A Winding RIver Eighty paintings, lacquers, prints and mixed media works by 50 Vietnamese artists are on display through April 25. (St. Mary’s College, Hearst Art Gallery, Moraga. 925-631-4379.)

Absorb Paintings by Mao Yao and sculptures by Josh Kretzmann, which highlight absorbent materials, are on exhibit. (Crucible Steel Gallery, 2050 Bryant St., San Francisco.)

Dream of the Dragon Performance artist Zhang Huan centers on his desire to liberate the dragon of traditional Chinese mythology. Saturday, 2 p.m. (Gruhn Court, Asian Art Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. 415-379-8801.)

Face to Face An exhibition of portraits by child artists around the world will be on display through May 15. 50 cents-$1. (International Children’s Art Museum, World Trade Center, First Floor, San Francisco. 415-772-9977.)

Fen-Ma Liuming Performance artist Ma Liuming makes his audience consider the constructs of gender by offering visual stereotypes. Sunday, 2 p.m. (Schwab Room, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., San Francisco. 415-357-4102.)

Field of Study Japanese artists Toshi Onuki’s new installation, a grouping of school chairs attached to immensely exaggerated desktops, is on display through Saturday. A reception will be held on March 19, 6 p.m. (Southern Exposure, 401 Alabama St., San Francisco. 415-863-2141.)

Gladys Wong The artist’s charcoal works on paper are on exhibit through April 30.(Evolving Space, 536 Pacific Ave., San Francisco. 415-989-2992.)

New Stories from an old chapter Works by renowned Filipino artists Elmer Borlongan, Santiago Bose, Brenda Fajardo, Karen Flores, Mark Justiani and Noel Soler Cuizon are on display. (Pacific Bridge, 95 Linden St. #6, Oakland Calif. 510-451-8840.)

Pacific Crossing Sculptor Yoshitomo Saito’s bronze-cast works of organic forms like tree trunks are on exhibit. Through April 24. (Haines Gallery, 49 Geary St., Fifth Floor, San Francisco. 415-397-8114.)

Painting Paradise: The Art of Ting Shao Kuang Prints by the renowned Chinese American artists are on exhibit to honor his contribution of the commissioned piece Beautiful Dreamer to the United Nations. Through May 30. (Main Library, 100 Larkin St., San Francisco. 415-557-4430.)

Mighty Peking Man Ho Meng-Hua’s 1997 cult classic about a mountain-sized ape in the Himalayas, which features Evelyn Kraft and Danny Lee, opens as a midnight movie release at the Laemmle’s Sunset 5 Theater in Los Angeles on April 23.

Resilient Images: Reflections on internment Artworks by Katherine Aoki, Ellen Keiko Bepp, James Cline, Carolyn and James Grew-Sheridan, David Izu, Ken Kaji, Chiura Obata, Ruth Okimoto, Ben Sakoguchi, Jos Sances, Roger Shimomura, Henry Sugimoto, Gayle Tanaka and Takeshi Yamamoto are on exhibit through May 31. Opening artists’ reception will be held Friday, 5:30 p.m. (National Japanese American Historical Society, 1684 Post St., San Francisco. 415-431-5007.)

Urban Yearnings Twenty-four paintings by Chinese artists Liu Qinghe, Su Xiping and Zhang Yajie, which are on loan from the Read Gate Gallery in Beijing, will be on display. Their work focuses on the artists’ vision of cosmopolitan life in a rapidly changing society. Through May 2. (Chinese Culture Center, 750 Kearny St., Third Floor, San Francisco. 415-986-1822.)

Views from the 1940s Woodblock and linoleum block prints by the late Henry Sugimoto are on exhibit. Through April 26. (The Ren Brown Collection, 1781 Highway One, Bodega Bay. 707-875-2922.)

Visual Artists Critique Group Participants receive feedback on their works through this diverse group, which meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Monday of every month. Call 415-821-7282 for more information.

