Oakland Asian Cultural Center

08/21/2026

📚 Bilingual Chinese Storytime: Celebrating the Qixi Festival
🗓️ Saturday, August 29, 2026, 2-3 pm (Cantonese-English)
Sunday, August 30, 2026, 2-3 pm (Mandarin-English)
📍Virtual (Zoom link provided after registration)
🎟️ FREE with registration at link in bio or at oacc.cc/event/bilingual-storytime-aug26

Join bilingual storytellers for a live virtual storytime (over Zoom) about the Qixi Festival. This event will feature both Mandarin/Cantonese and English narrators, a classic Chinese folktale, and a fun craft activity for parents and children to do together. This storytime is designed for preschool to school-aged children to support cultural connection, literacy and family bonding. All attendees can participate in a free storybook raffle.

This storytime is free to attend. Zoom link will be provided after registration at oacc.cc/event/bilingual-storytime-aug26. Co-presented by the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, UC Berkeley Family and Culture Lab, and UC Davis Language and Literacy Development Lab.

08/21/2026

🖌️🌸🍃 The Fragrance of Calligraphy and Ink: An Exhibition of Chinese Brush Paintings

⏰ OPENING RECEPTION: Sunday, August 23, 2-4 pm
🖼️ ON VIEW: Aug 19-Sept 26 (Wed-Fri, 12-5 pm)
📍Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 9th St Suite 290, Oakland
🎟️ FREE tix at oacc.cc/event/chinese-brush-paintings

Join us in Oakland for an celebration of elegant Chinese calligraphy, painting, and cultural heritage! Organized by the Chinese-USA Business and Culture Exchange Association and the Overseas Chinese Cultural Heritage Foundation, this exhibition features artworks by renowned Chinese artists from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States. The exhibition celebrates the diversity of Chinese art across generations. It also includes rare works by several artists whose legacies continue through their art.

08/15/2026

🍵🀄️ Tea & Tiles: A Saturday Social With 13 Orphans
⏰️ Sat, Sept 19, 2026, 10:30 am-3 pm
📍 Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 9th St Suite 290, Oakland

🎟️Tickets at link in bio or at oacc.cc/event/tea-tiles-sept2026
$22 - Coaching Access
$11 - Free Play

Join 13 Orphans for a laid-back Saturday of tea, tiles, and good company at OACC. Tea & Tiles is a casual mahjong social for all, from seasoned players to curious beginners. Sip on signature teatails, enjoy bites, and settle into the rhythm of the game. Mahjong coaches will be available to teach, guide, and jump into games, so you can play with confidence.

Choose your ticket level:
$22 Coaching Access (play at all tables)
$11 Free Play (no coaching, free play tables only)

Attendees can also visit a curated mini market of local artisans, Featuring Pmaccay, Biyong Biyong Studio, and more! Come with your friends, auntie or come solo. Tables are open, energy is warm, and there’s always a seat waiting.

About 13 Orphans
13 Orphans is a Mahjong den and speakeasy built on community, culture, and connection with thoughtfully crafted cocktails & mocktails inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine elements and tea culture.

08/15/2026

🍵🀄️ Tea & Tiles: A Saturday Social With 13 Orphans
⏰️ Sat, Sept 19, 2026, 10:30 am-3 pm
📍 Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 9th St Suite 290, Oakland

🎟️Tickets at oacc.cc/event/tea-tiles-sept2026
$22 - Coaching Access
$11 - Free Play

Join 13 Orphans for a laid-back Saturday of tea, tiles, and good company at OACC. Tea & Tiles is a casual mahjong social for all, from seasoned players to curious beginners. Sip on signature teatails, enjoy bites, and settle into the rhythm of the game. Mahjong coaches will be available to teach, guide, and jump into games, so you can play with confidence.

Choose your ticket level:
$22 Coaching Access (play at all tables)
$11 Free Play (no coaching, free play tables only)

Attendees can also visit a curated mini market of local artisans, Featuring Pmaccay, Biyong Biyong Studio, and more! Come with your friends, auntie or come solo. Tables are open, energy is warm, and there’s always a seat waiting.

