oldest human remains found in all of the Americas. When the Tongva arrived around 1,500 CE, the Chumash had abandoned the basin and for the coast and offshore islands. The Tongva established many villages, including Ya’angna, near which their Spanish conquerors chose to establish El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles in 1781. Just as with pre-modern London, the ancient roads are among the few reminders of the ancient past. Modern Los Angeles was really born in the 1880s, however, when the population exploded and the city soon after began expanding in all directions, aided by the world’s largest-ever interurban rail system, and absorbing neighboring towns which became neighborhoods.

London and Los Angeles are thus similarly sprawling. Greater London’s area is 1,572 km2 whilst Los Angeles’s is 1,302 km2 — both are the center of much larger metropolitan areas. In London there are about 514 recognized neighborhoods. In Los Angeles, there are neighborhoods, unincorporated communities, and Los Angeles County municipalities which from the perspective of the explorer are pretty much the same thing and number collectively at about 467. Both cities are served by a developed transportation network. London’s train and bus network are amongst the best in the world and Los Angles’s is pretty good and, by sluggish American standards, improving rapidly. Los Angeles, on the other hand, is a comparatively comfortable place to bicycle, criss-crossed with about 1,000 kilometers of dedicated bicycle lanes and an average of 329 days of rain-free days per year.

London’s diversity is primarily limited to humans. All of England is temperate and London is a  flat city, located within a bowl and centered bisected by a major river. Southern California, on the other hand, is a biodiversity hotspot with a variety of biomes, climates, and microclimates; and Los Angeles has the greatest variation in elevation of any city on Earth — but also is primarily located within a bow-like basin bisected by a major river. Glaciations and human activity have left England with zero endemic species of mammals and most of the countryside consists of dull or charming (depending on the individual or time spent in it) Midwest-like farmland, with stone walls in place of barbed wire fences. The most fearsome creatures found in England’s wild woods and suburbs are foxes and badgers. In Southern California, by contrast, the landscape includes deserts, forests, mountains, swamps, grasslands, scrubland and in Los Angeles, coyotes and raccoons roam the streets; run-ins with bobcats, bears, and panthers aren’t uncommon.

Both cities have highly diverse human populations, though, with hundreds of languages spoken and large percentages of foreign born and those descended from foreign born. The majority of Angelenos primarily speak a language other than English and half of the most-spoken languages in Los Angeles are East Asian. By contrast, only 22% of Londoners primarily speak a language other than English and roughly half of the most-spoken are South Asian. In both cities, that diversity contributes to an amazing culinary scene which help cement their reputations as the cultural capitals of their respective countries. Both cities are also overrun with bearded bun boys in yoga pants and blue-haired young women in wide-brimmed hats, both essentially dressed like sidekicks from ‘90s sitcoms whose sartorial mistakes we’re apparently doomed to repeat.

*****

Given my desire to do nothing so much as ramble around South London, pursuing whims, following instincts, and popping in and out of pubs, I was less than thrilled that my London-based hosts insistence that we visit Big Ben and the London Eye, the world’s fourth tallest Ferris wheel, with measurement conveniently provided in Coca-Cola bottles. What the fuss is about completely alludes me although the same can be said of Hollywood and Highland, Los Angeles’s equivalent tourist polo ground, where hordes wearing tennis shirts emblazoned with large horses hold selfie sticks aloft like polo mallets and have apparently bathed in celebrity-branded scents worse than anything they’re designed to cover up. I often tell visitors to Los Angeles to start their visit at Hollywood and Highland, choose a direction at random, and then begin walking because it will all be uphill from there. I will now apply the same advice to London and its shirime.

After getting that out of the way we stopped at a pub — my one request. None of my hosts, though English, had ever been in a pub, preferring soda to adult beverages and fast food to pub grub. I later found, with equal shock, that none of my hosts (despite one living in Tipton, where the very air tastes of it) had ever had curry. There is a sad Yankophila too, it seems, a disorder just as sad as Anglophilia, and one which is contributing (if the always hyperbolic British media are to be believed) with the death of pub culture. If that’s true, it would be a shame, because pubs were my favorite aspect of native Englishness and where most of my happiest and fuzziest memories were made. Although I was told that pubs were closing left and right, there still seemed to be one on every block and could scarcely imagine a pubbier place on earth.