Dance

Common Ground Lily Cai and Deborah Vaughan combine music and dance narrative traditions of China and Africa to create a new dance language demonstrating racial reconciliation. April 28, 7 p.m. Free. (Bayview Opera House, 4705 Third St., San Francisco. 415-824-0386.)

Khan Ju Ling Magicians with a Message presents a dream trilogy about a 19th century descendent of Kublai Khan who is lured to California by the Gold Rush. This month, performances will be held April17 and 24; 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. $18, $15 seniors, $6 students under 18. (Chinese Culture Center, 750 Kearny St., Third Floor, San Francisco. 415-986-1822.)

Tradewinds 7 and 8 For Tradewinds 7, Choreographers Aileen Kim, Nancy Ng, Ching-Chi Yu and Kimiko Guthrie-Kupers present new works, performed by members of the Baranguay Dance Co., Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu and Unbound Spirit. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m. $12. Tradewinds 8 features features works by Claudine Naganuma, Eri Majima, Sue Li-Jue, Na Lei Hulu and memebrs of Barangay Dance Co. April 23-24, 8 p.m. $12. (SOMARTS Cultural Center, 934 Brannon, San Francisco. 415-441-8831.)

Events

Pilipino Cultural Night UC Berkeley’s Pilipino American Alliance presents this 200-plus student production featuring drama vignettes and contemporary and folk dance and music. April 25, doors open at 3 p.m. $10 students, $11 general. (Zellerbach Auditorium, Dana and Telegraph, Berkeley. 510-642-6766.)

Music

Asian American Jazz Orchestra The orchestra, with special guests San Jose Taiko, Brenda Wong Aoki and George Yoshida, perform Last Dance and Far East Suite. April 30, 7 p.m. $8, $10. (San Francisco State University, Creative Arts Building. 415-338-2444.)

Jumping Buddha Ensemble The band performs traditional and contemporary Asian music as well as new pieces. April 25, 8 p.m. $13.50, $14.50. (Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison St., Berkeley. 510-548-1761.)

Kundirana This internationally renowned boys chorus of De La Salle-Greenhills in the Philippines will perform April 30, 8 p.m. Proceeds benefit street children in Manila and the Orphanage Home in Bacolod City, Philippines. $15. (Calvin Simmons Theater, Kaiser Convention Center, Oakland. 510-792-7770.)

U.S.-Japan Taiko Festival Thunderous works will be performed by Japanese ensembles Sakae Furusato and Awa Hachiman Taiko and American ensembles from San Francisco, Sacramento and Sonoma County. April 24, 7 p.m. $15, $20. ( Kabuki Theater, Post and Fillmore streets, San Francisco. 415-928-2456.)

veiled Recording group Vas, which includes Greg Ellis and Azam Ali, with special guests Ustad Habib Khan on sitar and Abdul Sultan on tablas, perform new works. Friday, 8:30 p.m. (Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon St., San Francisco. 510-601-8600.)

Readings

Bill Lee The author of Chinese Playground: A Memoir will read from his book, a stark recollection of a childhood in San Francisco Chinatown. Saturday, 7 p.m. (Eastwind Books, 2066 University Ave., Berkeley. 510-548-2350.)

Theater

Pieces of the Quilt The Asian American Theater Co. and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center present original short plays on the AIDS epidemic from the Alma Delfina Group’s performance project. The performance features music with Sean San Jose, Josh Jones, Scheherazade Stone, DJ Fuze and Baby Al Dog. April 29-30, 8 p.m. $12, $10 students and seniors. (SOMAR Cultural Center, 934 Brannan St., San Francisco. 415-440-5545.)

The Joy Luck Club TheatreWorks wraps up its 1998-’99 season with the West Coast premiere of Susan Kim’s adaptation of Amy Tan’s novel. The production includes Lisa Lu, who appeared in the film version of the book. (Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Castro and Mercy streets, Mountain View.)

The Nanjing Race Reggie Cheong-Leen’s cross-cultural drama about a gay Japanese American metals trader in Asia makes its West Coast premiere. Through May 8. $12 Wednesdays, $16 Thursdays and Sundays, $20 Fridays and Saturdays. (New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. 415-861-8972.)

