Chengdu Gourmet's Wei Zhu semifinalist for 2018 James Beard Award in Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic category.

By Laura Petrilla for Pittsburgh Magazine

Chengdu Gourmet's Wei Zhu has been named a semifinalist for a 2018 James Beard Award in the category of Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. Zhu, who opened Chengdu Gourmet in Squirrel Hill in 2014, was a semi-finalist last year and is among 20 others in the category this year. His restaurant was named one of Pittsburgh Magazine's Best Restaurants in 2016 and 2017, and Zhu was one of six local chefs recognized by the magazine for his contributions to the local culinary scene:

“The food here is my style, Wei Zhu’s style,” says Zhu, 49, a native of the city of Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province.

A recently added beef soup dish combines traditional Sichuan elements such as garlic, ginger, pea shoots and Sichuan peppercorns, but it also is served with Japanese ramen noodles and dressed with fresh and pickled jalapeño peppers. Or there’s Zhu’s addictive Chinese winter sausage, an item on the menu for only a few months of the year. The rich, fatty links are enhanced with organ meat and ferment into funky, delicious bites as they age.

“At other Chinese restaurants, they just make the same dishes. I am always trying to keep updated on what chefs are doing in China,” he says.

“Fences, Maps, and Darkness: Visualizing Okinawa” at Chatham University, February 19.

From Gama series, via artist's official site.

Via the Japan America Society of Pennsylvania newsletter comes notice that Chatham University will host Japanese photographer Osamu James Nagakawa and his lecture “Fences, Maps, and Darkness: Visualizing Okinawa” on February 19.

Osamu James Nakagawa is Ruth N. Halls Distinguished Professor of Photography at Indiana University, where he directs the Center for Integrative Photographic Studies. Nakagawa is best known for his Okinawa trilogy, a series of works that address the atrocities of WWII in Japan. His illustrated lecture Fences, Maps, and Darkness: Visualizing Okinawa explores Okinawa's diverse ecosystems, primeval forests, and its history as a prime crossroads of war and colonial expansion for centuries. Nakagawa's photographs of Okinawa bridge the inherently different interpretations of this history through a cross-cultural lens.

The lecture starts at 6:00 pm in the Beckwith Lecture Hall in the Buhl Hall of Science and Science Laboratory Building (map), and is free and open to the public.

Korean rappers San E and Mad Clown in Pittsburgh, April 10.

Two Korean rappers, San E and Mad Clown, will hit Pittsburgh on April 10 as part of an extensive North American tour this year:

Mad Clown and San E are two of the biggest stars in Korean pop music. With numerous hits songs in Korea, these rappers are joining forces to tour every corner of America and Canada. For both MCs, this tour is a homecoming, as Mad Clown is originally from the Chicago area, and San E grew up in Atlanta. Mad Clown and San E's "We Want You 2018 Tour" will hit North America in April 2018, with Korean American singer Sobae opening.

The concert will be at the August Wilson Center in the Cultural District. Tickets will go on sale February 19 at 9:00 am.

Asian-American rapper+actor Awkwafina at Pitt, February 24.

The University of Pittsburgh's Chinese American Student Association and Korean Student Association are bringing rapper and actor Awkwafina to Pitt on February 24.

Come out to hear her speak, Q&A, and a meet and greet!

Nora Lum, better known as Awkwafina is a Chinese-Korean American rapper, comedian, television personality, television host and actress. She works to break down barriers in both rap and Hollywood scenes. Awkwafina touches on many important issues surrounding mental health, cultural identity, feminism, and Asians in media. Her most upcoming appearances will be in Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Ocean's 8 (2018).

To RSVP fill out this google form! SEATS ARE LIMITED AND FIRST COME FIRST SERVE!

The event is free for Pitt students and $5 for everyone else, though registration is required. The event is at Bellefield Auditorium (map) and the doors open at 6:40 pm.

Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi and his talk "US-Japan Collaboration," February 22 in Pittsburgh.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania will host Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi, Consul General of the Japanese Consulate in New York, on February 22 for his talk on "US-Japan Collaboration." The ambassador

will share his insights in this talk about collaboration between Japan and the United States.

Chinese movies in Pittsburgh for Lunar New Year: Monster Hunt 2 (捉妖記2) from February 15, The Monkey King 3 (西遊記女兒國) and Detective Chinatown 2 (唐人街·探案2) from February 16.