When I returned to Los Angeles, I returned with a desire to see bar density — which would aid the exploration and formation of community as much as our relentlessly sunny days and expanding rail network. I’ll hopefully return to England someday. Hopefully the trains to Manchester will actually run that time, hopefully I’ll be able to see parts of Liverpool not connected to the Beatles, and maybe I’ll even have another go at making sense of Birmingham — but a visit to London will be a given… and the pubs had better still be there.

*****

Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Africa at night from satellite

It’s been noted that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (enacted in 1968) is one of the key reasons Los Angeles today is the city that it is. That act ended the practice of favoring European immigrants and as a result transformed what had once been promoted as the “Great White Spot of America” into “the world’s great Pan-Asian metropolis.” It didn’t just open the door wider for Asians though, although Africans have immigrated in much smaller numbers. In 1970 there were only about 80,000 African-born Americans. According to the 2008–2012 American Community Survey, today that number has grown to about 1.6 million — or roughly 4% of total immigrants, 3 in 4 since 1990.

California has 155,000 African immigrants — the second largest population after New York — 164,000. Africa is a vast and diverse continent, though, and whilst over half of New York’s African population comes from West Africa, the plurality of California’s come from East Africa (including, especially, the Horn of Africa). California also has the largest population of North Africans — primarily Egyptians. Los Angeles is home some roughly 68,000 African immigrants, a number equaling Atlanta and quite a bit smaller than the populations of Washington, DC and New York City. New York has Le Petit Sénégal and Los Angeles, Little Ethiopia.

As the only African enclave in Los Angeles, block-long Little Ethiopia and the city’s Little Ethiopia tend to fuel the most of what little food writing there is about the city’s diverse, intriguing, African restaurant scene. I’ve eaten at about a dozen African restaurants in Los Angeles and am certainly no authority. I’m compiling this guide, rather, as a resource (and hopefully incentive) for all the food writers, listiclers, foodies, tourists, and adventurers (including myself) to explore Los Angeles’s under-explored pan-African food scene.

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My introduction to African cuisine was at a short-lived restaurant in Iowa City called Sahara which, if I recall correctly, was nominally pan-African but seemed to lean rather heavily towards West Africa. I don’t recall having any sort of African cuisine after its closure until I first visited Los Angeles in 1998 and was taken by a friend to Nyala (sadly now closed). It was a revelation not unlike the first time I had Indian food. I next remember frequenting the Santa Monica Promenade for it’s International Food Court, which included Ethiopian and Egyptian restaurants as well as others. Although hard to imagine now that the promenade is a conglomeration of the same faceless corporate chains one encounters in any suburban mall, in the late ’90s it was the sort of place people would often describe as “hip” and perhaps, “funky.” Back then there were record shops, independent book stores, and street performers (often including a gifted guzheng player). In 1999 the food court closed and was replaced with an outlet of the Bebe chain, which, believe it or not was itself once a hip brand.

There are several “brands” of African cuisine: Central Africa, East Africa, the Horn of Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Each have their own distinct dishes and every culture within them has its own culinary traditions which draw upon locally available ingredients, their unique history, the traditions of neighboring regions, and colonial traditions. There may be more but there are at least three African cuisines which are generally held to be as globally significant as, say, American, Chinese, French, Indian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Mexican, Peruvian, Spanish, Taiwanese, Thai, and Vietnamese. Those would be Ethiopian, Moroccan, and Tunisian.