About 13 Orphans
13 Orphans is a Mahjong den and speakeasy built on community, culture, and connection with thoughtfully crafted cocktails & mocktails inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine elements and tea culture.

08/14/2026

🧚‍♂️ Tomorrow! Meet special guest Ara Chawdhury at the Nest of Tongues book launch with Randy Ribay. She will be showing a work-in-progress clip of her upcoming stop-motion animated film about a little Bisayan shapeshifter in search of salt, "Oi Marichin Marukoy!" She'll share some of her process and behind-the-scenes research for fans of Filipino folklore, children's books, and analog animation.

Ara Chawdhury is a Bisaya Bengali immigrant translator, filmmaker, and theater maker. Her film "Miss Bulalacao" screened at the YBCA’s 2016 Best of Philippine Cinema program in San Francisco. She staged a devised multimedia play, “Maldisyon” in San Jose for the More Mas Marami company and self published the Cebuano English children’s book, "Marichin Marukoy, Mangayo Ko’g Asin (May I Have Salt)" which she is currently adapting into a stop motion film.

🦇⚔️🇵🇭 Nest of Tongues: A Book Launch with Randy Ribay
⏰️ Saturday, August 15, 2026, 2-4 pm
📍 Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 9th St Suite 290, Oakland
🎟️ FREE tix at link in bio or at oacc.cc/event/nest-of-tongues

08/14/2026

We had fun coloring Chinatown zines and making temporary tattoos with the littles at Lincoln Summer Nights yesterday 📒🐉✨ Thank you to our volunteers Jovan and Wanqiu, and to for having us.

See you at the next one on September 10!

08/13/2026

Have you ever wondered what zong (台山粽) is—or wanted to learn how to wrap your own?

Join the Oakland Asian Cultural Center and Wa Sung Community Service Club for a fun, hands-on evening of cultural exploration! Oakland Chinatown native Melanie Li will guide participants through the tradition and techniques of Toisan zong wrapping.

📅 Friday, September 4, 2026
⏰ 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
📍 388 9th St., Suite 290, Oakland, CA — Rooms 4 & 5
💵 $30 per person — includes all ingredients and materials, plus your zong to take home!
✨ Space is limited, so reserve your spot today!

👉 Sign up here: https://forms.gle/EdBUtDJAy3zUVSMdA

Bring your curiosity and come experience a delicious piece of Toisan culture with us! 🥢🍃

08/12/2026

🎶🪕🪘Interweaving: Indo-Persian Exchanges
⏰ Friday, September 11, 2026, 7-9 pm
📍 Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 9th St Suite 290, Oakland
🎟️ Tickets: $40 at oacc.cc/event/interweaving

Join us for Interweaving, a rare concert of Indian, Persian and Afghan classical music traditions and exchange, featuring master musicians Arjun K. Verma, Pezhham Akhavass, Mazdak Alipour, and Eman Hashimi. Featuring sitar, kamancheh, tabla, daf, and tombak, this performance explores the deep historical connections and living dialogue between these traditions through improvisation, virtuosity, and collaborative creation.

Building on shared heritage, the musicians weave together intricate rhythmic cycles, expressive melodic modes, and spontaneous improvisation, revealing both the common threads and distinctive voices of these musical lineages. Interweaving invites audiences into a shared sonic landscape where rhythm, melody, and improvisation transcend geography, honoring centuries of cultural tradition and exchange, while creating something entirely new in the moment.

Interweaving is presented by the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, made possible through the Musical Grant Program, administered by InterMusic SF, and supported by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation.

Reserve tickets at oacc.cc/event/interweaving

08/07/2026

08/04/2026

🧵🪡📍👚 Join us this Friday for August Mending Circle!

As always, this gathering is free to attend. There will be no instructor, but we will provide basic materials including thread, needles, a sewing machine and some patches. Please bring items that you would like to repair.

⏰️ Friday, August 7
12 noon-1:30 pm
📍Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 9th St., Suite 290, Oakland, CA

Questions? Email [email protected]