By China Institute, Youtube, Jun 23, 2021
MEDIA
Pieces of China (S3, E13): Clarissa Wei on the Chinese Pickle Jar
By China Institute, Youtube, Jun 24, 2021
Investigation: Is Vancouver’s Chinatown dying?
By Mike Howell, Vancouver is Awesome, Jun 17, 2021
Pandemic-triggered increases in store closures, street disorder and anti-Asian racism have slammed the historic community, with a contrasting mix of unease and optimism among those who remain and those who left.
For more than a year now, Helen Chu has stood behind the counter of her flower shop in the Chinatown Plaza and hoped for something that rarely occurs these days: a visit from a buying customer.
On a recent Monday morning, over the space of three hours, Chu received four online orders for small flower arrangements, but no walk-in customers. Read more…
Western-Chinese food is authentic — and isn’t white washing our culture
by Kathryn Mannie, CBC, Jun 22, 2021
Dismissing this cuisine also dismisses the legacy of chefs like my grandparents.
“Sik jor fahn mei ah? Have you eaten yet?”
This common Cantonese greeting indicates just how closely Chinese culture associates food and well-being. My gung gung (maternal grandfather) fiercely proclaims that food and money are the two most important things to possess — in that order.
Like many second- and third-generation Chinese-Canadians, I was partially raised by my grandparents while my parents worked full time.
And at the centre of their home was the kitchen. Read more…
A Family’s Quarantine-Kitchen Bonding in “Have You Eaten”
By Han Zhang, Film by Lina Li, The New Yorker, December 18, 2020
In the first few months of quarantine, Lina Li was especially well fed. In mid-March, Li, a junior at Ryerson University, in Toronto, decamped from her apartment downtown and moved back to her parents’ house in the suburban town of Thornhill, about half an hour’s drive from the city. Li’s mother, Yan Gao, was prepared for the lockdown—in January, after learning about the spread of the coronavirus in China, she stocked her pantry with staples: for starters, four bottles of soy sauce and ten bags of jasmine rice; a restaurateur friend supplied brisket, for the freezer. The only thing Gao didn’t stock up on was vegetables—she doesn’t believe in frozen greens. She grows zucchini, cucumbers, green onions, chives, and tomatoes in her garden. The pandemic brought Gao’s two adult daughters and her husband—who, for decades, had split his time between Beijing and Toronto for business—under one roof. The family played board games, watched movies, and took daily walks together—that is, between gulping down the elaborate meals that Gao whipped up. Read more…
What it’s like eating Dim Sum out on the Patio/Parking Lot during covid
By Tim Lee
While our restaurants are still not allowed to serve dine-in meals, many places have been creatively using their patios and even their parking lots to offer an out door dining experience. Today, I get a chance to try dim sum outside at Neptune Seafood Restaurant in Richmond BC Canada where we’ll have lots of dim sum dishes, seafood, and an incredible Lobster fried noodles
Cooking Class: The Food and Soul of America’s Chinatowns: San Francisco with Brandon Jew, Tienlon Ho, and Helen Rosner
‘The Keefer Yard’ Prepares to Tee Off in Chinatown
By Andrew Morrison, Jul 28, 2020, Scout Vancouver
You know that narrow but deep vacant lot beside The Keefer Bar in Chinatown? It’s currently being transformed into The Keefer Yard, an al fresco space dedicated to outdoor games and good times.
The idea for The Keefer Yard is simple: run long rows of bench-style seats against both walls and front them with a 9-hole putting green. Putters and balls are available to rent for a small fee that will be donated to local charitable organisations, starting with the Hogan’s Alley Society. There will be other games to play, too (eg. horseshoes), and GM Keenan Hood tells me he’s also planning for a food truck to be present. read more…
‘What Is Chinatown?’ Artist Jiawei Zhao Looks At Chinatown Under Lockdown
by Nadja Sayej, Apr 21 2020, Forbes
Jiawei Zhao is a Chinese artist based in New York City. As the country is under lockdown, Zhao uses familiar Chinese symbolism in his artwork to create a feeling of familiarity and comfort in this time of crisis.
The Brooklyn-based artist looks to Manhattan’s Chinatown, and the various Chinatowns across the country, as a point of inspiration for his artworks, be it his series that looks at the closed Chinese-language movie theatres, to his Wallpaper series, which reexamines historic public monuments and their relevancy in our current pandemic—looking back to see a clearer future, so to speak. read more…
Guo Ding: Chinese Canadian Museum will counter flawed narratives about B.C. and Canadian history
by Guo Ding, August 2nd, 2020, The Georgia Straight
Last month, the B.C. government announced $10 million in funding for the Chinese Canadian Museum project.
This marks the first time that a North American government has supported such a project. And $10 million is only the beginning.
This shows that Premier John Hogan is a leader who fulfils his campaign promises.
I still remember when I wrote an article in Sing Tao Daily on May 1, 2017, suggesting that B.C. should build a Chinese Canadian history museum to identify the contributions of the Chinese community since 1860. The next day, I received a phone call from NDP headquarters, telling me that the party leader, Horgan, endorsed my idea. read more…
