Kawa Hibachi Sushi opening March 18 in Allison Park.

After several years of construction, Kawa Hibachi Sushi will open March 18 in Allison Park. It will be located at 1701 Duncan Ave. (map), in the Duncan Manor plaza next to the Driver's License Center.

Oriental Market to open at new location on March 16.

Oriental Market, an Asian grocery in the North Hills, will open at its new location on Tuesday, March 16. The new store will be at 7300 Old McKnight Road (map), which used to house David's Bridal and is slightly up the street from its current location.

Pittsburgh's Chinatown granted State Historical Marker.

Pittsburgh's Chinatown neighborhood was recently granted a state historical marker by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. From the March 10 press release:

Pittsburgh Chinatown, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
Established as early as the 1870s, Chinatown was the cultural and economic center of the Chinese community in western Pennsylvania that served Chinese populations in New York, Ohio and West Virginia. The growth of the community was suppressed by political and labor efforts leading to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The community was destroyed by the construction of the Boulevard of the Allies in the 1920s and its residents and businesses were displaced. Remnants remained until 1959.

Also among the 23 newest markers is recognition of the region's first Chinese immigrants:

The first substantial workforce of Chinese immigrants in Pennsylvania came to Beaver Falls in 1872. The workers were recruited to the Beaver Falls Cutlery Factory to replace white laborers on strike. They remained for several years learning specialized skills and assuring profitability for the company because of their reduced wages. Across the nation, other American labor unions and politicians felt these Chinese workers were a threat and advocated for the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which remained in effect until 1943.

Local communities had been working for many years to have the site recognized, as detailed in a 2019 Pittsburgh Magazine article:

On three occasions, the OCA has attempted to earn a state historical marker for Pittsburgh’s Chinatown. But the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has denied each request, citing a lack of statewide historical significance, Lien says. After the third denial, applicants must wait three years before applying again; those three years are up. “We’ve been waiting patiently,” she says.

In re-applying, the OCA will emphasize Chinatown’s enterprise. “It became so significant a spot that it wasn’t just for the Chinese in Pittsburgh,” Lien says. Chinese Americans traveled from other parts of Pennsylvania and even from West Virginia and Ohio to access the commercial space.

From a July 27, 1959 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.

"The Affective Alliance: TV Drama Fandom and Internet Communities in contemporary China," March 10 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present "The Affective Alliance: TV Drama Fandom and Internet Communities in contemporary China" on March 10 as the next installment of its Asia Pop series.

Dr. Shuyu Kong will discuss "participatory culture" and "affective communication" through a case study of internet media fandom of TV spy drama Undercover. She argues that Chinese media fandom demonstrates a new form of creative energy and interpretive practice among the younger generation of Chinese, and indicates a new social bonding through cultural consumption in post-socialist China.

The event starts at 6:30 pm and registration is required.

"Combatting Anti-Asian Violence Amidst COVID-19: Perspectives from Local and National APIA Organizers," March 15 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh will present "Combatting Anti-Asian Violence Amidst COVID-19: Perspectives from Local and National APIA Organizers" on March 15.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asians and Asian Americans have been scapegoated as bringing and carrying disease across the country. This rhetoric is not new. In this timely and critical panel, hear from local and national Asian American activists about how Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities are combatting targeted hate violence, how to be in solidarity with victims of racism & xenophobia, and what forms of justice our communities are fighting for. This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology, the Global Hub, and the Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh. We thank our panelists, Sam Huynh (AQUARIUS), Judy Suh (APALA Pittsburgh), Tiffany Diane Tso (AAFC), and Randy Duque (PCHR) for their time and expertise in contributing to such an important conversation.

The online event starts at 4:00 pm and registration is required.

2019 Chinese film So Long, My Son (地久天长) at Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival (online), March 6 - 12.

Thethe 2019 Chinese film So Long, My Son (地久天长) will play as part of the Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival, March 6 to 12. It was originally scheduled to play in person last March, but COVID-19 shifted the festival to online screenings in 2020 and 2021. A synopsis:

In the mid-1980s, two families work together in a factory in northern China. They are very close. So are their sons, who were born on the same day. But then a tragic accident pulls the families apart and, as China’s dramatic social transformation generates increasing inequalities, they follow very different paths both geographically and in economic terms. Will they ever be able to reconcile with one another and their shared but separating pasts? Moving backwards and forwards from the accident through four decades of Chinese history, acclaimed director Wang Xiaoshuai carefully constructs an epic, deeply moving drama of ordinary lives and severed connections in the midst of extraordinary social change.

Tickets are available online, as is a link to a free live discussion with the director on March 11.

Work progresses on Oishii Donburi in Lawrenceville.

via @oishiidonburi1

Work progresses on Oishii Donburi in Lawrenceville as they approach an opening date. From the owners of Oakland's Oishii Bento, the team with the self-titled company name purchased the former Design Island and Artisan Harvest spot at 5227 Butler St. (map) in May 2018.

Ocean Vuong with Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, March 22.

Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures will host Ocean Vuong on March 22.

Ocean Vuong is an award-winning poet and the author of the critically acclaimed bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, a brilliant, heartbreaking family portrait – a testament to the redemptive power of storytelling.

Framed as a letter from a son to his mother who cannot read, this shattering portrait of a Vietnamese family and first love, asks how to survive, how to find joy in darkness, and the meaning of American identity. With stunning urgency and grace, Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are.

Tickets for the online event are $15 for general admission and $10 for students. The University of Pittsburgh community is also invited to register for a pre-lecture online book discussion on March 18 from 6:00 pm.

"Bento" coming soon to Shadyside.

Work progresses on Bento, a new restaurant coming to Shadyside. It will be located at 5811 Ellsworth Ave. (map) in what was most recently Daphne Cafe. Chen's Realty, LLC, purchased the spot in December 2019.

Eddie Huang film Boogie in Pittsburgh, from March 5.

The upcoming Eddie Huang film Boogie will play in Pittsburgh from March 5. From the distributor:

From acclaimed writer, producer and restaurateur Eddie Huang comes his directorial debut Boogie, the coming-of-age story of Alfred “Boogie” Chin, a basketball phenom living in Queens, New York, who dreams of one day playing in the NBA. While his parents pressure him to focus on earning a scholarship to an elite college, Boogie must find a way to navigate a new girlfriend, high school, on-court rivals and the burden of expectation.

It will play locally at the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, and Robinson, the Cranberry Cinemas, and the Waterworks Cinemas.