Cool curiosities at Wilkinsburg's Asian Merchandise.

A Sampo Tri-screen Color TV, released circa 1981-2.

One of the larger Asian groceries in the area is probably its least heralded, at least this century: Asian Merchandise Inc in Wilkinsburg, a multi-floor establishment on Penn Ave. (map) that's gone by Pittsburgh Asian Center, Pittsburgh Asian Market, Asian World, and Ou's International. It's also one of the oldest, moving to its present location in 1981 after operating at 757 Penn Ave. from 1978 to 1981. The owner, Chen-Tu Ou, came to Pittsburgh via Taiwan in 1975.

Tickets now available for 2019 documentary Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly (online) at Row House Cinema, from July 10.

The 2019 documentary Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly will play online via Row House Online from July 10. A synopsis from the official site:

Following Ai Weiwei’s detention at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the outspoken artist and activist transformed the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz into an artistic platform. The resulting exhibition engaged nearly 900,000 visitors in a conversation about the plight of prisoners of conscience around the world..

Tickets are now available online. The single-screen Row House Cinema is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map), though it has been screening movies exclusively online during the pandemic.

Chinese Film Fest (Mini Virtual Film Festival) at Row House Cinema, online from July 17 through 30.

The Row House Cinema will present a Chinese Film Fest (Mini Virtual Film Festival) online from July 17 through 30, featuring the films Lucky Grandma (幸運的奶奶), Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, and Shanghai Triad (搖啊搖，搖到外婆橋). Tickets will be coming soon.

Bong Joon-ho film Okja watch party with Pitt's Asian Studies Center and OIS, July 15.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and Office of International Services will host a Netflix watch party of the 2017 Bong Joon-ho film Okja on July 15. A June 2017 Atlantic review introduces the film:

Okja begins with a splendiferous introduction to its title character. Who is Okja? The ecstatic businesswoman Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) is thrilled to tell us, via multimedia presentation, by revealing to the press and her investors a new kind of “super-pig” her global corporation has discovered. A giant, lumbering beast resembling a hippo (though with a more baleful face), this creature is the future of cuisine, Lucy explains, and Okja is a prized calf sent to a farm in South Korea as part of a worldwide competition to find the best environment for her species. There she’ll roam around the mountains for 10 years, munch on the grass, and becoming a loving companion to young Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), the farmer’s granddaughter.

The movie starts at 7:00 pm and registration is required.

Crazy Rich Asians, free at outdoor drive-ins in Allegheny County parks in August and September.

The movie Crazy Rich Asians will play outdoors in South Park on August 28 and at Hartwood Acres on September 4" as part of the county's "Drive-In Date Night" series of films that are free and open to the public. (This is two weeks later than originally announced by the county.) A summary of the film, from the distributor:

"Crazy Rich Asians” follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) as she accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding), to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. Excited about visiting Asia for the first time but nervous about meeting Nick’s family, Rachel is unprepared to learn that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. It turns out that he is not only the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families but also one of its most sought-after bachelors. Being on Nick’s arm puts a target on Rachel’s back, with jealous socialites and, worse, Nick’s own disapproving mother (Michelle Yeoh) taking aim. And it soon becomes clear that while money can’t buy love, it can definitely complicate things.

Gates open at 7:00 pm and the movies start at dusk. Spaces are first-come first-served, and the gates will close once the parking lots are full.

2019 Vietnamese martial arts film Furie (Hai Phượng), online with Row House Cinema July 10.

The Row House Cinema will present the 2019 Vietnamese martial arts film Furie (Hai Phượng) online on July 10. A synopsis, from the distributor:

When a little girl is kidnapped by a trafficking ring, they soon find they messed with the wrong child. Her mother, a notorious former gang leader (Veronica Ngo, STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI), is close on their trail and will go to any lengths to bring her child home.

It starts at 9:15 pm and tickets are available online.

New Fuku Tea location on Craig St. opening July 6.

The new Fuku Tea location on Craig St. in Oakland will be open from July 6. It is located at 300 Craig St. (map) in what was formerly Razzy Fresh. It is the neighborhood's second Fuku Tea; the original opened at the corner of Forbes and Oakland Aves. in 2015

More delivery options for Asian restaurants, groceries, potentially on the way to Pittsburgh.

There have been a few job postings in Pittsburgh recently for places like Just Order Enterprises (饭团) and Chowbus, two companies that specialize in delivery services for Asian restaurants and groceries in other cities. Just Order Enterprises is another name for Fantuan, founded in Canada in 2014 as

one of the top Asian life-services platforms in North America, currently operating across Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York and other metropolitan areas in Canada and the US.

Chowbus was started in Chicago in 2016 as

a food delivery platform providing high quality, authentic Asian food to its customers in North America

and currently operates in 19 US cities including Ann Arbor, New York, Philadelphia, and Seattle.

Both are currently hiring for positions in Pittsburgh: Just Order Enterprises for a Chinese-speaking City Manager, and Chowbus for a General Manager - Pittsburgh (Chinese Speaking).

I've heard talk for a while about more third-party delivery services coming that would service Asian groceries and restaurants here, but nothing specific. Pittsburgh did briefly have WholeChi (豪吃匹兹堡) circa 2014, which provided home delivery options for local Asian groceries, though the service no longer exists. Neither Fantuan or Chowbus have made public a timetable for any potential expansion to Pittsburgh.

2019 documentary Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly (online) at Row House Cinema, from July 10.

via @YoursTrulyDoc.

The 2019 documentary Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly will play online via Row House Online from July 10. A synopsis from the official site:

Following Ai Weiwei’s detention at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the outspoken artist and activist transformed the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz into an artistic platform. The resulting exhibition engaged nearly 900,000 visitors in a conversation about the plight of prisoners of conscience around the world..

Ticket information will be coming soon. The single-screen Row House Cinema is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map), though it has been screening movies exclusively online during the pandemic.

July Book Club: See You Again in Pyongyang by Travis Jeppesen with Maridon Museum, July 30.

Butler County's Maridon Museum will read and discuss See You Again in Pyongyang by Travis Jeppesen in its July Book Club meeting on July 30. From a 2018 Los Angeles Times review:

What makes “See You Again in Pyongyang” worth reading is the tension between the bold explorer and the impenetrable country, the feeling of frustration in the face of lies and exclusion and petrified resistance. Jeppesen may get as deep as Pyongyang will allow, at least to an American. That might not make him an expert, but it gives him more cred than most of us: he went, and chances are, we never will.

The meetings will be held in person from 3:00 to 4:00 pm but will also have a Zoom component for people not comfortable gathering at this time. Those interested in registering should call 724-282-0123 or email info@maridon.org. The Maridon Museum is an Asian art museum in Butler County that holds frequent movie screenings, classes, and book club meetings, in addition to the art exhibitions that take place when there isn't a pandemic.