The Asian Reporter, 922 N Killingsworth Street, Portland, OR (2026)

10/13/2026

** Key Oregon General Election dates **

Oct. 13: Voter registration deadline

Oct. 14: Ballots mailed to voters

Oct. 27: Last recommended day to return your ballot by mail

Nov. 3: Election Day

10/13/2026

· Washington Co. Solid Waste & Recycling shared ·

Batteries can spark and cause fires.

Battery-caused fires in garbage trucks and waste processing facilities have increased in recent years.

10/12/2026

ODOT update:
Southbound I-5 in the Rose Quarter and on- and off-ramps in the work zone have reopened, sooner than estimated.

Expect occasional ramp and lane closures as we (ODOT) restore lane striping, barriers, and other traffic controls to their original configuration.

Please watch out and slow down for crews still working to restore signs, other traffic control, and continuing work on the project.

10/11/2026

Fire Prevention Week 2026

www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2577850165985251

10/09/2026

The new edition of The Asian Reporter is available online!
Visit www.asianreporter.com/completepaper.htm for this issue’s features, including:
◦ Forgotten Island is a trippy ode to friendship set against rich Filipino folklore
◦ Six-year-old Chinese girl sets women’s Rubik’s Cube speed record
◦ Fast food from the U.S. & China catches on in both countries
◦ Global customers crave texture, challenging companies to make crispier, gooier, chewier foods
◦ Betty Liu’s Sesame-Cumin Chicken is double-fried for flavor and crispiness
… and more!

10/09/2026

Betty Liu’s Sesame-Cumin Chicken is double-fried for flavor and crispiness
By Betty Liu
Voracious
www.asianreporter.com/food/2026/10-chicken.htm
October 5, 2026

Deep-fry (zha), a well-known technique where the food is fried in a pool of hot oil, which both cooks it and creates a crispy exterior, is used throughout the “Frying” chapter in my cookbook The Chinese Way.
When deep-frying, I use a thermometer, aiming for 350° Fahrenheit to 375° F. Another way to gauge the temperature is to stick a wooden chopstick in the oil, and if tiny bubbles float rapidly up around it the heat is adequate.
Deep-frying often involves a double-fry technique. That method has been traditionally used in Shanghai for shrimp and fish steaks, and it works especially well for chicken.
An initial fry at a low temperature seals in the juices and sets the exterior, creating a light coating. Then a second fry at a higher temperature cooks the chicken through and amps up the crispiness.
The coating here is seasoned with cumin and gets the texture from crushed sesame seeds.

Betty Liu is a cookbook author, photographer, and doctor completing her surgical residency. An avid home cook who writes about Chinese home cooking on her award-winning blog, she published her debut book, My Shanghai, in 2021, and it was named one of the best cookbooks of the year.

Excerpted from The Chinese Way, by Betty Liu. Copyright 2024 by Betty Liu. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown, and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

* * *
Sesame-Cumin Chicken
Serves 4

2 scallions, roughly chopped
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
2 tablespoons Shaoxing w**e
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1½ to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
¼ cup white sesame seeds
2 tablespoons sugar
¾ cup potato starch
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Cumin salt:
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

Lemon mayonnaise:
¼ cup Kewpie mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
Neutral oil, for frying

Marinate the chicken:
Cut the chicken into 1½ to 2-inch chunks. Combine the scallions, garlic, ginger, salt, white pepper, Shaoxing w**e, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a medium bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
An hour before cooking, remove the chicken from the fridge and bring to room temperature.
Meanwhile, make the breading: Crush the sesame seeds with the sugar using a mortar and pestle, or pulse in a food processor, until a coarse powder forms. Mix the sesame seed mixture with the potato starch and cumin in a shallow bowl. Set aside.

Make the cumin salt:
Stir together and set aside.

