Category: Exclusive—Reflection
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[ESSAY] “Sixteen Dead, Zero Justice: Cambodia’s Monument to a Silenced Crime” by Daniel Gauss In 2009, Cambodia experienced a rare moment of national pride when Duch, the Khmer Rouge official who oversaw the notorious S-21 prison, was finally brought to…
![[ESSAY] “Sixteen Dead, Zero Justice: Cambodia’s Monument to a Silenced Crime” by Daniel Gauss](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cambodia_cha.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: In Chris Song’s essay, James Shea’s Last Day of My Face (University of Iowa Press, 2025) is read in relation to Hong Kong as both a lived city and…
![[ESSAY] “𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑦 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑒, Past Light of a City: Reading James Shea and Hong Kong” by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/https-uipress.uiowa_.edubookslast-day-my-face.jpg?w=970)
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[ESSAY] “A Woman Named Summer: Rethinking Xu Hongfei’s Early Sculpture at the Guangzhou Museum of Art” by Daniel Gauss Xu Hongfei’s Summer, photos by Daniel Gauss Among the many works displayed in the Guangzhou Museum of Art, one marble sculpture…
![[ESSAY] “A Woman Named Summer: Rethinking Xu Hongfei’s Early Sculpture at the Guangzhou Museum of Art” by Daniel Gauss](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/img_20251125_110600.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: In “E.T. 3 is Lying in a Coffin Outside Wuhan”, Angus Stewart explores Xiaosha Zhang’s 2018 mockumentary My Son Went to an Alien Planet (E.T. Made in China), situating…
![[ESSAY] “E.T. 3 is Lying in a Coffin Outside Wuhan” by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/https-mubi.comenbefilmse-t-made-in-china.webp?w=1024)
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[ESSAY] “Wong Bar Wine: A Cinematic Oasis in Hanoi” by Zalman S. Davis On a calm Monday evening, I found myself at 14B Hai Bà Trưng in Hanoi, drawn to a cosy corner on Tràng Tiền that radiated a warm, amber…
![[ESSAY] “Wong Bar Wine: A Cinematic Oasis in Hanoi” by Zalman S. Davis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/img_20241222_010158-e1761994105173.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: We are honoured to present the personal reflection “Curriculum Vitae in Silence” and the poem of the same title by Liu Hongbin, a Chinese British poet of Tiananmen exile. He was shaped by a childhood torn between pastoral…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Curriculum Vitae in Silence” by Liu Hongbin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/marble-feature.webp?w=1024)
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Earlier this week, the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 was awarded to the Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.” Coverage in outlets such…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Whose Words Win the Nobel? On Translators and the Question of Literary Recognition” by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/copy-of-copy-of-taken-as-strictly-true-neuroscience-and-sinology-in-laszlo-krasznahorkais-f09d90b7f09d9192f09d91a0f09d91a1f09d919ff09d91a2f09d9190f09d91a1f09d9196f09d919cf09d919b-f09d918.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Things Fall Apart: Kong Shangren’s The Peach Blossom Fan” by Jeff Tompkins Kong Shangren (author), Wai-yee Li (translator). The Peach Blossom Fan, Oxford University Press, 2024. 816 pgs. Wai-yee Li…
![[ESSAY] “Things Fall Apart: Kong Shangren’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑚 𝐹𝑎𝑛” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/the-peach-blossom-fan.png?w=1024)
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◉ Afterword: Living Between Languages◉ Three Poems◉ Anything but Human 大重啟 @ TrendLit Publishing Living between languages by Daryl Lim Wei Jie My poetry was brewed in the multilingual kitchen that is Singapore. The translational and the interlingual—that is, existing…
![[FEATURE] “𝐴𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛: Living between Languages” by Daryl Lim Wei Jie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/anythingbuthuman-copy.jpg?w=838)
