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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILM Wang Anyi (author), Todd Foley (translator), I Love Bill and Other Stories, Foreword by Xudong Zhang, Cornell University Press, 2023. 260 pgs. Since reading the original in 2001, I…
![[REVIEW] “China’s Most Important Woman Writer of The Last Half-century: A Review of Wang Anyi’s 𝐼 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠” by Sabina Knight](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-chris-song.png?w=940)
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Chris Song’s Note: Lawrence Kwok-ling Pun’s 潘國靈 short story “Twenty Years Since Losing the City” 失城二十年 is a sequel to Wong Bik-wan’s 黃碧雲 canonical short story “Losing the City”, which gruesomely explores the despair Hongkongers felt upon the 1997 Handover and the…
![[TRANSLATION] “Twenty Years Since Losing the City” by Lawrence Kwok-ling Pun, Translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lawrence-kwok-ling-pun-e6bd98e59c8be99d88-1.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Banality That Starts It All: Dorothy Tse’s Owlish” by Luca Griseri Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Many reviewers…
![[REVIEW] “The Banality That Starts It All: Dorothy Tse’s 𝑂𝑤𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ” by Luca Griseri](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “History As Written by the Successful Underdogs: Jing Tsu’s Kingdom of Characters” by Kevin McGeary Jing Tsu, Kingdom of Characters, Riverhead Books, 2023. 336 pgs. The earliest known empire…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “History As Written by the Successful Underdogs: Jing Tsu’s 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠” by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/jing-tsu-kingdom-of-characters.jpg?w=994)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILM Leung Wing-Fai and Andy Willis (editors), East Asian Film Stars, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 236 pages. You’re a Cantonese researcher rummaging through the library and cannot believe your eyes. There’s…
![[REVIEW] “Stardom Before Netflix: A Review of 𝐸𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑚 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/east-asian-film-stars.jpg?w=946)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “No Better Place to Start: Fuchsia Dunlop’s Invitation to a Banquet” by Kyle Muntz Fuchsia Dunlop, Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food, Particular Books, 2023, 480 pgs. China…
![[REVIEW] “No Better Place to Start: Fuchsia Dunlop’s 𝐼𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑡” by Kyle Muntz](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/invitation-to-a-banquet-chinese-food.jpg?w=961)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Read “Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part II” HERE. Jin Yong, aka Louis Cha Leung-yung (1924–2018). ▚ Jin Yong (author), Shelly Bryant, Gigi Chang, and Anna Holmwood (translators) Legends of the…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Kung Fu Is a Store of Infinite Fun: Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part I” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/legends-of-the-condor-heroes--2.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Leta Hong Fincher, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China (10th Anniversary Edition), Bloomsbury, 2023. 280 pgs. In Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China Leta Hong…
![[REVIEW] “A Great Cry for Help: Leta Hong Fincher’s 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛” by Marika Trimigno](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/leta-hong-fincher-leftover-women-the-resurgence-of-gender-inequality-in-china-1.jpg?w=568)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Flowers of Lhasa. Tsering Yangkyi (author), Christopher Peacock (translator), The Flowers of Lhasa, Balestier Press, 2022. 205 pgs. The city of Lhasa in Tibet is…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Four Women Migrant Workers: TSERING YANGKYI’S 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐿ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑎” by David W. Landrum](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/flowers-of-lhasa_tsering-yangkyi.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Losers of China’s Sexual Revolution: Tsering Yangkyi’s The Flowers of Lhasa” by Kevin McGeary Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Flowers of Lhasa. Tsering Yangkyi (author), Christopher Peacock (translator), The…
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Via. Faai-jee. That’s how to say, chopsticks, in Cantonese. That’s what my wife taught me. When we were first married, she taught me many Cantonese words for everyday things. One day, just kidding around, I called them choppers. As in,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Don’t Call em’ Choppers” by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/screenshot-2024-02-28-at-14.47.09.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Goro Miyazaki (director), Hayao Miyazaki (co-writer), From Up on Poppy Hill, 2011. 91 min. Yokohama is somewhat in the shadow of neighbouring Tokyo but it’s the second-largest city in…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “One Foot in the Past, One Foot in the Future: Hayao and Goro Miyazaki’s 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑈𝑝 𝑂𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝐻𝑖𝑙𝑙” by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1_hvheoa-xbqexnbq1dk9jzg.webp?w=1024)
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I’d nervously sweated through the last 23 hours, certain I’d be escorted to a ventilation-less detention room to wait for a flight back to the US. And now I faced a Border Control officer who looked through my passport without…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “In Beijing: 12.26-1.10” by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/image0-2.jpeg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 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. “Why did you come here?” I…
![[REVIEW] “How Bizarre To Be Human Amongst Other Humans: Hiromi Kawakami’s 𝑃𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑀𝑦 𝑁𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑟ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑” by Kailee Haong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/people-from-my-neighbourhood.jpg?w=1005)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “When Cosmopolitanism Traverses Across the Screen Beyond Subtitles—Felicia Chan’s Cosmopolitan Cinema: Cross-Cultural Encounters in East Asian Film” by Kathy Nguyen Felicia Chan, Cosmopolitan Cinema: Cross-Cultural Encounters in East Asian Film,…
![[REVIEW] “When Cosmopolitanism Traverses Across the Screen Beyond Subtitles—Felicia Chan’s 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑚𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎: 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠-𝐶𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐸𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑚” by Kathy Nguyen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/east-asian-cinema.jpg?w=980)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Slightly Off-kilter Worlds: Yun Ko-eun’s Table for One” by Jennifer Eagleton Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Table for One. Yun Ko-eun (author), Lizzie Buehler (translator), Table for One: Stories, Columbia University…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Slightly Off-kilter Worlds: Yun Ko-eun’s 𝑇𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑂𝑛𝑒” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/yun-ko-eun_table-for-one.png?w=1024)
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Chris Song’s Note: Liu Yichang’s 劉以鬯 (1918–2018) short story “Lunar New Year’s Eve” 除夕 imagines the last day of Cao Xueqin 曹雪芹 (1710–1765), author of The Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢, who is believed to have died on Lunar New Year’s…
![[TRANSLATION] “Lunar New Year’s Eve” by Liu Yichang, Translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/liu-yichang-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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Banner art by Christopher Leibow, featured in the June 2017 issue of Cha.