Make the lemon mayo, if using:
Combine the mayo, lemon juice, and garlic in a small bowl. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

Fry the chicken:
Heat 2 inches neutral oil to 335° F in a large, deep, heavy pot. Set a wire cooling rack inside a baking sheet, and line a large plate with a few layers of paper towels. Prepare another one for after frying.
Working in batches, remove the chicken from the marinade, letting any liquid drip off each piece, and place the chicken in breading mix. Flip to coat thoroughly in the breading, then set on first prepared wire rack.
When the oil reaches 335° F, gently coat the chicken with more breading mixture, then carefully slip it into the hot oil. Fry for 90 seconds or until the chicken is pale golden and slightly puffy, then transfer to the second wire rack using a slotted spoon.
Repeat the breading and frying process with the remaining chicken, allowing the oil to reach 335° F between batches and using a slotted spoon to remove any loose breading from the oil.
Once the initial frying is complete, increase the oil temperature to 350° F.
Fry each batch again for 3 to 5 minutes, gently turning occasionally, until the chicken is evenly golden brown and has an internal temperature of at least 165° F. Place the fried chicken on the paper towel-lined plate to drain, then sprinkle with the cumin salt.
Serve with the lemon mayonnaise if desired.

* * *

PHOTO CREDIT:
CRISPY CREATION. Pictured is Sesame-Cumin Chicken, a recipe from the “Frying” chapter in Betty Liu’s The Chinese Way. (Betty Liu/Voracious via AP)

10/09/2026

Global customers crave texture, challenging companies to make crispier, gooier, chewier foods
By Dee-Ann Durbin
AP Business Writer
www.asianreporter.com/food/2026/10-texture.htm
October 5, 2026

Texture is having a crunchy, gooey moment in the food and beverage industry.
For many people, the way a menu item or packaged snack feels in the mouth has become as big a draw as flavor, although consumers don’t always recognize the part texture plays in their cravings for crispier takeout, frothier coffees, and juicier candies, according to industry experts.
The importance of “mouthfeel,” a food science term for oral sensation, has inspired new products like Starbucks’ Aerocano, an air-whipped iced espresso; PowerCrunch, a waferlike protein bar; and Trolli Gummi Pops, which are frozen but still soft and chewy.
“Texture drives consumer behavior. It plays a key emotional role in the eating experience, shaping satisfaction, perception, and repeat interest,” Ingredion, an Illinois-based ingredient provider, said in a recent report.
The company, which has 35 food labs around the world, said the trend is a global one. Stretchy yogurt is a fast-growing seller in China, while Swedish confectioner Cloetta just released Sprinkled Foamies, which have a crunchy coating and a marshmallow center. Parisian bakers are experimenting with new pastries like the crookie, a crispy croissant with a melty chocolate chip cookie inside.
“It’s not just about flavor anymore. People are thinking about the whole experience,” said Tana Davila, the chief marketing officer at Dutch Bros Coffee. The drive-thru U.S. beverage chain lets customers customize their drinks with toppings like the Soft Top, a sweet and creamy whipped foam, and juice-filled pearls that pop when bitten into.

Interest in texture goes back centuries and extends beyond food
Texture is so integral to the act of eating that people often describe how a food feels when they’re asked how it tastes, said Patrick Kalotis, the executive vice president of texture and healthful solutions at Ingredion.
“You know, ‘This drink is fizzy’ or ‘I love the creaminess of the yogurt,’” Kalotis said. “They think they’re talking about taste, and of course the texture helps propagate the taste, but they’re actually describing texture.”
Food makers have long played with consistency. Pillowy Japanese mochi and stretchy Turkish ice cream date back centuries. Bubble tea, with its chewy tapioca boba pearls, was invented in Taiwan in the 1980s. In the 1990s, high-end European restaurants whipped up culinary foams flavored with things like truffle oil or lobster broth.
But interest in texture has exploded in recent years, said Jenny Zegler, the principal strategist for food and drink at market research company Mintel. It’s reflected in toys like squishy NeeDoh cubes and beauty products like jelly cleansers. With food, qualities like chewy, soft, gooey, and melt-in-the-mouth are seeing fast-rising demand in online product searches, according to Mintel data.
Zegler thinks the craze around the Cronut — a doughnut-shaped pastry with a crispy fried outside and an airy, buttery inside like a croissant — started a fascination with food textures about a decade ago. Multilayered products like Dubai chocolate and sound-enhanced social media videos of influencers breaking crackly peanut brittle and slurping creamy noodles heightened the interest.
“Consumers are gaining new expectations for the experience of a product, and texture is the perfect way to deliver that,” Zegler said.

