Charter flights between Shanghai and Pittsburgh to begin August 3.

by sama093 (Creative Commons)

According to an airport press release this afternoon, charter flights between Shanghai and Pittsburgh will begin August 3, pending government approval.

China Eastern Airlines will conduct nonstop seasonal charter services connecting Pittsburgh and Shanghai, China commencing on August 3, the region’s first nonstop air link with China.

The flights, pending government approval, are part of a partnership agreement with Pittsburgh International Airport, VisitPITTSBURGH, and Idea Foundry. Pittsburgh will be the arriving and departing gateway for hundreds of Chinese tourists who will visit the U.S. East Coast this summer.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for our region to become the first medium-size city in the country as a destination for Chinese tourists,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said. “Our region’s businesses, the airport, and our tourism industry will be the primary beneficiary of this agreement.”

Miao Wang's Maineland in Oakland, June 7.

The 2017 documentary Maineland will play at a resuscitated 3 Rivers Film Fest on June 7.

Filmed over three years in China and the U.S., MAINELAND is a multi-layered coming-of-age tale that follows two affluent and cosmopolitan teenagers as they settle into a boarding school in blue-collar rural Maine. Part of the enormous wave of "parachute students" from China enrolling in U.S. private schools, bubbly, fun-loving Stella and introspective Harry come seeking a Western-style education, escape from the dreaded Chinese college entrance exam, and the promise of a Hollywood-style U.S. high school experience. As Stella and Harry’s fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, they ruminate on their experiences of alienation, culture clash, and personal identity, sharing new understandings and poignant discourses on home and country.

It plays from 7:00 pm at the Melwood Screening Room in Oakland (map). Ticket information has not been announced yet.

That's not Pittsburgh: a church in Seoul is modeled after PPG Place.

Read more.

Pittsburgh Bonsai Society's 37th annual Bonsai Show, June 2 and 3.

The 37th annual Bonsai Show will be held at Phipps Garden Center in Shadyside (map) on June 2 and 2. It's presented by the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society and is free and open to the public from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday the 2nd, and from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on the 3rd.

Northeastern Kitchen (东北小厨) soft opens in Squirrel Hill.

Northeastern Kitchen (东北小厨) in Squirrel Hill was packed as it held its first soft opening today. Signage went up for it recently at 5824 Forbes Ave. (map), and it is set to fully open on June 1. A complete menu is available online.

It opens in the spot briefly occupied by Lucky Nine Taiwanese Restaurant (好運來), which was shut down in February by the Allegheny County Health Department after a few days for operating without a permit or concern for sanitation.

Northeastern Kitchen (东北小厨) coming soon to Squirrel Hill.

Signage recently went up for Northeastern Kitchen (东北小厨) at 5824 Forbes Ave. (map), the spot briefly occupied by Lucky Nine Taiwanese Restaurant (好運來). Lucky Nine was shut down by the health department in February for, among other things, operating without permits or procedures.

Tickets now on sale for three Japanese films at Row House Cinema in June.

Three Japanese films will play at the Row House Cinema next month as part of the "New Animated Films" series from June 8 through 15: Haikara-san ga Tōru (はいからさんが通る), Mindgame (マインド・ゲーム), and Lu Over The Wall (夜明け告げるルーのうた). Tickets and showtime information is now available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Japanese animated film In This Corner of the World (この世界の片隅に) back in Pittsburgh, August 5.

The City of Asylum will host a screening of the 2016 animated Japanese film In This Corner of the World (この世界の片隅に) on August 5, in collaboration with Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace to commemorate the 1945 atomic bombings of Japan.

Meadows Casino hiring bilingual (Mandarin or Cantonese) Executive Casino Host.

The Meadows, in Washington, PA, is hiring a bilingual Chinese-English Executive Casino Host.

As a Bilingual Executive Host you are responsible for developing an environment that creates excitement for guests and employees, promoting and retaining a highly skilled work force. The incumbent in this position is also responsible for the initiation and collaboration of event programs to ensure the development and maintenance of the Meadows high-limit player market strategy; accountable for defined low-profile casino activity through player card programs and designed charter sales services, works closely with marketing research and database management to formulate short and long term strategies to target and capture new and existing markets in order to contribute to the profitability of the Meadow’s business plan.

Monroeville-based Prop Ocean hiring Mandarin-fluent Logistics Specialist (物流市场专员).

Monroeville-based Prop Ocean Co. has announced another opening for a Chinese-speaking 物流市场专员 position.

Duolingo hiring Linguist/Polyglot/Learning Scientist, PhD (proficiency in Asian language wanted).

Pittsburgh-based Duolingo has announced an opening for Linguist/Polyglot/Learning Scientist, PhD, with proficiency in an Asian language preferred.

Help improve how millions of people learn languages on Duolingo.

Our ideal candidate has a PhD in linguistics, is a polyglot, has excellent knowledge of language typology, and has experience teaching a second language. You will join Duolingo’s learning research team and support our efforts to advance Duolingo’s mission through science.

Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? (打ち上げ花火、下から見るか? 横から見るか?) in Pittsburgh, from July 3.

