Chinese shipping and express mail company Kuapai (快派) opens Pittsburgh location in Squirrel Hill.

Chinese shipping company and express mail service Kuaipai Global (快派) recently opened a Pittsburgh location in Squirrel Hill. It is located at 5815 Forbes Ave #2FL (map), above Thai & Noodle Outlet and Instyle salon. It is one of several Chinese express mail companies to come and go from the neighborhood in recent years: KS Express (later YM-EX) opened on Murray Ave. in November 2016 and STO Express arrived in January 2016 and left in summer 2017.

"Kitsuke: The Art Of Kimono," scheduled for December 2 at Pitt, has been postponed.

"Vivid kimono" by Raita Futo (Creative Commons).

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center's "Kitsuke: The Art Of Kimono," originally scheduled for December 2, has been postponed, according to the ASC's Twitter.

Our Kitsuke workshop scheduled for Mon, Dec 2nd is now postponed! We will update with more information when available. Thank you!

— Pitt Asian Studies Center (@PittASC) November 30, 2019

Dagu Rice Noodle (大鼓米线) coming soon to Squirrel Hill, will replace The Magic Noodle.

Signage recently went up at Forbes Ave. in Squirrel Hill (map) for Dagu Rice Noodle (大鼓米线), a Chinese chain that opened its first American location in Las Vegas and has another location in Cleveland.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there was a restaurant without a sign near the flowery Drum tower in Yunnan, Kunming. Whenever the city had a happy news, people rang the drum to celebrate. Along with the joy of drumbeat, people flocked to the unnamed little restaurant and had bowls of hot rice noodle soup, meaning “smooth long time”. Because of this joy, with the honesty of the shop owner, the little restaurant eventually became a century-old business.

It replaces The Magic Noodle, which opened in May and in turn replaced Sun Penang, which closed earlier in 2019.

Pittsburgh Chinese School hiring teachers.

The Pittsburgh Chinese School, which meets on Sundays at Taylor Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill, is hiring teachers.

岗位要求:
1、热爱中国文化，并有热情将中国的文化广泛传播。
2、喜欢孩子，有爱心、耐心，责任心，有亲和力。
3、普通话发音标准清晰，语言表达能力强。
4、有基本的英语表达沟通能力。
5、有中文教学经验，尤其是有中小学教学经验者优先。
6、有教育或中文相关学历者优先。
7、文艺课教师有相关学历或工作经验者优先。

2012 film Falling Flowers (萧红) at Maridon Museum, December 5.

The 2012 film Falling Flowers (萧红) will play at Butler's Maridon Museum on November 8 as part of its Chinese Film Series. The movie starts at 6:00 pm and is paired by an introduction from Dr. Wei Bian of Slippery Rock University. The movie is free and open to the public, though reservations are required and can be made at 724-282-0123. The Maridon, an Asian art museum, is located at 322 North McKean St. in downtown Butler (map), roughly 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Susan Lieu and "140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother" at Pitt, January 10.

The University of Pittsburgh's Vietnamese Student Association will host playwright Susan Lieu and her "140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother" on January 10, 2020.

The Vietnamese Student Association presents: Susan Lieu x 140 LBS: HOW BEAUTY KILLED MY MOTHER.

Susan Lieu is a Vietnamese-American playwright, performer, director and activist. “140 LBS” is an emotional solo performance written and performed by Susan and directed by Sarah Prokalob that tells the story of Susan’s mother who passed away in surgery due to medical malpractice. The performance brings to awareness “the multi-generational immigrant experience, body insecurity and shame, repression and subsequent examination of personal loss, lack of accountability in the medical system, and the Vietnamese folkloric practice of spirit channeling.” Susan is currently on a national tour to bring this story into the lives of others and to start a discussion on important topics relevant to today’s society.

Free Chinese, Japanese, Korean classes in Pittsburgh in December.

a night view of Seoul, by sinano1000 (Creative Commons)

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will continue to offer free Chinese, Japanese, and Korean classes at some of its branches this December. Check out the class information below in addition to its language resources on the shelves and online.

As the library notes: these classes are free; registration is not required; no materials are needed and nothing needs to be bought; new participants are welcome at any time; classes are for adults (unless otherwise noted) but well-behaved young people are welcome to join as well.

Sister City Saitama to send cohorts of students to Pittsburgh from 2020.

A delegation from Saitama, Japan, met with Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Hamlet earlier this month to explore opportunities for collaboration. Saitama and Pittsburgh became Sister Cities in 1998. Dr. Hamlet writes on Facebook:

Starting in 2020, Saitama City will send its first cohort of students to Pittsburgh to participate in local programs and conduct fieldwork in Pittsburgh’s universities and museums.

2019 Chinese movie Better Days (少年的你) continues in Pittsburgh through December 4.

The new Chinese movie Better Days (少年的你), which opened in Pittsburgh on November 15, will continue through at least December 4. From the distributor:

From the award-winning team of Soul Mate, comes a new Chinese drama movie by Derek Kwok-Cheung Tsang, starring Jackson Yee and Zhou Dongyu.

When it is time for the Chinese gaokao, a two-day national college entrance exam, the entire country comes to a standstill. For nearly ten million high school students, this exam not only determines where and if they get to study but the fates of their entire families as well. Like so many others, Nian has been single-mindedly preparing for the exam, cutting everything else out of her life. When she becomes the target of relentless bullying, fate brings her together with small-time criminal Bei and the two form a strong friendship. Before they can completely retreat into a world of their own, the two are dragged in the middle of a murder case of a teenage girl where they are the prime suspects. In this dramatic thriller, Derek Kwok-Cheung Tsang paints a bleak picture of an oppressive society, in the guise of a gripping fairy-tale love story, exposing the dark world of bullying and societal pressures of achievement facing today’s youth.

It will play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online. 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.

Bong Joon-ho film Parasite (기생충) continues in Pittsburgh through December 4.

The acclaimed 2019 Bong Joon-ho film Parasite (기생충), which opened in Pittsburgh on November 1, will continue in Pittsburgh through at least December 4.

Bong Joon Ho brings his singular mastery home to Korea in this pitch-black modern fairytale.

Meet the Park Family: the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist, to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks obliviously bankroll their entire household. When a parasitic interloper threatens the Kims’ newfound comfort, a savage, underhanded battle for dominance breaks out, threatening to destroy the fragile ecosystem between the Kims and the Parks. By turns darkly hilarious and heart-wrenching, PARASITE showcases a modern master at the top of his game.

Parasite won the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It continues locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront. Tickets are available online.