Nerds Gummy Clusters and the pandemic led to more complex candy
The coronavirus pandemic elevated interest in texture because COVID-19 caused many people to temporarily lose their sense of smell and taste, said Shannon Weiner, senior director of consumer insights at candy company Ferrara. In 2020, the Chicago-based company debuted Nerds Gummy Clusters, a sweet round gummy coated in crunchy Nerds candy.
The hit product led to other innovations in the candy aisle, like crispy freeze-dried Skittles. Gummi Popz, chewy bite-sized squares filled with fizzing candy, went on sale earlier this year. Ferrara-owned Brach’s plans to introduce jelly beans with a crunchy exterior for Easter next year.
Weiner said layers of texture create contrasts, which heighten people’s perceptions of indulgence and quality and encourage them to pay closer attention to what they’re eating.
“It’s a world of overstimulation that we’re living in, right?” Weiner said. “Oftentimes, if consumers are snacking as they’re scrolling or going through these mindless activities, texture can help break through and help stimulate and offer a sensory engagement.”

Delivered meals and a desire for healthier foods are expected to keep texture in focus
Meeting consumers’ texture demands and preferences is a growing challenge for the food industry. McDonald’s, which released new McCrispy chicken strips in May 2025, changed the recipe this year after customers said the strips weren’t crispy enough.
The rise of meal delivery has left restaurants searching for ways to ensure food retains its texture while it’s in transit, Kalotis said. Ingredion has developed potato starch-based coatings that can keep french fries crispy for 30 minutes; it’s working on extending the time to 45 minutes, he said.
Food companies are trying to find ways to make products healthier or more affordable by changing ingredients without disturbing familiar textures. For example, Ingredion makes additives that help keep reduced-sugar yogurt creamy.
Zegler, at Mintel, sees a lot of innovation ahead for texture. She expects companies to explore the texture needs of different populations, like older people. Snack foods will keep getting more layers, she said. Ferrara last year brought out Nerds Juicy Gummy Clusters, which added a liquid center to the original two-layer candy.
In the meantime, Kalotis said, food companies need to do a better job of illustrating and explaining textures on product packaging. Mintel found that 59% of packaged foods introduced in the U.S. this year had no textural claims on their labels despite customers actively seeking out foods with novel physical properties.
“In a lot of ways, texture is one of the most powerful and yet somehow underrated parts of the food experience,” Kalotis said. “It makes a snack more satisfying.”

PHOTO CREDITS:
CRAVING CRUNCH. Nerds Gummy Clusters candies are displayed in Los Angeles. Texture is having a crunchy, gooey moment in the food and beverage industry. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Pictured is a Dutch Bros drink with Poppin’ Boba. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

10/09/2026

Forgotten Island is a trippy ode to friendship set against rich Filipino folklore
By Mark Kennedy
AP Entertainment Writer
www.asianreporter.com/film/2026/10-forgotten.htm
October 5, 2026

