Author: t
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My wifeβs family keep asking me if I βlike Chinese thingsβ. We recently went back to Hong Kong to visit them. We have been back to Hong Kong many times and although they know me quite well by now, they…
![[EXCLUSIVE] βDo You Like Chinese Things?β by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/cha-an-asian-literary-journal-1.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βLiving Life to the Fullest: Xi Xiβs Mourning a Breastβ by Lydia Kwa Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mourning a Breast. Xi Xi (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Mourning a Breast, New York…
![[REVIEW] βLiving Life to the Fullest: Xi Xiβs πππ’πππππ π π΅ππππ π‘β by Lydia Kwa](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/mourning-a-breast_xi-xi_jennifer-feeley.jpg?w=938)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hongwei Bao, The Passion of the Rabbit God, Valley Press, 2024. 81 pgs. There is this book on intimacy, belonging, histories, and motorcycles and leather jackets. It…
![[REVIEW] βSubverting Otherness from Within: Hongwei Baoβs πβπ πππ π πππ ππ π‘βπ π
πππππ‘ πΊππβ by Kika W. L. Van Robays](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-passion-of-the-rabbit-god_hongwei-bao.jpg?w=973)
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[TRANSLATION] βThe Singing of the Bluebirdβ by Yuan Jinmei, translated by Kevin McGeary About the story: A Chinese man who grew up in poverty on a riverboat studies hard and becomes wealthy. After moving abroad, he marries a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Western…
![[TRANSLATION] βThe Singing of the Bluebirdβ by Yuan Jinmei, translated by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/yuan-jinmei_kevin-mcgeary.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Touring the Land of the Dead. Maki Kashimada (author), Haydn Trowell (translator), Touring the Land of the Dead (and Ninety-Nine Kisses), Europa Editions, 2021.…
![[REVIEW] βA Profound Exploration of RealityβMaki Kashimadaβs πππ’ππππ π‘βπ πΏπππ ππ π‘βπ π·πππ: ππ€π πππ£πππππ β by James Kin Pong Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/touring-the-land-of-the-dead-and-ninety-nine-kiss.jpg?w=890)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βThe Places We Would Rather Be: Yan Geβs Elsewhereβ by X. H. Collins Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Yan Ge. Yan Ge, Elsewhere: Stories, Scribner, 2023. 304 pgs. I became interested…
![[ESSAY] βThe Places We Would Rather Be: Yan Geβs πΈππ ππ€βπππβ by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/elsewhere-yan-ge.jpg?w=994)
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Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β I found a small glass bottle lying in the street in Hong Kong. The bottle had no label, no embossing, no top. There was no indication of what it had originally been used for. It was just a small,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “The Small Glass Bottle of Feathers” by Jeff BeylΒ Β Β](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/feathers.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sati Mookherjee, Eye, Ravenna Press, 2022. 67 pgs. Sati Mookherjeeβs lyrical Eye is a moving testament to her grandfather, Sri Anil Hari Chatterjee, who was exiled from…
![[REVIEW] “Under Mother Durgaβs Watchful Eyes: Sati Mookherjee’s πΈπ¦π” by Al Lim](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/sati-mookherjee_eye.jpg?w=986)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Navigating the Fault Lines of Travel: Yun Ko-eun’s The Disaster Tourist” by Jack Greenberg Yun Ko-eun (author), Lizzie Buehler (translator), The Disaster Tourist, Serpentβs Tail, 2020. 186 pgs. After reviewing…
![[REVIEW] “Navigating the Fault Lines of Travel: Yun Ko-eun’s πβπ π·ππ ππ π‘ππ πππ’πππ π‘” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-disaster-tourist.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Andreas von Buddenbrock, The Ink Trail Hong Kong, Blacksmith Books, 2024. 96 pgs. When I moved to Hong Kong in 1990, I arrived with a long list…