ETHIOPIAN CUISINE

Ethiopian cuisine is generally characterized by its thick stews known as wat (less often w’et or wot), which is served atop and a sour flatbread known as injera which doubles as the utensil. Commonly eaten animals include chickens, cows, goats, fish and sheep — many of which are sautéed with vegetables and known as tibs. Ethiopian restaurants are generally quite accommodating for vegetarians and vegans and common plant ingredients include cardamom, carrots, chard, chilis, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, enset, garlic, ginger, lentils, onions, potatoes, and split peas. Dairy products include ayibe (a feta-like cheese) and niter kibbeh (spiced, clarified butter). Kinche (or qinch’e), a porridge made from cracked wheat and niter kibbeh, is commonly eaten for breakfast. Another common breakfast dish, fit-fit (or fir-fir), consists of stir-fried injera (or kitcha — another type of unleavened bread), a wat, eggs, and honey. Popular Ethiopian beverages include tej (a mead-like honey wine), atmet (a sweet, thick beverage made from flour, butter, and other ingredients), and coffee. Coffee was, in fact, first cultivated either in Ethiopia or its cross-strait neighbor, Yemen. Perhaps predating even coffee cultivation is khat (or qat), a flowering plant which contains an amphetamine-like stimulant barely known in the US which the American DEA nevertheless classifies as a controlled substance.

MOROCCAN CUISINE

Moroccan cuisine reflects the historic cultural interactions between Morocco’s indigenous Amazighs (or Berbers), Arabs, and the Andalusians of southern Spain. Commonly eaten animals include chickens, cows, fish, goats, and sheep. Common plant-derived ingredients include anise, bay laurel, caraway, cayenne, cloves, coriander, cumin, fennel, ginger, grapes, lemon pickle, mace, marjoram, mint, nutmeg, nuts, olive oil, oranges, oregano, paprika, parsley, pepper, peppermint, saffron, sesame seeds, tumeric, and verbena. Spices are especially important and a blend of 27 are used to make the country’s famed ras el hanout. A typical Moroccan meal involves hot and cold salads followed by a tajine (or tagine), a stew named after the pot in which it’s cooked. The most internationally well-known Moroccan culinary is invention is couscous; small, steamed balls of semolina which are utilized rather like rice. Most meals also include couscous topped with meat and vegetables and served with bread. Only Turks drink more tea than Moroccans and the most common local version is sweetened and flavored with mint.

TUNISIAN CUISINE

Tunisian cuisine reflects the cultural interactions of that country’s indigenous Amazighs with the traditions of Arabs and various Mediterranean cultures which have made their mark on the country. Tunisian tajine is quite different from the Moroccan dish of the same name, resembling more a sort of frittata-sort of pie than a stew. Commonly eaten animals include camels, chickens, cows, cuttle fish, fish, octopus, partridge, pigeon, quail, sea snails, sheep, and squid. Common plant-derived ingredients include almonds, anise, apricots, basil, bay leaves, bell peppers, capers, caraway, carrots, celery, chestnuts, chickpeas, chilis, cilantro, cinnamon, coriander, cucumbers, cumin, dates, eggplants, fennel, fenugreek, figs, garlic, geraniums, ginger, hazelnuts, honey, jasmine water, lemon, mint, olive oil, olives, onion, oranges, oregano, parsley, peanuts, pepper, pine nuts, pomegranates, potatoes, quince, rose, rosemary, saffron, squash, thyme, tomatoes, tomatoes, and turnips. Spices are prevalent, especially in the creation of harissa, a North African condiment made of bakloutis, caraway, coriander, cumin, garlic, mint, olive oil, salt, serranos, and other ingredients. Despite being a Muslim country and that religions prohibitions against alcohol, Tunisia produces beer, brandy, and wine in addition to its locally popular (and non-alcoholic) scented waters.

OTHER AFRICAN CUISINES

Other African cuisines represented in Los Angeles and Orange counties include Eritrean, Kenyan, Nigerian, Senegalese, Somali, and South African. The modestly sized city South Bay city of Inglewood is home to eight African restaurants representing four types of African cuisines. In other words, Inglewood is to African cuisines what Alhambra is to Asian… except that no one seems to acknowledge it.

Eritrean and Somali cuisines are both similar to but distinguishable from Ethiopian cuisine. Nigerian and Senegalese cuisines are both representative of West African cuisine, featuring as they do spicy stews, porridges, and rice and bean-based dishes. Kenyan cuisine resembles that of other countries of Africa’s Great Lakes region, with many dishes built around millet or sorghum and various meats and vegetables. South African cuisine probably deserves its own entry but my personal experience with it is limited to eating a couple of sides at a Nando’s in London. Its complexity of influences doesn’t surprise me since South Africa is so characterized by waves of migration and invasion. The country’s indigenous people, the San, were historically hunter-gatherers and who ate local plants and roasted game for 100,000 years before they were joined by the pastoralist Khoikhoi, who raised sheep and cattle. The Bantu Expansion brought black Africans from the north. Colonization brought whites from Europe and their Asian slaves and servants — all brought their own cooking traditions which have combined to create modern South African cuisine. It’s worth noting that popular South African ingredients like maize, rice, beans, cabbage, and potatoes were all introduced by outsiders.