Of all the magical portals that transport you to another world, Forgotten Island may have the cutest. It’s not a brick tunnel like Spirited Away or a hidden door like Coraline or even C.S. Lewis’ famous wardrobe. In this movie, it’s a sand dollar.
That humble beach staple is the key to unlocking what surely is the richest, busiest, and trippiest animated movie of the year, one that leans into Filipino folklore to tell a story about friendship. Our advice to moviegoers? Pick up the sand dollar.
Written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado — the same team behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish — Forgotten Island creates a fantastical universe for things like an eight-foot-tall, 200-year-old demon baby with three eyes; an obnoxious, shallow merman with singing ni***es; and a legion of adorable mushroom warriors. It’s recommended that you not attend this stoned. (Or maybe you should?)
All this is drawn from the mythology of the Philippines, clearly fertile soil that will stun the uninitiated. Pair these creatures with a cinematic style that’s ultra-kinetic — mixing elements of anime and manga, along with 1990s street art, video games, and classic Hanna-Barbera — and you get a visually arresting buffet with fart jokes. It makes Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse look as quaint as Up.
The plot is established early: Two slightly unhinged schoolgirls — Jo, pure fun-seeking, and Raissa, responsible, determined, maybe too determined — meet after being sent to the principal’s office and realize they both share a fascination with Nakalimutan, the mythical island where all the creatures of Filipino folklore live.
We watch this deep, quirky friendship grow — “You had me at disembowelment,” one says to the other — until a fateful night when the now-young women must part. Raissa’s going to Caltech in America and leaving Jo, a wannabe artist who toils in fast food mascot jobs. “How can a rocket fly with a boulder attached to it?” Raissa’s disapproving mom says to her daughter.
Their friendship — measured by the massive number of charms attached to their friendship bracelets, each one representing a shared adventure — faces its sternest test, and that’s when they find the sand dollar. It sends them to Nakalimutan.
Jo (voiced by the singer-songwriter H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano) wake up in this very foreign land with their memories wiped. Raissa weirdly has half her hair shaved off and a pair of wings, while Jo has a strange tattoo and a crown. They have to piece together what happened, like a Memento for middle schoolers. Then they have to find a way back home.
The voice cast also includes Jenny Slate as a memory stealing demon, Ronny Chieng as the deliciously named King Truffle Wuffle, Joy Koy as the leader of tree giants, and Lea Salonga as a fearsome vampiric creature with yellow cat eyes who can detach her torso from her lower body. Dave Franco also plays an anxious, bro-ey were-dog whose loyalty isn’t always clear.
Forgotten Island is sort of a mess, in the best way. There are jokes about Tom Cruise, Will Smith’s Oscar slap and, weirdly, footage of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator. It incorporates the Tagalog language, energy drinks, and flaming Cheetos; Post-its, a score with indigenous Filipino instruments, boisterous karaoke as well as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”; and INXS’ “Never Tear Us Apart” — twice! It’s a world where “Who Let the Dogs Out” mixes with Filipino pop and a large wooden chicken posing as a Trojan Horse. It can be a lot.
They might be in their mind-blowing childhood paradise, but Jo and Raissa haven’t resolved their adult differences and inevitably fight — “You have a future. I don’t,” says Jo. The final third of the movie is them struggling to recapture their memories, including the ones they’ve built together.
Forgotten Island is a movie about forgetting as much as it is about remembering and you’ll likely walk out wanting to text your bestie, asap. Do it. Let a sand dollar reconnect you.
Forgotten Island, a DreamWorks Animation release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for “animated sequences of scary action, language, rude humor, thematic elements, some violence, and brief to***co imagery.” Running time: 95 minutes.

PHOTO CREDITS:
FANTASTICAL FOLKLORE. This image released by DreamWorks Animation shows Batiba, voiced by Jenny Slate, in a scene from Forgotten Island. Of all the magical portals that transport you to another world, Forgotten Island may have the cutest. It’s not a brick tunnel like Spirited Away or a hidden door like Coraline or even C.S. Lewis’ famous wardrobe. In this movie, it’s a sand dollar. Written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado — the same team behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish — Forgotten Island creates a fantastical universe for things like an eight-foot-tall, 200-year-old demon baby with three eyes; an obnoxious, shallow merman with singing ni***es; and a legion of adorable mushroom warriors. See story on page 15. (DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures via AP)

WEIRD & WONDROUS. Pictured are Jo, voiced by H.E.R., left, and Raissa, voiced by Liza Soberano, in a scene from Forgotten Island. (DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures via AP)

Character Manang, voiced by Lea Salonga, is seen in a scene from Forgotten Island. (DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures via AP)

Character Jo is seen sitting on a beach in a scene from Forgotten Island. (DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures via AP)

10/09/2026

Fast food from the U.S. & China catches on in both countries
By Dee-Ann Durbin and Chan Ho-Him
AP Business Writers
www.asianreporter.com/stories/national/2026/10-Fastfood.htm
October 5, 2026

China and the United States are divided on many issues, from tariffs and technology to Taiwan. But there is one thing tying them together: fast food.
American restaurant and beverage chains are expanding rapidly in China, drawn by the potential customer pool in a country with four times the U.S. population. China’s languishing economy and cutthroat industry competition, meanwhile, have Chinese chains trying their luck in the U.S., turning crumbs and straws into a two-way cultural bridge between the two superpowers.
The bilateral trade in burgers and bubble tea is business- and consumer-led gastrodiplomacy in action, said Yaling Jiang, the founder of ApertureChina, a market research company with headquarters in Shanghai and London. In China, recent American arrivals like Popeyes and Five Guys are seen as a guilty pleasure, she said, while the increasingly international palates of Americans have created space for Chinese brands to serve as their nation’s unofficial ambassadors.
“Consumerism builds a safe, introductory channel for contemporary Chinese culture and can be a great way to elevate China’s soft power,” Jiang said.