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Editor’s note: Emma Zhang reflects on her shifting identity as a language teacher in an age when machine translation threatens the role of English as a bridge to the world. Seeking cultural understanding, she visits Talibé, an exhibition by Mauritanian…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑒́: The Forgotten Faces of Globalisation” by Emma Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/e07c3432-3e50-439d-b428-1c00cf25c682.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: In “Noodle Insurrection or a Gathering of Radicals”, Jennifer Eagleton intertwines Chinese character radicals with politics, crafting a witty poem around Shaanxi’s biangbiang noodles. She blends linguistic play, cultural history, and insurrectionary imagery, demonstrating radicals’ layered meanings. A…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Noodle Insurrection or a Gathering of Radicals” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/biang-biang.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “It’s My House, and I Live Here: Weike Wang’s Rental House” by Peixuan Xie Weike Wang, Rental House, Riverhead Books, 2024. 224 pgs. Reading Rental House is, for a Chinese…
![[ESSAY] “It’s My House, and I Live Here: Weike Wang’s 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒” by Peixuan Xie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/rental-house.jpg?w=994)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [ESSAY] “Of Elephants and Peoples” by Aishwarya Narayanan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/elephants-https-periyartigerreserve.org_.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Rather Demolish Ten Temples Than Destroy One Marriage: Tiantian Zheng’s Violent Intimacy” by Laurence Westwood Tiantian Zheng, Violent Intimacy: Family Harmony, State Stability, and Intimate Partner Violence in Post-Socialist China,…
![[ESSAY] “Rather Demolish Ten Temples Than Destroy One Marriage: Tiantian Zheng’s 𝑉𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑦” by Laurence Westwood](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/violent-intimacy-family-harmony-state-stability-and-intimate-partner-violence-in-post-socialist-china.jpg?w=1000)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “The Places We Would Rather Be: Yan Ge’s Elsewhere” 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] “The Places We Would Rather Be: Yan Ge’s 𝐸𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒” by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/elsewhere-yan-ge.jpg?w=994)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Tragedies of Inequality: Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite and Jordan Peele’s Us” by Jonathan Chan Bong Joon-Ho (director), Parasite, 2019. 132 min.Jordan Peele (director), Us, 2019, 116 min. The sociologist Teo You Yenn…
![[ESSAY] “Tragedies of Inequality: Bong Joon-ho’s 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 and Jordan Peele’s 𝑈𝑠” by Jonathan Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/us.png?w=749)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Die With Your Pants Down: Patrick Tam’s Nomad” by Matt Turner Patrick Tam (director), Nomad (烈火青春), 1982. 157 min. This review contains spoilers. I really didn’t see the final scene coming.…
![[ESSAY] “Die With Your Pants Down: Patrick Tam’s 𝑁𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑑” by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/nomad_japanese-poster.webp?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “A Recipe for Confusion: Henrietta Harrison’s The Perils of Interpreting” by Laurence Westwood Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Perils of Interpreting. Henrietta Harrison, The Perils of Interpreting: The Extraordinary Lives of…
![[ESSAY] “A Recipe for Confusion: Henrietta Harrison’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔” by Laurence Westwood](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/the-perils-of-interpreting-the-extraordinary-lives-of-two-translators-between-qing-china-and-the-british-empire-1.png?w=1023)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “What Does It Mean to Be a Feminist in China? Reviewing Feminisms with Chinese Characteristics” by X. H. Collins Ping Zhu and Hui Faye Xiao (editors), Feminisms with Chinese Characteristics, Syracuse…
![[ESSAY] “What Does It Mean to Be a Feminist in China? Reviewing 𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑚𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑠” by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/feminists_chinese-characteristics.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Giving a Voice to Those With None: Karen Ma’s China’s Millennial Digital Generation” by X. H. Collins Karen Ma. China’s Millennial Digital Generation: Conversations with Balinghou (Post-1980s) Indie Filmmakers, Long…
![[ESSAY] “Giving a Voice to Those With None: Karen Ma’s 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎’𝑠 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛” by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/chinas-millennial-digital-generation-conversations-with-balinghou-post-1980s-indie-filmmakers-1.png?w=1024)
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