ESSAYS
What Was the China Doll? // ZORA // 2024
History Skews Male: Looking at Anna May Wong’s Life Through the Eyes of a Woman // LitHub // 2024
For Asian Film Stars, a Hard-Won Triumph 100 Years in the Making // New York Times // 2023
Stanford’s history is inextricably linked with Asian American history // The Stanford Daily // 2022
The Old House in Sam Bat // The Margins // 2020
Double Exposure: Searching for Truth on the Transcontinental Railroad // Slant’d magazine // 2020
Growing Up in the 626 // The Margins, 2016 // reprinted in On Being, 2017
Here’s to the Fools Who Dream // Medium // 2016
FEATURES
The Man Without a Face: In search of the Asian actors who first played cinema’s favorite Chinese American detective // The Believer // 2023
Classic Hollywood Star Anna May Wong Gets a Second Act—On US Quarters // Vanity Fair // 2022
American Dreams in a Chinese Takeout // The Ringer // 2018
Criticism
“Yellow Face” Satirizes the Limitations of Representation // The Amp // 2024
A New Play Mines the Rise and Fall of Cellino & Barnes // Observer // 2024
‘Last Room’ Reexamines Anthony Bourdain’s Life by Separating Myth from Man // Observer // 2023
“La La Land” Is the Nostalgic Musical Millennials Have Been Waiting For // VICE // 2016
CULTURAL COMMENTARY
We Need to Talk About Yellowface: Confronting Hollywood’s Racist Past // ZORA // 2023
When We Eat Our Own: Constance Wu & the impossible expectations of representation // ZORA // 2022
As American As Chop Suey // NYT Race/Related // 2017
Night at Mission Chinese (unabridged version here) // Open City // 2014
Shanghai Malls // AsiaScoop // 2008
PHOTO ESSAYS
A walk through Corky Lee’s Chinatown // PBS American Masters // 2024
The Lost Art of Sunbathing // Medium // 2018
12 Reasons Why Women Marched on Washington // Bustle // February 2017
How These Refugee Women Taught Me the True Meaning of Motherhood // Medium // 2016
These Portraits Will Change the Way You See Refugee Women // Refinery29 // 2016
The Women of the Syrian Refugee Crisis // Marie Claire // 2016
PROFILES
The Woman Preserving South African Food Traditions // Lucky Peach // 2016
This Millennial Is Putting Herself Through School by Collecting Cans // Medium // 2015
Skate Culture Makes Its Way to Ethiopia // Medium // 2015
How Twin Hustlers Launched a Celebrity Eyewear Brand at 19 // Medium // 2015
INTERVIEWS
Saturday Interview: Vivian Lee // The Rumpus // 2016
Passion Before Faith: An Artist Finds Her Truth // William & Park // 2015
It Girl Syrie Moskowitz Shares Her 1930s Throwback Palace // William & Park // 2015
TRAVEL
Six Weeks in Paris // Medium // 2017
The Next Bite Is Never Better Than the Last // Roads & Kingdoms // 2015
8 Ways to Take in the Colors and Flavors of Barcelona // William & Park // 2015
A Glimpse at Cuba’s Art Deco Beauty Before It Disappears // William & Park // 2015
POETRY
They Call You Totoro // Prelude magazine