Here’s my list (and map) of all African restaurants in Los Angeles and Orange counties. If I’m missing any, please let me know. If any open or close, please keep me updated. Finally, please support and nourish our unparalleled restaurant scene and let their chefs and cooks nourish you!

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AFRICAN PRODUCE MARKET

African Produce Market is an African market located in Mid-City which is served by Metro’s 35/38 line.

AFRICAN TABLE

African Table is an African restaurant (I’m not sure what specific cuisine, if any, it specializes in) in Hawthorne. It’s served by Metro’s 126, 210, and Rapid 710 lines as well as Torrance Transit’s 2 and 10 lines.

AWASH

Awash is an Ethiopian restaurant in the Faircrest Heights neighborhood and in my opinion, one of the best. It’s served by Big Blue Bus’s 7 line.

AZLA

Azla is a vegan Ethiopian restaurant located in South Central. It’s served by Torrance Transit’s 4 line; Metro’s 460 line, Silver line, and Expo line; OCTA’s 701 and 721 lines; and LADOT’s Commuter Express 438 and 448 lines.

BAMBOO CAFE

Bamboo Café is a Nigerian restaurant in Inglewood that’s served by Metro’s 211/215 and 212/312 lines.

BANADIR

Banadir is a Somali restaurant in Inglewood served by Metro’s 111/311 line.

THE BRIKS

The Briks is a bistro specializing in North African pastries. It’s served by Metro’s 14/37, 70, 71, 76, 78/79/378, 81, 96, 442, and 460 lines; LADOT’s Commuter Express 419 and 423 lines, and Foothill Transit’s Silver Streak.

BUNA

Buna is an Ethiopian café and market in Little Ethiopia and is served by Metro’s 28, 217, Rapid 728, and Rapid 780 lines.

DARNA

Darna Mediterranean Restaurant is a Moroccan restaurant located in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. It was opened in 2014 by Aviva Bendavid and her son, Sam, both of whom are from Marrakesh. Previous to moving to Los Angeles, Aviva ran a catering service in Tel Aviv, which likely accounts for the presence of several kosher dishes. It’s served by Metro’s 150/240 and 243/242 lines.

DIRDAWA

Dirdawa is an Ethiopian restaurant in Inglewood that is served by Metro’s 115 line.

ELDORADO BAR & GRILL

Eldorado is a sports bar with pool, live music, and both American and South African dishes. It’s located in the Harbor city of Long Beach’s Rancho Estates neighborhood and is served by Long Beach Transit’s 102, 104, and 173 lines.

FRESH

Fresh is an Ethiopian restaurant in Inglewood that’s served by Metro’s 110 and 607 lines.

INDUSTRY CAFE

Industry Café & Jazz is an Ethiopian restaurant which features live music. It’s located in Culver City’s McManus neighborhood and is served by Culver City Bus’s 1 line and LADOT’s Commuter Express 437 line.

JALIZ

Jaliz Cuisine of East Africa is located in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Van Nuys and is served by LADOT’s DASH Panorama City/Van Nuys line and Metro’s 156 and 233 lines.

KENYAN CAFÉ

Kenyan Café and Cuisine is a Kenyan restaurant in Anaheim. It’s served by OCTA’s 33 and 38 lines, and Metro’s 460 line.

KOUTOUBIA

Koutoubia is a Moroccan restaurant which features belly dancers on weekends. It’s located in the Westside neighborhood of West Los Angeles and is served by Big Blue Bus’s 5, 8, and R12 lines.

LALIBELA

Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant is in Little Ethiopia served by Metro’s 28, 217, and Rapid 728 lines. Owner Tenagne Belachew previously worked in the kitchen at Rahel and Marathon.

LITTLE ETHIOPIA

Little Ethiopia is, naturally, an Ethiopian restaurant located in Little Ethiopia. It’s served by Metro’s 28, 217, and Rapid 728 lines.

