History and About Statement:

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"Established in 2010 by co-founders Judy Chou and Jennifer Huynh, Teo-Chew Association is an organization dedicated to creating friendships through a common interest in learning more about the Teochew language, history, culture, and diaspora across the world and especially in other East Asian countries. Because we are a small, disappearing community, our goal is to spread awareness and preserve the culture by learning from each other. In addition to our local events, we also hold interactive mixers with other Teochew organizations outside of UCI to meet and connect with more Teochew people across different regions.

We are open to UCI undergraduates of all years, majors, and ethnic backgrounds; and we currently have 7 operating TCA branches at UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego, UC Riverside, UT Austin, University of Washington, and Oregon State University. We are also affiliated with non-collegiate Teochew organizations such as Gaginang and SoCal TCA.

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The Teochew (潮州) people; known for their expertise in Gongfu tea, opera, and various foods like chive dumplings (guchai gue); trace their origins back to the city of Chaozhou in Guangdong, Southern China.. The Teochew dialect is considered one of the oldest Chinese dialects and is currently spoken by about 10 million people in Chaoshan and 2-5 million worldwide outside of China. Due to mass emigrations occurring between the 18th and 20th centuries, today Teochew people are widespread among various countries including Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore where they form the second largest Chinese group. They are also found in sizeable numbers in other parts of the world like North America, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, and England."

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Website link  

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Notable Annual Events:

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• Snow Retreat

• End-of-Year Banquet