American fast-food companies are expanding their presence in China
Last month, Chinese customers lined up in the rain for the opening of the first Church’s Texas Chicken in Shanghai. Church’s plans at least 600 more across China. Wendy’s says it anticipates opening 1,000 restaurants there over the next decade.
Established players are deepening their reach as well. McDonald’s plans 1,000 new Chinese restaurants this year and 10,000 total by 2028. Burger King, which arrived in China in 2005, says it expects to triple its store count to 4,000 by 2035.
“Despite political tensions between the U.S. and China, Chinese actually still go crazy for American brands,” said Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of the Shanghai-based China Market Research Group.
KFC became the first major American fast-food chain to enter mainland China when it opened a Beijing restaurant in 1987. At the time, it was viewed as a premium destination worth taking a date to, Rein said. McDonald’s and Pizza Hut arrived in 1990.
“McDonald’s and KFC were a beacon of health and hygiene compared to what you had in the rest of the market,” Rein said.
China is now KFC’s largest market by far. The Kentucky-born fried chicken chain counts about 13,000 restaurants in China, compared with around 3,750 in the U.S. American brands see room for further growth.
Much of China’s population lives in the smaller, inland cities where brands like McDonald’s and Starbucks are rolling out stores, said Sory Park, a project manager at China-focused market research and strategy firm Daxue Consulting.
That doesn’t make China a cakewalk for foreign restaurant companies. Most American chains now rely on Chinese partners to find locations and share the financial risk. Earlier this year, a Chinese investment firm acquired a 60% stake in Starbucks’ China operation after several years of falling store traffic.
American chains trade on their brand names and signature products, but many tailor their menus to appeal to Chinese customers. KFC restaurants in China, for example, serve french fries and Original Recipe chicken alongside custardy egg tarts and congee, a savory rice porridge.
“They need to operate like a Chinese company but deliver American menus that incorporate Chinese values, eating habits, and tastes,” Park said.

Chinese fast-food chains seek new opportunities in the U.S.
Mixue, one of the world’s largest fast-food chains with more than 53,000 locations, opened its first three U.S. stores in December. Mirroring the Shanghai crowd outside Church’s Texas Chicken, New York customers waited in the cold to sample soft-serve ice cream, fruit teas, and milk tea with toppings like coconut jelly and taro balls at a store in Herald Square.
Mixue has announced at least two dozen more planned locations across four states. At least nine other mainland Chinese chains have made their U.S. debuts since 2023, all but one specializing primarily in drinks and snacks. They include Heytea, with 40 U.S. locations, and Luckin Coffee, which overtook Starbucks as China’s biggest coffee brand and has 20 stores in New York.
Wallace, a chain founded in 2000, grew to more than 20,000 restaurants by selling American-style chicken and hamburgers in China. In California, where the second U.S. Wallace opened in September, the company tweaked its chicken sandwich recipe to appeal to American diners.
Before entering the U.S., many major Chinese food-and-beverage chains expanded in Southeast Asia. A real estate slump and weak consumer spending made growth harder to find at home. The average life span of China’s 16 million restaurants and chains was expected to fall to 15 months last year, according to a U.S. government report.
The American restaurant industry is considerably smaller, with 1 million locations, according to the National Restaurant Association. Jiang, of ApertureChina, sees another advantage for Chinese brands: a social media trend called “Chinamaxxing,” in which westerners adopt Chinese lifestyle habits or wellness practices.
Not every brand makes its origins clear. Wallace’s U.S. website and social media pages do not mention the brand’s Chinese ownership or headquarters in southeastern China’s Fujian province. The company didn’t respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press.
The U.S. carries both potential rewards and risks for Chinese chains
American and Chinese chains alike have an appetite for opportunities across the Pacific. But Chinese brands remain largely unproven stateside. Even chains with thousands of locations elsewhere are testing whether novelty can translate into loyalty.
The U.S. is too lucrative a market to ignore, said Aaron Allen, founder of restaurant consulting firm Aaron Allen and Associates. It accounts for one-third of global restaurant revenue despite having only around 4% of the world’s population, he said.
“The grass is always greener somewhere else in the world,” Allen said.
While American brands can carry a premium image in China, many Chinese brands compete heavily on price. At a Mixue in Hollywood, a medium matcha latte costs $6.83; a nearby Starbucks sold the same drink for almost $1 more. Wallace sells three full-size chicken sandwiches for $10.
“The Chinese can build stuff cheaper and faster. Why would that not apply to food?” Allen said.
But Allen said Chinese brands could face customer backlash or higher tariffs if they undercut U.S. rivals with low-cost Chinese imports. Like other Chinese companies, restaurant brands also could face U.S. scrutiny over their collection and use of customer data, he said.
Luckin Coffee co-founder and CEO Jinyi Guo told investors in February that the U.S. “represents one of our important long-term opportunities” and the company was proceeding “with great patience and discipline.”

