Asian Lantern Festival at Pittsburgh Zoo, August 14 through October 30.

via @pghzoo

The Pittsburgh Zoo will hold its first Asian Lantern Festival from August 14 through October 30.

The Zoo will embark on a bold new adventure in 2021 with the opening of the Asian Lantern Festival at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, an evening experience that will shine a light on conservation, community, and diversity.

Select nights now through Saturday, October 30, the Zoo will illuminate the city with the glow of colossal, wildlife-themed, handcrafted lanterns.

These towering steel and silk sculptures will encompass three connected themes: the Zoo, our global species conservation partnerships, and Asian culture.

As dusk settles in, the lanterns will begin to glow. Revelers will stroll the winding pathways of the Zoo, pausing to admire the beautiful lights, experience awe-inspiring entertainment, and discover the cultural diversity of our region.

The Asian Lantern Festival is a family-friendly nighttime event that requires a separate ticket from Zoo daytime admission.

Timed tickets are available online, at $19.95 for adults and $16.95 for children, with discounted prices for zoo members.

I've written about paper lantern festivals before, and how Pittsburgh should host one on its rivers, most recently in December.

Chinese program at Win-Win Kung Fu in Squirrel Hill, from September 4.

Squirrel Hill's Win-Win Kung Fu Culture Center will resume its Chinese-language program from September 4.

A free trial class is given to kick the program off:

Date and time: Saturday September 4th at 2:40-3:30 pm

Starting Saturday September 11th, 2021, the class will be held every Saturday 2:40-3:30 pm, mixed with kids and adults.

Fees: $5 each class for current students, $10 for non-students.

Those interested can visit or contact the center. Win-Win Kung Fu is located at 2705-2707 Murray Ave. (map).

"Inside Out" with Bento Boombox, August 19 at Carnegie Museum of Art.

Illustration by Christina Lee.

The Carnegie Museum of Art is hosting a series of "Inside Out" outdoors music events this summer, and the August 19 installment will feature Bento Boombox, "a dance party focused on the fusion of American and Asian hip hop, electronic, and high energy dance music."

On Thursday, August 19, enjoy happy hour in the museum's outdoor sculpture courtyard with a DJ set emphasizing Asian hip-hop and electronic music by Bento Boombox.

Bring your appetite, too! Regional food trucks and a bar created by Café Carnegie offering custom snacks, kid-friendly treats, local beers, delicious wines, and more will be on-site.

While you’re at Inside Out, participate in art-making activities for all ages.

Inside Out events are FREE, open to all ages, have limited capacity, and are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Make a day of it and reserve your timed tickets to visit the museum before or after you enjoy Inside Out!

It runs from 4:00 to 8:00 pm and is free and open to the public. The museum is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map), accessible by buses 28X, 58, 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, 67, 69, 71B, 71D, 75, and P3.

Fantuan / Just Order Enterprises Corp. (饭团) hiring Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist.

Just Order Enterprises (also known as Fantuan), is a delivery service catering to Asian restaurants and groceries that expanded to Pittsburgh last summer, is hiring a Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist.

Fantuan was founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2014. With a mission of “life made easier,” the company is a one-stop platform providing food delivery (Fantuan Delivery), reviews (Fantuan Reviews), an errand service (Fantuan Rush), e-commerce and marketing services. Fantuan is one of the top Asian life-services platforms in North America, currently operating across Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, Los Angeles, New York and other metropolitan areas in Canada and the US.

Job Title: Business Development Specialist #USHP

Job Responsibility:

1. Facing local merchants, understand the business status and needs of the merchants, combine the needs of consumers, select and design marketing and operation plans that fit for the merchants, negotiate and reach cooperation with the merchants, and promote the increase of merchant transaction volume.

2. Incorporate the company's marketing strategies, policies and marketing activities to independently accomplish performance goals.

3. According to the current market situation and customer response, the corresponding strategic direction is formulated through data analysis, and the value of cooperation with cooperative merchants is continuously improved to achieve a win-win situation between merchants and the platform.

4. Maintain new and old merchants, establish stable and high-value cooperative relations, and maintain long-term repurchases.

5. Cooperate with departments to process and feedback market information in a timely manner, improve operational efficiency, and improve user satisfaction.

Hoy Jun Park hits first Major League home run tonight.

Hoy Jun Park (박효준) hit his first Major League home run tonight in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Park was acquired last month from the New York Yankees and has played regularly, and at multiple positions, since being recalled to the team on August 1. He is the third Korean in team history to make the Pirates regular season roster.