![[REVIEW] “Intricate Sketches: Andreas von Buddenbrock’s πβπ πΌππ πππππ π»πππ πΎπππ” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-ink-trail.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (director), City of Wind, 2023. 103 min. Films about Mongolia donβt make their way to Europe too often and in the past when they have,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Beginning (or Continuation) of a Mongolian New Wave?βLkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir’s πΆππ‘π¦ ππ ππππ” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/city-of-wind.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βA Series of Cyanotypes: Xi Xiβs Mourning a Breastβ by Marsha McDonald Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mourning a Breast. Xi Xi (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Mourning a Breast, New York Review…
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jonathan D. Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution, Penguin, 1982. 560 pgs. Contrary to what the title might suggest, Jonathan D. Spenceβs…
![[REVIEW] βAn Illuminating Journey: Jonathan D. Spenceβs πβπ πΊππ‘π ππ π»πππ£ππππ¦ πππππβ by Alessia Marini](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-gate-of-heavenly-peace.jpg?w=979)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Leslie Shimotakahara, Sisters of the Spruce, Caitlin Press, 2024, 234 pp. Set in the backdrop of World War One, Leslie Shimotakahara‘s Sisters of the Spruce is…
![[REVIEW] “Powerful Storytelling: Leslie Shimotakahara’s πππ π‘πππ ππ π‘βπ ππππ’ππ” by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/leslie-shimotakahara.jpg?w=900)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entriesΒ in Cha on The Life of Tu Fu. Eliot Weinberger, The Life of Tu Fu, New Directions, 2024, 80 pp. In an authorβs…
![[REVIEW] “He Records the Dawns and the Sunsets: Eliot Weinberger’s πβπ πΏπππ ππ ππ’ πΉπ’” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-life-of-tu-fu.jpg?w=745)
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No more the acrobats, singers and dancers,Prostitutes and pimps, criminals and chancers. …………..A green veil is drawn over all. …………..Rain drips down in an empty hall. The sound of hammers shovels and picks,Drowned out by the river of traffic,Flowing east…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “A Great World: Poem and Introduction” by Paul Bevan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/shanghai-2012-architecture-pingwang-jie.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βRich Complexity: Mouly Suryaβs Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blueβ by Jonathan Chan Mouly Surya (director), Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue, 2019. 4 min. Mouly Suryaβs short filmΒ Something Old,…
![[REVIEW] βRich Complexity: Mouly Suryaβs πππππ‘βπππ πππ, πππ€, π΅πππππ€ππ πππ π΅ππ’πβ by Jonathan Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/images-original.png?w=1024)
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π Cha‘s SHΕGUN Feature Well, after telling everyone how great the 1980 ShΕgun miniseries is, I watched the first two episodes of this yearβs new adaptation of James Clavellβs 1975 novel. And itβs really good. Maybe the best show Iβve…
![[SHΕGUN] βOn the Edge of My Seat: πβπππ’π (2024) Episodes I & IIβ by e rathke](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/27shogun-recap-1-videosixteenbynine3000.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on People from My Neighbourhood. Hiromi Kawakami (author), Ted Goossen (translator), People from My Neighbourhood, Granta Books, 2021. 96 pgs. The world depicted in Kawakami…
![[REVIEW] βCoexistence of the Familiar and the Unfamiliar: Hiromi Kawakami’s ππππππ ππππ ππ¦ ππππβπππ’πβπππβ by James Kin-Pong Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/people-from-my-neighbourhood.jpg?w=1005)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS RyΓ»suke Hamaguchi (director), Evil Does Not Exist, 2023. 106 min. RyΓ»suke Hamaguchiβs follow-up to his Oscar-nominated hit Drive My Car starts off as a seemingly much more…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βEnigmatic Pronouncement: RyΓ»suke Hamaguchiβs πΈπ£ππ π·πππ πππ‘ πΈπ₯ππ π‘β by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/evil-does-not-exist-new.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [EXCLUSIVE] βAlien Bless You: A Review of Netflixβs 3 Body Problemβ by Angus Stewart Derek Tsang, Andrew Stanton, Minkie Spiro, and Jeremy Podeswa (directors), 3 Body Problem, 2024. We all die.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] βAlien Bless You: A Review of Netflixβs 3 π΅πππ¦ πππππππβ by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/3-body-problem.webp?w=1024)
