Grit & Grace to rebrand to "G & G Noodle Bar" and "approachable Asian-style street food".

The Post-Gazette writes today that the Cultural District restaurant Grit & Grace will rebrand and reopen tomorrow as "G & G Noodle Bar". The restaurant will move to a

more casual menu at G & G Noodle Bar than the one at Grit & Grace, with options like big eye tuna sushi and addictive snacks like General Tso’s cauliflower for dim sum. For mains, look for noodles like tsukemen-style ramen ($15) and spicy dan dan noodles garnished with a poached egg ($13), along with dishes such as crispy Sichuan chicken over noodles ($14) and bulgogi lettuce wraps with flank steak ($10).

CAST-P 2016 Chinese New Year Gala (猴年春节晚会), January 30.

The Chinese Association for Science and Technology - Pittsburgh chapter will hold its annual New Year Gala on Saturday, January 30 in the North Hills:

We warmly welcome you to our 2016 CAST-P Chinese New Year Gala!
You will enjoy performances from excellent cultural and art organizations and teams such as: Yanlai Dance Adacemy, Win-win Kongfu Culture Center, Lydia Music Center, Pittsburgh Haihua Youth Orchestra, Pittsburgh Chinese School, Organization of Chinese Americans - Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University Chinese Student and Scolar Association, University of Pittsburgh Chinese Student and Scholar Association, Yu-ge, Qi-Wu-Zhongguofeng Dance Team.
There will also be a lucky draw for all the attendees to bring you good luck and fortune in the new year!r

Tickets are $5 for CAST-P members and $10 for non-members. North Allegheny Senior High School is located in Wexford, PA (map), roughly 13 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh.

Ka-Man Tse at Silver Eye Center for Photography, from January 29.

An exhibition featuring the photography of Ka-Man Tse will open at the Silver Eye Center for Photography on January 29. Tse was one of two winners of the Fellowship 16 international photography competition.

Fellowship 16 features solo exhibitions from our International Award and Keystone Award winners, selected from an open call for entries in mid-2015. International Award winner Ka-Man Tse (Brooklyn, NY) showcases her series Narrow Distances, which seeks to draw connections between LGBT culture and the Asian Pacific Islander community, as well as Tse’s own ongoing exploration of home, identity, and isolation as someone who was born in Hong Kong and raised in the United States.

An opening reception for Narrow Distances will be held on Friday the 29th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. The Silvery Eye Center for Photography is located at 1015 E. Carson St. (map).

Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival at Row House Cinema this March.

The Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville recently announced its Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival coming in March. The three films scheduled are 1949's Late Spring (晩春), the 1991 Studio Ghibli film Only Yesterday (おもひでぽろぽろ), and the 1985 Kurosawa film Ran (乱), with a fourth still to be determined. Details will follow on the theater's official site.

2015 children's blockbuster movie from China, Monster Hunt (捉妖記), in Pittsburgh from January 22.

The 2015 Chinese/Hong Kong movie Monster Hunt (捉妖記) will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater from January 22. A Variety review offers a synopsis of this blended live-action and animated children's movie that is the highest-grossing film of all time in China:

What makes “Monster Hunt” so tyke-friendly is its easily digestible story arc, refreshingly devoid of Confucian morality, educational historical background or nationalistic grandstanding — in short, everything that makes most mainland children’s films such a yawn. Stylistically, the film blends Western demon-slaying elements, Japanese yokai folklore and even a distant echo of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” into a fanciful Chinese setting, beefing it with up robust martial-arts action with an eye toward holding the attention of adult viewers.

In a mythic kingdom, mortals and monsters who once fought each other now stay put in their separate domains. Their uneasy truce is disrupted when a coup in the monster land forces its pregnant queen to go on the run with her two loyal but inept retainers, Zhugao and his rotund wife, Fat Ying. Foreseeing that pandemonium will spill over to the humans’ realm, monster-hunt bureau chief Ge (Wallace Chung) puts up a handsome bounty for the unborn heir.

Monster Hunt was released in China on July 16, 2015, and will makes its US debut on January 22.

Tickets and showtimes are available at the AMC Loews Waterfront website. 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.

Mandarin Chinese Speed Language Partnering at Pitt on Friday.

Via the Asian Studies Center Facebook page.

A reminder about Mandarin Chinese Speed Language Partnering on Friday, January 22, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center.

2015 Hong Kong movie Ip Man 3 (葉問3) in Pittsburgh from January 21.

The 2015 movie Ip Man 3 (葉問3) will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater from January 21 and at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont from January 22.

"MEPPI Japan Lecture Series – U.S.-Japan Relations from a U.S. Government Perspective", downtown on January 21.

The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania will host Joseph Young and his talk "U.S.-Japan Relations from a U.S. Government Perspective" on January 21.

Chinese New Year Celebration: Year of the Monkey at Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, February 7.

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh will hold "Chinese New Year Celebration: Year of the Monkey" on Sunday, February 7.

In ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. Come celebrate the Chinese year 4714, the year of the Monkey, with Silk Screen Asian Arts and Culture Organization. Make art, enjoy live music, and join the Steel Dragon Lion Dance Team for a parade through the Museum for the finale!

The celebration runs from 1:00 to 4:00 pm and is free with museum admission ($14 for adults, $13 for kids aged 2 through 18, and free for infants under 2). The museum is located at 10 Children's Way on the Northside (map).

More information about Squirrel Hill Lunar New Year 2016 events in February.

Via Uncover Squirrel Hill.

In December the first Squirrel Hill Lunar New Year 2016 celebration was announced, and more information about the two weeks of festivities was recently made available online.

The events begin on Saturday, February 6 with the Kick-Off Celebration at the Jewish Community Center (map). From the Uncover Squirrel Hill website:

Bring the entire family to experience this celebration of Chinese and Asian cultures! Enjoy performances by Steel Dragon Lion Dancers, Taiko Drummers, HaiHua Chinese Youth Orchestra, Korean Children’s Choir, Dong Yum Doe Korean Martial Arts, and many more. Watch and learn with demonstrations of origami, dumpling making, and calligraphy. You’ll also find plenty of crafts for the kids, including making paper lanterns. This event is free; food will be available for purchase.

The event runs from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. A Lunar New Year Dining Passport that offers 10% off participating Chinese and Asian restaurants in the area will also be available on the 6th.

Other events throughout the celebration include a Children's Celebration at the at the Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill on February 10, a Teen Time Celebration at the Carnegie Library in Squirrel Hill on February 16th, and a Lunar New Year parade down Murray Ave. on February 21. More information is on the Uncover Squirrel Hill site.