Night Market Gourmet to replace TOP Shabu Shabu in Oakland.

Night Market Gourmet will replace TOP Shabu Shabu on Atwood Street this fall. Signage went up in June announcing the temporary two-month closure, and a banner is up announcing that Night Market Gourmet is coming soon.

Somi's "Birthday" at next K-pop Dance Class, July 27.

The weekly K-pop Dance Class at Yanlai Dance Academy will do Somi's "Birthday" for its eighth meeting on July 27. The class is held each Saturday from 4:00 to 5:00 pm, and the cost is $18 for a drop-in session. Yanlai Dance Academy is located at 2260 Babcock Blvd. in the North Hills (map).

킹캉.

Teacher trainees from Korea National University of Education (한국교원대학교) in Cheongju attended the July 23 Pittsburgh Pirates game and met infielder Jung-ho Kang during warm-ups. The cohort of 43 teachers attending a month-long training program at the University of Pittsburgh's English Language Institute this summer.

Library orientations for new Chinese, Japanese, Korean students at Pitt: August 14 - 16.

The University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Library will host library orientations for new Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students from August 14 - 16.

Would you like to know...

• A librarian who speaks your native language?
• The difference between academic libraries in the U.S. and libraries in your home country?
• The many wonderful services that the library offers to help your area of study and research at Pitt?
• If so, please come to attend one of the library orientation sessions.

Chinese sessions:

• August 14: 11 - 12 pm
• August 14: 3 - 4 pm
• August 15: 11 - 12 pm
• August 16: 2 - 3 pm

Japanese session

• August 14: 2 - 3 pm

Korean session

• August 16: 2 - 3 pm

Sessions are free but seating is limited and registration is required (and can be completed online).

Studio Ghibli film Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便) in Pittsburgh, July 28, 29, 31.

The 1989 Hayao Miyazaki film Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便) will play at several theaters in western Pennsylvania on July 28, 29, and 31, as this month's installment of the GKIDS Studio Ghibli Fest 2019. A synopsis from the distributor:

Celebrate the 30th anniversary of this beloved coming-of-age story from the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, and Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki, about a resourceful young witch who uses her broom to create a delivery service, only to lose her gift of flight in a moment of self-doubt.

It is a tradition for all young witches to leave their families on the night of a full moon and fly off into the wide world to learn their craft. When that night comes for Kiki, she embarks on her new journey with her sarcastic black cat, Jiji, landing the next morning in a seaside village, where her unique skills make her an instant sensation.

The movie will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. The July 28 and 31 shows will be in Japanese with English subtitles and the July 29 shows will be dubbed in English. Tickets are available online.

2019 Chinese movie Dancing Elephant (跳舞吧！大象) in Pittsburgh, from July 26.

The new Chinese movie Dancing Elephant (跳舞吧！大象) will open nationwide, and in Pittsburgh, on July 26. From the distributor:

Li Chunxia, the leader of the "four little swan" dance class of the Children's Palace, is unconscious for 15 years in a car accident. After waking up miraculously, she finds that she changes from "Little Swan" to an "Elephant" weighing two hundred pounds and loses her life for the past fifteen years. Chunxia decides to pick up her life and attend a dancing contest which is organized by her dancing teacher. She finds back her childhood partners and a weird dancing teacher. Five of them, whom are considered as loser by others, restore the courage and passion to life together.

The movie will play in Pittsburgh from July 26 through 31, and tickets are available online. It is presented in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

July 24 screening scrapped, but The Farewell still to play in Pittsburgh August 2 through 8.

A screening of The Farewell originally scheduled for July 24 has been removed, but the film starring Awkwafina and Tzi Ma will still play in Squirrel Hill from August 2 through 8. From the distributor:

In this funny, uplifting tale based on an actual lie, Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai, has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting family members scattered among new homes abroad. As Billi navigates a minefield of family expectations and proprieties, she finds there’s a lot to celebrate: a chance to rediscover the country she left as a child, her grandmother’s wondrous spirit, and the ties that keep on binding even when so much goes unspoken. With The Farewell, writer/director Lulu Wang has created a heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, masterfully interweaving a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a richly moving story of how family can unite and strengthen us, often in spite of ourselves.

Tickets for the Squirrel Hill Manor shows are available online.

Secret Speakeasy: Qixi Festival in Pittsburgh, August 7.

The Pittsburgh chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans and Secret Speakeasy will host a Qixi Festival on August 7.

Legend tells of a love story between the weaver girl, Zhinu (the star of Vega) and the cowherd, Niulang (the star of Altair). Their love was forbidden and they were banished to opposite sides of the Silver River (the Milky Way). Once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, a flock of magpies forms a bridge to reunite these star crossed lovers for just one day...

On this day we celebrate the Qixi Festival, or the Double Seventh Festival: Chinese Valentine's Day:

The evening will recreate a romantic Qixi Festival indoors - filled with close-up magic and readings, craft stations from renowned experts such as Chinese calligraphy and Chinese knot art, performances of silk and iron fan dance, performances from a world master of the pipa - the Chinese lute - who studied with Yo Yo Ma, immersive art installations, and more.

Seoul's Cafeteria Pittsburgh.

via naraeng2g.

Earlier this year a cafe called Cafeteria Pittsburgh opened in Seoul's Jongno-gu, in the basement of the Gran Seoul building that opened in 2014. Judging by a few blog entries that have photographed it (here and here), it's local in name only and specializes in coffees, juices, and bakery items. The address is 서울 종로구 종로 33 그랑서울 지하1층 (우)03159 (map).

Mongolian heavy metal band The Hu in Pittsburgh, November 18.

Mongolian heavy metal band The Hu will play at Mr. Smalls on November 18. From the band's official site:

The HU is a band from Mongolia that blends heavy metal and traditional Mongolian throat singing. Their first two videos (“Yuve Yuve Yu” and “Wolf Totem”) immediately went viral garnering the band over 18 million views. The explosive reaction to The HU resulted in a number of features about the band in international media such as NPR, ET India Times, Playboy Mexico, Jack Canal+Fr, Hong Kong 01, DW News Germany and others.

The band’s name The HU, is the Mongolian root word for human being. They call their style “Hunnu Rock”…inspired by the Hunnu, an ancient Mongolian empire, known as The Huns in western culture. Some of the band’s lyrics include old Mongolian war cries and poetry.