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Chris Songβs Note: βThe Charred Cityβ conveys the manic restlessness Hongkongers felt after 1997. The story is set in the stifling social atmosphere of post-Handover Hong Kong, which was βcharredβ, ironically by pervasive celebratory fireworks. The protagonist, at the behest…
![[TRANSLATION] βThe Charred Cityβ by Lok Fung, Translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/lok-fung-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Matt Turner recently read Anthony Tao’s new poetry collection, We Met in Beijing, and went to a reading of his in New York. He wrote a short “consideration” about it all…
![[ESSAY] “Anthony Tao at Sunset Bar” by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/anthony-tao_cha-an-asian-literary-journal-1.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka (directors), Stonewalling, 2022. 148 min. The first time she wears the t-shirt she paces before a mirror practicing a tongue twister. βForty…
![[REVIEW] βFemme Fatale: On Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsukaβs ππ‘ππππ€ππππππβ by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/huang-ji-ryuji-otsuka-return-with-third-collaboration-with-yao-honggui-stonewalling.webp?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yiu-Wai Chu, Hong Kong Pop Culture in the 1980s: A Decade of Splendour, Asian Visual Cultures series, Amsterdam University Press, 2023. 305 pgs. While my previous two…
![[REVIEW] “Esprit of the City: Yiu-Wai Chuβs π»πππ πΎπππ πππ πΆπ’ππ‘π’ππ ππ π‘βπ 1980π ” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/hong-kong-pop-culture-in-the-1980s.jpg?w=930)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa (authors), Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator), She and Her Cat, Washington Square Press, 2024. 144 pgs. As a reader, Iβd never thought that Iβd be…
![[REVIEW] βUniversally Relevant Today: Makoto ShinkaiΒ &Β Naruki Nagakawaβs πβπ πππ π»ππ πΆππ‘β by Saliha HaddadΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/she-and-her-cat.jpg?w=966)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Babak Jalali (director), Fremont, 2023. 88 min. “Fortune messages are a responsibility. Consciously, or unconsciously, they are going to act on the flux of things. They shouldn’t…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Inside the Fortune Cookie: Babak Jalali’s πΉππππππ‘” by Oliver Farry](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/fremont.jpg?w=799)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wong Ping (director), Sorry for the Late Reply, 2021. 15 min. βIf youβve ever stepped into the supernatural world during a hike, or have gotten lost in…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βSeeking Freedom in the Midst of Sexual Fetishes and Voyeurism: Wong Ping’s πππππ¦ πππ π‘βπ πΏππ‘π π
πππ𦔠by Octavia Chen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/sorry-for-the-late-reply_wong-ping.jpg?w=830)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Historic Thriller Steeped in the Mythical Mists of Time: Yangsze Choo’s The Fox Wife” by Kevin McGeary Yangsze Choo, The Fox Wife, Henry Holt and Company, 2024. 400…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Historic Thriller Steeped in the Mythical Mists of Time: Yangsze Choo’s πβπ πΉππ₯ ππππ” by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/the-fox-wife_yangsze-choo.jpg?w=974)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on A Cha Chaan Teng That Does Not Exist. Derek Chung (author), May Huang (translator), A Cha Chaan Teng That Does Not Exist, Zephyr…
![[REVIEW] βA Bilingual Local Tasting Menu: Derek Chungβs π΄ πΆβπ πΆβπππ ππππ πβππ‘ π·πππ πππ‘ πΈπ₯ππ π‘β by William Lau](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/a-cha-chaan-teng-that-does-not-exist.jpg?w=1024)
Cha 