Arts

Estelle Akamine The works by the Hawaiian textile sculptor will be on display for her exhibit, Ride the Red Rain. Through April 25. (Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. 626-449-2742.)

Film

Crossing Waves: Documenting Taiwan in the 1990s The UCLA Documentary Salon presents a program of Taiwanese documentaries. On April 23, 7 p.m., screenings include Daw-Ming Lee’sSakuliu, Yang Ming-Hui’s Songs of the Wanderer, Tsao Wen-Chieh’s A Random Life and Chen Shuo-Yi’s Two Guys Go Hunting. On April 26, 7 p.m. screenings include Hsu Ming-Chun’s I Love Taipei, Wu Yi-Feng’s Chen Tsai-Gen and Tung Chen-Liang’s Every Odd-Numbered Day. Lee, Tung, Wu and filmmaker Kuan Hsiao-Jung are scheduled to attend. Free. (UCLA, James Bridge Theater, Melnitz Hall, Los Angeles. 310-206-3235.)

Readings

common ground Authors Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (Farewell to Manzanar), Stewart David Ikeda (What the Scarecrow Said), Lawson Fusao Inada (Drawing the Line), Julie Shigekuni (A Bridge Between Us) and Hisaye Yamamoto DeSoto (Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories) will discuss a variety of issues surrounding the topic of writing about Japanese Americans. April 24, 1 p.m. Reservations required. (Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First St., Los Angeles. 213-625-0414.)

Duong Van Mai Elliott The author of The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family presents her book. April 24, 2 p.m. (Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. 626-449-2742.)

Edward Ichiyama and Don Seki The two authors will sign books and read from Japanese Eyes, American Heart: Personal Reflections of Hawaii’s World War II Soldiers. April 22, 7 p.m. Reservations required. (Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First St., Los Angeles. 213-625-0414.)

Theater

Hanako The East West Players presents Chungmi Kim’s play about Korean comfort women abducted to Japan during World War II. Through April 25, Thursdays and Saturdays, 8 p.m. $20-$27. (David Henry Hwang Theater, Union Center for the Arts, 120 N. Judge Los Aiso St., Los Angeles.)

The Rice Room: Scenes from a Bar Award-winning writer/actor Noel Alumit performs his one-man show tackling issues of gay Asian men. Friday-Saturday, 8:30 p.m. $15. (Highways, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica. 310-315-1459.)

Arts

Nhon Nguyen Paintings by the artist done after his stay in Bali will be on exhibit. Nguyen’s oil and acrylic paintings are inspired by the Seattle hip-hop scene. (Northwest Asian American Theatre, 409 Seventh Ave. South. 206-340-1445.)

Web of Confession: paintings by Masami Teraoka The University of Oregon Museum of Art presents an exhibition of 21 paintings that survey Teraoka’s work from 1992 to present. (Museum of Art, 1223 University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore. 541-346-3027.)

Arts

China Chic More than 100 garments and accessories tracing the evolution of Chinese dress and its influence on modern western fashion will be on display. Through April 24. (Fashion Institute of Technology Museum, Seventh Avenue and 27th Street, 212-217-7642.)

Devi: The Great Goddess An exhibition of 120 paintings and sculptures of the Hindu goddess are on exhibit. Ongoing. (Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1050 Independence Ave., Washington, D.C. 2092-357-2700.)

Evolution in Taiwan: Contemporary Ceramics I This exhibit provides an overview of how ceramic arts have developed in Taiwan between 1910 and 1960. Artists included in the exhibit are Tseng Yung-hung, Winnie Yang, Shen Tung-ning and Tseng Ai-chen. Through April 30. (Taipei Gallery, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York City. 212-373-1854.)

Theater

The Joy Luck Club Susan Kim’s play based on Amy Tan’s novel makes its New York premiere. Opens April 22, 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays, 8 p.m. Through May 15. $35, $75 for opening night and party. (St. Clement’s Theater, 423 W. 46th St., New York City. 212-279-4200.)