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Fri May 30 2025

Kara Edgerson | Manager of Digital Operations

Hey readers,

What does a place mean to someone?

That’s the question Republic reporter Reia Li kept coming back to as she explored the history of Mesa’s Asian District, a community hub that feels sacred to some and ordinary to others.

She spoke with the original developers of Mekong Plaza, local entrepreneurs who opened restaurants and markets in the area and loyal visitors like Cecilia Buchanan, a San Tan Valley resident who makes the hour-long drive to the Asian District at least once a month.

This week, Reia traces the roots of the Mesa Asian District: how it formed, who’s shaped it and why it means different things to the people who spend time there.

‘Only place like this’: How one Asian market sparked an oasis of food in a Phoenix suburb

How Mesa’s Asian District grew: From a barely full Mekong Plaza to more than 100 businesses

Video: What to know about the Mesa Asian District

‘There aren’t many spaces that are aimed at Asians in Arizona’

You spoke with people who’ve watched the Mesa Asian District change over decades. Was there a moment or conversation that really stuck with you during your reporting?

When I sat down in Mekong Plaza’s food court to interview Shela Yu, the Chinese American muralist born and raised in Mesa, I immediately launched into questions. But she was looking around her, at the Chinese, Filipino and Vietnamese restaurants tucked into the tiny booths in the food court. I stopped talking. She snapped out of her reverie and apologized. “I just — I do really love being here,” Yu said. I related to her awe because there aren’t many spaces that are aimed at Asians in Arizona. That moment stuck with me for another reason. Throughout the piece, I was continually asking: What does this place mean to people? I thought it was fascinating that it could touch Shela on such a visceral level, and at the same time, for one teenager that I spoke with, Mekong Plaza was just an unremarkable shopping center.

‘Incredible diversity of the types of businesses’

The district today blends cultural pride, small business hustle and generational change. What scenes or details best captured that energy for you?

The incredible diversity of the types of businesses in the area. Huge chains like H Mart sit next to local, mom-and-pop stores and restaurants like Winglee Exotic Fruits Market, where owner Walleye Lai was manning the counter every single time I visited over the course of a month.

‘Forgotten era’

You’ve reported on the Asian community in Phoenix before. How did this story feel different from your past coverage?

In the story, Tony Ce refers to the second half of the 20th century as a “forgotten era” for the Valley’s Asian American communities. That fascinated me, and I came to agree. Post-WWII suburbanization, urban renewal projects and an influx of new immigration due to the 1965 removal of racial quotas were some of the broad, invisible forces changing what Asian communities looked like and where they lived in Phoenix.

My past stories have looked at Phoenix’s early Chinese history or the very recent growth of Taiwanese restaurants in north Phoenix, but this was the first to examine that middle period. I started my reporting by asking: Once Chinese and Japanese people no longer lived in downtown Phoenix, where did they go? Where did Asian Americans growing up in the ‘90s and early 2000s gather? Why is the most visibly Asian space in the Valley purely commercial and not where people live?

How one market spawned Mesa’s Asian District

Twenty years ago, the metro Phoenix suburb of Mesa didn’t have an Asian District. Then, the transformation of an abandoned Target changed everything.

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Your Week with AZCentral

Kara Edgerson | Manager of Digital Operations

‘There aren’t many spaces that are aimed at Asians in Arizona’

‘Incredible diversity of the types of businesses’

‘Forgotten era’

How one market spawned Mesa’s Asian District

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How Trump’s border wall threatens AZ’s rare wildlife

How Trump’s border wall threatens AZ’s rare wildlife

Your Week with AZCentral

Kara Edgerson | Manager of Digital Operations

‘There aren’t many spaces that are aimed at Asians in Arizona’

‘Incredible diversity of the types of businesses’

‘Forgotten era’

How one market spawned Mesa’s Asian District

Mesa drama students shouldn’t have to get naked to score a grade

What I learned at this star chef’s favorite restaurant

At the Bar happy hour is coming to this beloved bar

Metro Phoenix streets through the years

Monsoon storms in Arizona through the years

Sign up for the news you want

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