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“China is already a great power, and whether the next three decades will be a cold or a hot war, nothing can stop her now. By the year 2001 she will be a powerful industrial socialist State.”—Han Suyin, China in…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Han versus Kahn: 1970” by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/han-suyin-and-herman-kahn.png?w=1024)
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Chris Song’s Note: Xu Nianci 徐念慈 (1875-1908), from Changshu, Jiangsu, was a Chinese writer, editor, and translator in the late Qing dynasty who mastered English and Japanese in his early twenties and was skilled in mathematics and writing. In 1904,…
![[TRANSLATION] “A New Tale from Mr Faluo” BY Xu Nianci, TRANSLATED BY CHRIS SONG](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/a-new-tale-from-mr.-falou-e696b0e6b395e89ebae58588e7949fe8ad9a2.png?w=880)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “On Behalf of Those Who Weren’t Able to Survive: Kyung-Sook Shin’s Violets” by Beth Adams Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Violets. Kyung-Sook Shin (author), Anton Hur (translator), Violets, The Feminist Press,…
![[REVIEW] “On Behalf of Those Who Weren’t Able to Survive: Kyung-Sook Shin’s 𝑉𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠” by Beth Adams](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/violets_anton-hur.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Kit Fan’s Diamond Hill: A Revelation of 1980s Hong Kong” by Lynn Yin Lam Chui Kit Fan, Diamond Hill, Diamond Books, 2021. 352 pgs. Kit Fan’s Diamond Hill, published in…
![[REVIEW] “Kit Fan’s 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑖𝑙𝑙: A Revelation of 1980s Hong Kong” by Lynn Yin Lam Chui](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/81lvo74xxsl._sl1500_.jpg?w=972)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 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. 144…
![[REVIEW] “Enigmatic Prose: Maki Kashimada’s 𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑑” by Jane McBride](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/touring-the-land-of-the-dead-and-ninety-nine-kiss-1.jpg?w=890)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Bae Myung-hoon (author), Stella Kim (translator), Launch Something!, Honford Star, 2023. 368 pgs. Telling us he was inspired by the “ridiculous heatwave in the summer of 2018”, Bae Myung-hoon…
![[REVIEW] “A Novel of Space-time: Bae Myung-hoon’s 𝐿𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔!” by Lucy Hamilton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/launch-something.jpg?w=977)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ocean Vuong, Time Is a Mother, Penguin Random House, 2022. 112 pgs. Building a foundation on the aftershocks of his mother’s death, this collection of Ocean Vuong further explores,…
![[REVIEW] “I’ve Plagiarised My Life to Give You the Best of Me: Ocean Vuong’s 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐼𝑠 𝑎 𝑀𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/time-is-a-mother-1.jpg?w=932)
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Lin Huiyin, 1904-1955 (Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain) Mike Fu’s Note: I find myself drawn to Chinese writers situated at the interstices of history, culture, and language, and whose literary works demonstrate a hybrid subjectivity, whether overt or implicit. Lin Huiyin…
![[EXCLUSIVE] Two New Translations of Lin Huiyin by Mike Fu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/mike-fu-translations.png?w=1024)
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I blame my inability to speak Cantonese on waitresses in Chinese restaurants. My wife would say it’s all on me. To be fair, I should have kept it up. I should have practised more. You are getting better every day,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “On Learning to Speak Cantonese” by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cantonese.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Liang Wern Fook (author), Christina Ng (translator), The Joy of a Left Hand, Balestier Press, 2023. 144 pgs. When my youngest child was about two years old, I noticed…
![[REVIEW] “Humans in All States of Emotion: Liang Wern Fook’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑜𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝐿𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑑” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/the-joy-of-a-left-hand.jpg?w=880)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ricky Lee (author), Noelle Q. De Jesus (translator), For B (or How Love Devastates Four out of Every Five of Us), Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2023. 230 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] “Processing Love in Ricky Lee’s Novel 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝐵” by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/for-b-or-how-love-devastates-four-out-of-every-five-of-us.png?w=987)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jun Ichikawa (director), Tony Takitani, 2004. 75 min. Tony Takitani is a film about loneliness and its unwavering cloudiness—the way it makes you want to lie down in a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Human Loneliness: Jun Ichikawa’s 𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑦 𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑖” by Yimin Huang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/takitani.jpg?w=345)
Cha 