Free Chinese, Japanese, Korean classes in Pittsburgh.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is an invaluable source of free and enriching programming for people of all ages. Most relevant to this site are the free Chinese, Japanese, and Korean courses at an increasing number of branches. The start of a new year is an excellent time to revisit this list of free courses available for children, complete novices, high-beginners, intermediate learners, and advanced speakers.

New Chinese film The Liquidator (心理罪：城市之光) in Pittsburgh from December 29.

The new movie The Liquidator (心理罪：城市之光), released in China on December 22, will play in Pittsburgh from December 29. A ScreenDaily review writes of the film starring Deng Chao, Ethan Juan, and Cecilia Liu:

Based on a novel in Lei Mi’s ‘Profiler’ series, The Liquidator pits a brilliant criminal psychologist against a calculating murderer whose modus operandi is to target those acquitted in widely publicised trials. Capably anchored by reliable local box office draw Deng Chao, this slick procedural should prove to be a solid hit domestically

Tickets and showtime information is available 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

2017 Chinese movie Youth (芳华) at Regent Square Theater, from December 29.

The 2017 Chinese coming-of-age drama Youth (芳华), which opened in Pittsburgh on December 15, will play at the Regent Square Theater from December 29 through January 4. A September 9 Variety review introduces the film:

The narrator Suizi (Zhong Chuxi), a stand-in for screenwriter Yan Geling (“The Flowers of War” and “Coming Home”), whose semi-biographical novel was the film’s literary source, belongs to a military dance troupe stationed in the Great Southwest. However, the central figure is actually Xiaoping (Miao Miao), whose father has been branded a Rightist and thrown in a re-education camp. She is recruited from Beijing by the good-looking and kind-hearted lead dancer Liu Feng (Huang Xuan).

The pristine surroundings of their training center and dreamy soft focus that accompanies the young dancers whenever they rehearse revolutionary ballets exude a rarefied atmosphere that reinforces how privileged the troupe is, shielded from hunger, violence and back-breaking labor at the height of the Cultural Revolution. And yet, a hierarchy based on political pedigree is firmly in place in the so-called classless society. Shuwen (Li Xiaofeng) the daughter of a general and hospital supervisor, is the queen bee. Dingding (Yang Caiyu) scores with her looks, while Mongolian Drolma (Sui Yuan) plays her ethnic minority card.

The film will play each day at 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm; tickets are only available for purchase in person at the theater. It is located at 1035 S. Braddock Ave. (map) in the Regent Square neighborhood, east of Squirrel Hill and Oakland.

Lunar New Year: Year of the Dog at Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, February 10.

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh will hold "Chinese New Year Celebration: Year of the Dog" on Saturday, February 10.

In ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on the Lunar New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. Come kick off the Lunar year 4716, the year of the Dog, with Silk Screen Asian Arts and Culture Organization at the Children's Museum.

Make art, enjoy live performances by Yan Lai Dance Academy, Purple Bamboo Chinese Ensemble, and join the Steel Dragon Lion Dance Team for a parade through the Museum!

The celebration runs from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm and is free with museum admission ($16 for adults, $14 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).

WholeRen's American Homestay Services (美国寄宿家庭服务中心) hiring Mandarin-speaking Marketing Specialist.

American Homestay Services (美国寄宿家庭服务中心), a branch of the Pittsburgh-based Chinese education consultancy company WholeRen Education, is hiring a Mandarin-speaking Marketing Specialist.

Japan-inspired crepe chain T-Swirl Crêpe now open in Pittsburgh.

After more than a year-and-a-half of construction, Japan-inspired Japan-inspired crepe chain T-Swirl Crêpe is now open in Squirrel Hill. The official site summarizes the concept behind T-Swirl Crepe:

The story of T-swirl Crepe starts thousands of miles away on the shores of Japan. The Japanese Crepe borrows from a western concept and modernized it into new level of versatility that you can gobble on the go. Building on this new concept, T-swirl started to research and have perfected the 100% gluten free rice flour batter, to craft a crispy thin chewy layer that embraces all the decadent condiments. T-swirl is synonymous with using the finest ingredients to construct a trendy/artistic crepe that arrives to your hand with incredible speed. We have standardized the process to give you a consistently clean and delicious crepe.

And though the chain originates in New York City, it has a Pittsburgh connection, according to a 2016 NBC News profile on "undocumented entrepreneurs":

In 2007, Andy Lin moved out of New York, travelling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to begin work at a hibachi restaurant where Jerry Lin was already employed, he said. Andy Lin proved a quick study, Jerry Lin recalled, earning the plaudits of the owner who asked him to partner to open another store two years later.

But despite earning more than $10,000 a month, Andy Lin said he began to feel his career plateauing after years of doing the same thing day in, day out.

That's when he noticed the frozen yogurt shop across from his restaurant in Pittsburgh and decided to take a chance, he said.

Hoping to ride the frozen-yogurt wave washing up in cities across the country, Andy Lin returned his share of the restaurant and left at the end of 2010, he said.

T-Swirl Crêpe is located at 1714 Murray Ave (map) in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人), King Hu's Legend of the Mountain (山中传奇) at Regent Square Theater, part of Silk Screen + Pittsburgh Filmmakers collaboration in 2018.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Silk Screen Asian Arts & Cultural Organization will show a different classic Asian film each month, with Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人) and King Hu's Legend of the Mountain (山中传奇) featured in January and March, respectively. Kurosawa's 1958 film will play each Sunday in January and Hu's 1979 film each Sunday in March; all shows start at 6:00 pm at the Regent Square Theater (map), and tickets are only available for purchase at the door.

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.

Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA Reflection (魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection) at Hollywood Theater in February.

The distributor recently announced the 2017 Japanese animated movie 魔法少女リリカルなのは Reflection will play at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont in February.

2017 Chinese movie Youth (芳华) to continue at Waterfront through December 27.

The 2017 Chinese coming-of-age drama Youth (芳华), which opened in Pittsburgh on December 15, will continue at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater through December 27. (It will also run at the Regent Square Theater from December 29 through January 4.) A September 9 Variety review introduces the film:

The narrator Suizi (Zhong Chuxi), a stand-in for screenwriter Yan Geling (“The Flowers of War” and “Coming Home”), whose semi-biographical novel was the film’s literary source, belongs to a military dance troupe stationed in the Great Southwest. However, the central figure is actually Xiaoping (Miao Miao), whose father has been branded a Rightist and thrown in a re-education camp. She is recruited from Beijing by the good-looking and kind-hearted lead dancer Liu Feng (Huang Xuan).

The pristine surroundings of their training center and dreamy soft focus that accompanies the young dancers whenever they rehearse revolutionary ballets exude a rarefied atmosphere that reinforces how privileged the troupe is, shielded from hunger, violence and back-breaking labor at the height of the Cultural Revolution. And yet, a hierarchy based on political pedigree is firmly in place in the so-called classless society. Shuwen (Li Xiaofeng) the daughter of a general and hospital supervisor, is the queen bee. Dingding (Yang Caiyu) scores with her looks, while Mongolian Drolma (Sui Yuan) plays her ethnic minority card.

Tickets and showtime information is available 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.