Ingrid Lau, Chinese Peruvian Educator
Asian Diaspora in the Americas: Food, Art & Immigration Stories
Bilingual educator (Spanish/English, conversational Cantonese) with years of teaching experience and deep personal connection to Chinese-Peruvian heritage. Specializes in revealing the hidden Asian diaspora narratives within Latin American art and culture—from Chinese immigrants who arrived in Peru as laborers in the 1800s to Japanese communities that shaped South American politics before World War II. Combines classroom expertise with cultural storytelling to make overlooked immigration histories visible and meaningful.
Tour Approach
Art and calligraphy: explore paintings, historical objects, and cultural artifacts at DC museums, then practice basic Chinese calligraphy connected to the collections. Tours focus on cross-cultural connections—how African Peruvian anticuchos share DNA with West African cuisine, why 75% of Peru’s population has Chinese heritage, how food and art reveal migration patterns most museums don’t explain. Small groups that allow for real conversation in English or Spanish. From examining Asian influence in Latin American collections at the National Gallery to discovering diaspora stories at the Natural History Museum, each tour reveals the cultural fusions hiding in plain sight.