Three new sequels to popular Chinese movies will play in Pittsburgh this Lunar New Year Weekend: The Monkey King 3 (西遊記女兒國), Monster Hunt 2 (捉妖記2), and Detective Chinatown 2 (唐人街·探案2).

The distributor provides a summary of the The Monkey King 3:

The third installment of the blockbuster fantasy series sees the return of the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) in his most action-packed adventure yet! While continuing their epic journey to the West, the Monkey King and his companions are taken captive by the Queen of an all-female land, who believes them to be part of an ancient prophecy heralding the fall of her kingdom. With a lot of sorcery and a little bit of charm, the travelers devise a plan to escape. But when their trickery angers the mighty River God, they realize they might just bring about the foretold destruction - unless they can find a way to quell her wrath.

The Monkey King 2 played in Pittsburgh in 2016, and was the second-highest-grossing domestic film in China that year.

Monster Hunt played in Pittsburgh in 2015, and was the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time until being overtaken by several 2016 releases. The production company summarizes:

This sequel to the mega blockbuster follows monster king Wuba as he faces another threat from the dark lord who plots to overthrow the empire.

Detective Chinatown was released in 2015 and was the ninth-highest grossing domestic film in Mainland China that year. The theater provides a synopsis:

A follow up to the Chinese hit “Detective Chinatown,” the new film reunites writer/director Chen Sicheng and stars Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran, who reprise their roles as detectives Tang Ren and Qin Feng, respectively. When the case of New York Chinatown godfather Uncle Qi’s missing son turns into a murder investigation, the detective duo Tang and Qin team up again to hunt down the killer—this time with some help from the International Detective Alliance.

Monster Hunt 2 opens on the 15th, while The Monkey King 3 and Detective Chinatown 2 open on the 16th at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater. Ticket and showtime information for all three movies are available online via Fandango. 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.

"A New Korean War?" at Church of the Redeemer in Squirrel Hill, February 18.

The Church of the Redeemer in Squirrel Hill will host a Korea Panel on the topic of "A New Korean War?" on Sunday, February 18. From the University of Pittsburgh's University Center for International Studies:

Tensions are heating up over North Korea's nuclear program, intensified by an exchange of insults between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Will the conflict between the two countries result in war? Why does North Korea want nuclear weapons? For aggression? Or for self-defense? Do South Koreans regard a nuclearized North as an existential threat or as something they can live with? How would a new Korean War end?

The event runs from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and is free and open to the public. The Church of the Redeemer is located at 5700 Forbes Ave. (map).

Reading with Korean-American author Min Jin Lee, February 20 at City of Asylum.

via minjinlee.com

City of Asylum @ Alphabet City will host bestselling author Min Jin Lee on February 20 for a reading of her 2017 book Pachinko. Her website provides a summary of the book:

PACHINKO follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan.

So begins a sweeping saga of an exceptional family in exile from its homeland and caught in the indifferent arc of history. Through desperate struggles and hard-won triumphs, its members are bound together by deep roots as they face enduring questions of faith, family, and identity.

The reading runs from 8:00 to 9:30 pm at Alphabet City on the North Side, and is free and open to the public, though RSVP is required.

Nanoha (魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection), A Silent Voice (聲の形) screenings cancelled as Hollywood Theater in Dormont closes.

Trigun: Badlands Rumble (トライガン バッドランズ ランブル) in 2011; Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA Reflection (魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection) was scheduled to play tonight and Wednesday.

The Friends of the Hollywood Theater, which had been operating in the the Hollywood Theater in Dormont, announced this evening that it has ceased programming and closed its doors as of Sunday, February 11.

It is with heavy hearts that we are announcing that Sunday, February 11th was our last day of programming, and after settling our obligations with the previous building owners, we will be fully vacated from the premises by Wednesday, February 14th.

The full statement on the theater's website indicates it may reopen in a different capacity in the future.

The Hollywood Theater was one of the few venues that played both new and classic Asian movies, and was long the only place around that would screen new anime releases.

Spring Festival Celebration at Pitt, February 16.

The University of Pittsburgh's Chinese Program will present a Spring Festival Celebration on Friday, February 16 in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).