Tickets went on sale today for the 2017 film Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? (打ち上げ花火、下から見るか? 横から見るか?), which will play in the Pittsburgh area on July 3, 5, and 7. The distributor provides a summary:

Producer Genki Kawamura follows up his mega-hit Your Name with another tale of star-crossed teenage lovers with a sci-fi fantasy twist. Two junior high school pals, the shy Norimichi and fast-talking Yusuke, are goo-goo-eyed over the same elusive classmate, Nazuna. But Nazuna, unhappy over her mother’s decision to remarry and leave their countryside town, plans to run away and has silently chosen Norimichi to accompany her. When things don’t go as planned, Norimichi discovers that a glowing multi-color ball Nazuna found in the sea has the power to reset the clock and give them a second chance to be together. But each reset adds new complications and takes them father away from the real world – until they risk losing sight of reality altogether. Fireworks tells a simple story of adolescent longing that taps deep wells of emotion. It is tale of vulnerability and youthful wistfulness, of missed opportunities and long-ago dreams, the urgency of young lovers, and the desire to create a separate universe, a magic place outside of time, where they can be together.

Fireworks opened in Japan on August 18, 2017, and was the #2 movie in the country its opening weekend. The movie will play locally at the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville and Pittsburgh Mills, and will also play at Morgantown Stadium 12 in Morgantown, West Virginia. Tickets are available online. The July 3rd and 5th screenings are in Japanese with English subtitles, while the July 7th screening is dubbed in English.

Thai film Beautiful Boxer (บิวตี้ฟูล บ๊อกเซอร์), June 18 at City of Asylum.

The City of Asylum and ReelQ will present a screening of the 2003 Thai film Beautiful Boxer (บิวตี้ฟูล บ๊อกเซอร์) on June 18.

The Beautiful Boxer is the controversial 2003 biopic detailing the helter-skelter life of transgender (‘kathoey’) Muay Thai fighter, Nong Thoom. The film, while winning awards and nominations in Europe, Asia and America raised temperatures in Thailand where censors felt aggrieved by the extreme frontal nudity which made the film popular elsewhere.

Korean drumming group Tago (타고) in Pittsburgh, October 13.

via @TAGOpage

Korean drumming group Tago (타고) will perform in Pittsburgh on October 13, part of the Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts.

"Tago" means lighting up the world by beating drums. Tago creates shows based on a theme of "Buk," a Korean traditional drum. They play a mixture of Korean traditional instruments - from gigantic drums to small percussion - with martial arts movements. The music is sexy, intense, and sophisticated. Tago tries to make music which lasts long in people's hearts and memories.

Tago will perform at the Byham Theater at 8:00 pm on the 13th. Tickets are now on sale starting at $25.

Tibetan Medicine and Meditation talk, May 25 in Squirrel Hill.

The Three Rivers Tibetan Cultural Center will present Mempa Youlha Tsering and his talk Tibetan Medicine and Meditation: Mind-Body Connection and Treatment of Insomnia, Depression, and Fibromyalgia on May 25 at the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Squirrel Hill.

K-pop Dance Class at Yanlai Dance Academy this summer.

Yanlai Dance Academy will host a K-pop Dance Class on most Saturdays this summer (now through July 28, and again on August 18). Classes run from 4:00 to 5:00 pm and are $18 for a drop-in session or $145 for the whole term. The classes are led by Lucy Chen and the school is located at 2260 Babcock Blvd. in the North Hills (map).

1992 Hayao Miyazaki film Porco Rosso (紅の豚) in Pittsburgh, May 20, 21, 23.

The 1992 Hayao Miyazaki film Porco Rosso (紅の豚) will play at Pittsburgh-area Cinemark theaters on May 20, 21, and 23 as part of this year's GKIDS Ghibli Fest. The distributor provides a summary:

This unsung treasure from Hayao Miyazaki nestles a tale of morality and identity inside a soaring airborne adventure — a tribute to early aviation and the reckless flyboys whose home was the open sky.

Set in a mid-war Italy swept by fascism, the film follows the life of Marco, a world-weary flying ace-turned bounty hunter who plies his trade above the waters of the Adriatic. Somewhere along the way a curse has transformed Marco’s head into the head of a pig, reflecting his loss of faith in humanity. Marco meets his polar opposite in the innocent and energetic 17-year-old Fio, an aspiring airplane designer, and the two are catapulted into an airborne adventure pursued by air pirates, the Italian army, and an egotistical American flying ace.

The movie will play with English subtitles on May 21, and will be dubbed in English on May 20 and 23. Area Cinemark theaters currently scheduled to show Porco Rosso are in Monaca, Monroeville, North Hills, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson.

"Bubblepop: k-pop · j-pop · retro pop dance party," June 9.

Bubblepop, "a dance party for K-Pop, J-Pop, Mando-pop and everything else fun and cute," is back with its next event on June 9, the "K-pop, J-Pop, Retro Pop Dance Party."

Kawaii babes are playing your favorite international pop, disco and new wave at P-Town with psyched out karaoke-style visuals. Dress up is encouraged. Get weird and come dance your adorable asses off with us!

It runs from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am at P Town Bar in Bloomfield (map).

Curry Cup Noodles (カップヌードル カレー).

Ample supply of Curry Cup Noodles (カップヌードル カレー)---an unusual find in Pittsburgh---at Panda Supermarket in Squirrel Hill (map).

Chengdu Gourmet, Taiwanese Bistro Cafe 33, Umami among Pittsburgh Magazine's Best Restaurants 2018.

Umami, by Hal Klein.

Three newish Asian restaurants, two that opened in 2016 and one in 2014, were named to Pittsburgh Magazine's annual list of Best Restaurants.

Oakmont ministry trains Chinese teachers to work with autistic children.

Photo by Louis B. Ruediger.

The Valley Dispatch has a profile today on an Oakmont group helping Chinese teachers improve care given to young children with autism.