MARATHON

Marathon is an Ethiopian restaurant located in Little Ethiopia. It’s served by Metro’s 28, 217, and Rapid 728 lines.

MADINAH

Madinah Restaurant is a Somali restaurant located in Inglewood which is served by Metro’s 115 line.

MEALS BY GENET

Meals By Genet is an Ethiopian restaurant in Little Ethiopia with great food and a pleasant atmosphere. It’s served by Metro’s 28, 217, and Rapid 728 lines.

MERKATO

Merkato is my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Little Ethiopia due to its great food, unique atmosphere, sassy servers, and the attached market and coffee bar. It’s served by Metro’s 28, 217, and Rapid 728 lines.

MESSOB

Messob Ethiopian Restaurant is a fine Ethiopian restaurant located in Little Ethiopia which is served by Metro’s 28, 217, and Rapid 728 lines.

MOUN-OF-TUNIS

Moun-Of-Tunis is a Tunisian restaurant with (I believe) some Moroccan dishes and (I’m certain) belly dancers. It’s located in Hollywood and is served by Metro’s 2/302 line.

NKECHI

Nkechi is a Nigerian restaurant located in Inglewood that is served by Metro’s 115 and 442 lines.

PALM GROVE

Palm Grove is an Ethiopian restaurant in Midtown‘s Harvard Heights neighborhood which is served by Metro’s 35/38, 207, and Rapid 757 lines; as well as LADOT’s DASH Midtown line.

PORTUCAL PERI PERI

PortuCal Peri Peri is a restaurant located in Burbank and is served by Metro’s 92, 94, 96, 154, 164, 165, 183, 292, and Rapid 794 lines. Although the name and website suggest acknowledge a culinary debt to Portugal and California, “peri peri” is a Swahili term for a Mozambican-Portuguese fusion method of preparing chicken.

RAHEL

Rahel is a tasty vegan Ethiopian restaurant in Little Ethiopia which is served by Metro’s 28, 217, and Rapid 728.

REVOLUTIONARIO

The specialty of French-born Farid Zadi’s Revolutionario is “North African tacos.” It’s located in South Los Angeles‘s Exposition Park neighborhood and is served by Metro’s 35/38 and 206 lines.

ROSALIND’S

Fekere Gebre-Mariam’s Rosalind’s Ethiopian Restaurant was the first Ethiopian restaurant to open in what became Little Ethiopia. It often features live music. It’s served by Metro’s 28, 217, and Rapid 728.

SPRINGBOK BAR & GRILL

Springbok Bar & Grill is a South African restaurant located in Van Nuys. Co-owners Peter Walker, Robin McLean, and Graham Taylor hail from Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg. It’s served by Metro’s 164, 236/237, and Orange Lines as well as the LAX FlyAway.

SUMPTUOUS

Sumptuous African Restaurant is a small, Nigerian chain with locations in Lagos, Abuja, Illorin, Port Harcourt, and now, Inglewood. The local location is served by Metro’s 40, 442, and Rapid 740 lines.

TAGINE

Tagine is a Moroccan restaurant in the city of Beverly Hills, co-owned by sommelier Chris Angulo, chef Abdessamad “Ben” Benameu, and Canadian-American actor Ryan “Hey Girl” Gosling. It’s served by Metro’s 20, 220, and Rapid 720 lines. The Purple Line subway is currently scheduled to arrive sometime around 2026.

TANA

Tana Ethiopian Restaurant and Market is located in Anaheim. It’s served by Metro’s 460 line and OCTA’s 33 and 38 lines.

TOTO’S

Toto’s African Cuisine is a Nigerian restaurant located in Van Nuys and is served by Metro’s 163/162, 234, and Rapid 734 lines.

ZULA

Zula Eritrean Restaurant is located in Inglewood and is served by Metro’s 212/312. The Crenshaw/LAX line, currently under construction a short walk to the south, is expected to open in 2019.

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam. Brightwell’s written work has appeared in Amoeblog, diaCRITICS, and KCET Departures. His work has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, Boom: A Journal of California, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College. Art prints of his maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on other products from Cal31. He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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