Durbin reported from Detroit. Chan reported from Hong Kong. Associated Press writer Fu Ting contributed from Washington.

PHOTO CREDIT:
GASTRODIPLOMACY. A customer holds an ice cream cone outside a Mixue store in Sunnyvale, California. China and the United States are divided on many issues, from tariffs and technology to Taiwan. But there is one thing tying them together: fast food. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

FAST-FOOD EXPANSION. People line up to enter a McDonald’s restaurant in Beijing in this August 20, 2025 file photo. KFC became the first major American fast-food chain to enter mainland China when it opened a Beijing restaurant in 1987. McDonald’s and Pizza Hut arrived in 1990. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

10/09/2026

Kabaddi tops a menu of regional sports at the Asian Games that may be unfamiliar
By Stephen Wade
AP Sports Writer
www.asianreporter.com/stories/sports/2026/10-26-kabaddi.htm
October 5, 2026

NAGOYA, Japan — One of the joys of the Asian Games is stumbling onto sports that don’t get wide attention beyond the continent. There are many regional sports being played — sepaktakraw or wushu or kurash, for instance — but the curiosity champion is probably kabaddi.
The games offer all the Olympic regulars, but they share the stage with the regional offerings that are not dominated by powerhouse countries like China and Japan.
Kabbadi origins are believed to be on the Indian subcontinent, and it’s so popular that professional leagues there draw millions of viewers. It’s a contact team sport, and early history says it was played to enhance strength, agility, breath control, and self-defense skills.
India won both finals in these Asian Games, defeating Iran on the women’s side 37-34. The Indian men defeated Iran 40-34.
Pawan Kumar, a top Indian player, talked after the victory the same way any winning team player would, explaining strategy, in-game adjustments, and delving into the nuances of the game.
“Once we had the lead, we wanted to protect it,” Kumar said. “So we played (it) safe ... and used the time available to us. That helped us maintain our advantage until the end.”
The sport involves no ball, no bat, no goals, no rackets. It showcases tags, tackles, and wrestling moves and was played in the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a demonstration sport but didn’t gain a global following,
The sport bears a rough resemblance to the schoolyard game known in the United States as “Red Rover,” or a game known in England as “British Bulldog.”
In the format used at the Asian Games, two teams with seven players each compete on a small court. The court is rectangular, but another version in played on a circular surface.
A single player on the offense — called a “raider” — crosses the centerline and tries in 30 seconds to touch as many players as possible on the other side and return across the centerline without being tackled.
It’s played in a pair of 20-minute halves. Points are earned by tagging opponents, or by stopping the raider.

Sepaktakraw is volleyball with the feet
This is essentially volleyball, with a few big differences. Players can’t use their hands — they can use anything else — and the ball it primarily kicked over a five-foot high net. There are two, three, or four players on each side. In the United States, at least, the sport is often known as “kick volleyball.”
Like volleyball, the goal is to get the ball to hit the ground on the opponent’s side of the net. The ball is smaller than a volleyball or soccer ball — about the size of a cantaloupe or a large grapefruit . The game has its roots in Southeast Asia.

Wushu is better know as kung fu
Wushu, also known as kung fu, is the Chinese term for “martial arts.” It has had a presence in the Asian Games since 1990 when it was introduced at the games in Beijing. It has also been proposed as an Olympic sport but has never been voted in.

Competition takes place in two distinct areas.
Competition in talou involves performing sets and choreographed routines that show off principles of attack and defense. Sanda is the full-contact version of the sport and is often known as Chinese kickboxing.

Kurash has its roots in Uzbekistan
This involves a range of folk wrestling styles that are popular in Central Asia. It was first introduced into the Asian Games in 2018 in Indonesia when Uzbekistan topped the medal table in the sport. Historians say the sport dates to thousands of years. Iran, Mongolia, Taiwan, and India also won multiple medals in 2018.

IMAGE CREDIT:
ASIAN GAMES. Amirmohammad Zafar Danesh, right, of Iran attempts to break the tackle of Arjun Deshwal of India, left, and Sunil Kumar during the men’s kabaddi final at the Asian Games in Tokai City, Japan, on September 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

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