Documentary The Witches of the Orient, on Japanese women's volleyball team in the 50s and 60s, online via Row House Cinema through August 14.

The Row House Cinema will continue to present the 2021 documentary The Witches of the Orient online through August 14.

How does a Japanese women’s volleyball team from the late 1950s become an international sensation, feminist role models, the subject of a wildly popular comic book and a still-influential anime?

This stranger-than-fiction story is dynamically told by Julien Faraut (JOHN McENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION), with an ironic twist on the original demeaning moniker, Oriental Witches. A group of Osaka textile workers are transformed into a fiercely competitive volleyball team by their astonishingly ruthless coach whose unconventional techniques emphasize speed and aggression. A record-setting winning streak and a dramatic 1964 Tokyo Olympics triumph follow. Wonderful archival footage of the women in training and on the court, animated versions of their championship games, and moving interviews with the women today are set to a pulsating electronic score.

Viewing information is available online, and a portion of proceeds benefit the single-screen theater in Lawrenceville.

New film starring Donnie Yen, Raging Fire (怒火), in Pittsburgh from August 13.

The new Hong Kong film Raging Fire (怒火) will play in Pittsburgh from August 13.

Shan (Donnie Yen) is a highly respected hardline cop with a long history of success on dangerous cases. However, his past unexpectedly comes back to haunt him when a sting operation is attacked by a mysterious group of criminals led by Ngo (Nicholas Tse), his former protégé, a talented former officer who had once respected and admired Shan. However, a terrible mistake three years prior landed him in prison, quickly turning the once rising star into a furious man with a grudge, and the will to destroy everyone who had wronged him—including his former mentor.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online. The theater is located at the Waterfront shopping center in Homestead (map).

"Artist Lecture with Atsushi Futatsuya," August 13 with Contemporary Craft.

Contemporary Craft will present an "Artist Lecture with Atsushi Futatsuya," both in-person and virtual on August 13.

Learn more about Atsushi's journey with Sashiko and its cultural importance.

Born into a Sashiko family in Japan's Gifu prefecture, Atsushi Futatsuya grew up surrounded by Sashiko artisans. He currently resides in central Pennsylvania, where he runs his company Upcycle Stitches LLC. Futatsuya hosts workshops, sells supplies and materials, and shares the Sashiko techniques and skills he has learned throughout his life. His mission is to share what Sashiko is with the world. Join us for this lecture to learn more about Atsushi and his journey with Sashiko.

The event runs from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at Contemporary Craft in Lawrenceville (map), or virtually via Zoom. The event is free and open to the public, though registration is required and a small donation requested.

"Have yourself an 'Oriental Ball' by coming to the mall!"

This week marks the anniversary of when Northway Mall opened its enclosed section in 1964, becoming the first indoor shopping mall in Pennsylvania. The shopping center itself existed there since 1953 and became a destination for decades, until being suprassed by nearby Ross Park Mall and eventually closing and rebranding as The Block at Northway. The spring before its transition to an indoor mall, it hosted an "Oriental Festival" in April and May 1964. The April 23, 1964 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a few profiles of the events and attractions---which included "Oriental Bombshell" Japanese-American singer Marie Misakura, dancer Joel Awai, and (somehow) rickshaw giveaways---as well as advertisements that sought to evoke 1964's image of the Orient.

Pittsburgh-based Duolingo hiring Senior Brand Marketing Designer, proficiency in Japanese or Mandarin preferred.

Pittsburgh-based Duolingo is hiring a Senior Brand Marketing Designer, with a preference for someone proficient in Japanese or Mandarin Chinese, among a few other languages. An excerpt from the job ad:

You Will...

• Execute design and content needs for a variety of branded marketing content including seasonal campaigns, performance marketing, newsletters, social media and systems, splash pages, among additional partnership collateral.
• Design, experiment and test creative content across performance marketing including App store optimization and systems.
• Closely collaborate with our Design Studio of illustrators, designers and animators to bring a cohesive brand to the world across all marketing touchpoints with the utmost attention to craft and detail. This includes illustrative, typographic and design compositional craft, and some motion graphics.
• Scale the brands guidelines and content clearly, concisely, and fearlessly through existing content and pushing the barriers of where we will be next.
• Provide design feedback and guidance to production designers, internal teams as well as partner vendors, agencies on local and global marketing initiatives when needed.
• Partner with other cross functional teams such as PR, Content Studio, Product, and community teams to creatively scale out brand moments through content.
• Actively seek and openly receive feedback for your work; Give and solicit feedback and constantly strive for excellence.