Entertainment

Bethesda, MD (March 16, 2015) — The National Philharmonic welcomes Haochen Zhang, the award-winning 24-year-old Chinese pianist, as he makes his Washington, D.C. orchestral debut under the baton of Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski. Both former child prodigies, Zhang and Gajewski present a dazzling program: Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, and with Zhang’s solo the ultimate Romantic piano …

By Jennie L. Ilustre   Hongtao Li is one of those people who transcends time and place. His art graces museums and art galleries all over the world. He is the first Chinese artist to have his works showcased in Musee de Louvre in Paris. Political VIPs and Hollywood celebrities, as well as the general public, have a collection of …

The reviews and the ratings are in for ABC-TV’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” which officially premiered on Feb. 10, and as a saying goes, “We have a winner!” TV by the  Numbers ran a story with the headline, “ABC’s ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ Debuts as Season’s #1 New Show with Upscale Adults 18-49.” The Hollywood Reporter noted, “After its strong …

  Washington, DC – No longer do DC residents have to cross the river or other state lines to pick up authentic Asian items. Toki Underground’s Erik Bruner-Yang has opened up a local-oriented and specially-curated Asian market inside the culinary landmark, Union Market. The shop is a great resource for shoppers who may be unable or are just unwilling to …

  By Christian Oh Jay Park, a former K-POP boy band member of 2PM, and now the CEO of his own label, AOMG Records, has announced his triumphant return to the US. for a three-city tour with D.C. being one of his stops. Park is bringing several other artists with him: LOCO, a young rapper who made his waves winning …

  By Corih Kim   On August 26, 2014, Horseshoe Casino Baltimore held a Grand Opening of its facilities in Baltimore, Maryland. The casino features 2,500 video lottery terminals, 122 table games, and 25-table World Series of Poker-branded room amid 122,000 square feet of gaming space. However, it wasn’t until a week and a half later, on September 6, when …

“The KORUS Festival is organized by the Korean American Association of Washington Metropolitan Area (KAAW), a non-profit 501(c) organization with the support of local communities, the Korean Embassy DC, and local organizations. For over a decade, the KORUS Festival has gathered people of diverse backgrounds and heritage in celebration of Korean culture. This year’s festival included performances of Korean music, …

By Corih Kim As the biggest Asian Festival in the Mid-Atlantic area, and continues to grow each year, as more participants and attendees partake in the celebration of East, Southeast, and South Asian cultures. The Asian Festival DC 2014 showcased the diverse Southeast Asian cultures, focusing on Thailand, Philippine, India, China, and Vietnam. The festival featured a main stage and …

By Daphne Domingo DC residents no longer have to cross any borders to crunch on the some Korean fried chicken that has been sweeping through Asia and the East Coast. Bonchon Chicken franchise owners, Thomas An & Paul Choi, has announced it is will be opening a new location in Navy Yard next spring. They let Washingtonian know that the …

By Gaylord Garcia Michelle Phan, a Youtube star and a beauty guru with more than 6.7 million channel subscribers is getting sued by Ultra Records – an Electronic Dance Music label – for copyright infringement. Ultra Records filed the lawsuit on July 18th, 2014 claiming Phan allegedly used music from the label’s artists in her YouTube makeup tutorial videos without …

By Daphne Domingo  Famed chef and son of Virginia David Chang is coming home! Well, at least one version of his culinary delights will be. DMV residents will no longer have to train, drive, fly or bus it up to New York City in order to enjoy some of the famed Momofuku yummy goodness as a new outpost opens in the …

By Vania Cao The 2014 APA Film Festival will be short and sweet. Breaking from its usual tradition of a seven or ten day festival, this year’s festival will be a three-day affair. Asian Pacific American Film (APA Film) is a nonprofit, all-volunteer run organization established in 2000, with the mission of directing attention to the creative energy of the Asian …

By Heidi Zheng Photo credit to Crane & Turtle Tucked in a quiet neighborhood of Columbia Heights, Crane & Turtle is star restaurateur Paul Ruppert’s new joint on Georgia Avenue. Unlike his other ventures, such as Petworth Citizen & Reading Room, both of which feature mainly American fares, Crane & Turtle brands itself as French-Japanese fusion, a rarity if not …

The aroma of xiao long bao (steamed buns stuffed with minced pork), Chinese roast duck wafts from the open kitchen. The lighting is muted and reflects off of the red and gold decor and you can hear the sounds of table games from across the way. Dining at Maryland Live!’s newest Asian themed restaurant, Luk Fu, is truly an upscale …

By Jenny Chen “The truth is funny. Honest discovery, observation, and reaction is better than contrived invention,” wrote Del Close and Charna Halpern in their book Truth in Comedy. On June 6, 2014, Dis/oriented Comedy presented an uproariously funny, honest, and thought-provoking show about being Asian American to a full house at The Burke Theater and the U.S. Navy Memorial. …

By Yi Chen Born Wong Tung Jim in Canton, China on August 28, 1899, James Wong Howe, as he was known in America, is considered one of the greatest cinematographers in the history of motion pictures.  His films, Algiers (1938), Kings Row (1942), The Old Man and the Sea (1958), Seconds (1966) and Funny Lady (1975), all received Academy Award …

  By Whitney Pipkin Dan Zhu grew up eating dumplings, both at his childhood home in Montgomery County, Md., and on biannual trips to see his grandmother back in China. He said he didn’t appreciate them or the homemade labor they required as a kid. But, when he decided to start a food business with his two best friends a …

By Jenny Chen 2 guys. 2 years. 125 shows. 250 hours of performances. La Ti Do founders Regie Cabico and Don Michael Mendoza are a force to be reckoned with. Since they started La Ti Do in 2012 – a weekly cabaret show in DC featuring spoken word, musical theater, and everything in between – the two have made good …

By Yi Chen Named one of the 100 “Leading Global Thinkers of 2013” by Foreign Policy for “using art to show how inequality breeds violence”, awarded Best Screenplay for his new film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival – it’s been a high-profile year for Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke. Like most of his feature films, A Touch of Sin is …

By Jian Ping and Lisa Xia Jian: It feels unreal that our life story will be on PBS nationwide. I still remember how unhappy you were that the crew followed you to the Aon Building the first day you started a new job, not to mention our guerrilla way of filming in China. Lisa: I thought I was going to …

Film based on a memoir of two generations of Chinese Americans explores history and present By Tamara Treichel “No matter what storm comes, don’t break,” Jian Ping’s grand­mother told her. “You must be strong, like the mulberry tree.” Jian took her grandmother’s words to heart while growing up during China’s chaotic Cultural Revolution (1966-76), and wished to become a “mulberry child.” …

By Amanda L. Andrei It’s hard to resist punning on Kristina Wong’s name – after all, so many of her shows are takes on her Chinese surname: Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Going Green the Wong Way, Wong Street Journal… Covering a vast range of topics (from suicide to environmental living to global poverty), their common thread is the …

By Yi Chen The A.C.T.O.R. (A Continuing Talk on Race) series is a monthly open discussion produced and hosted by Busboys and Poets. The February series featured Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, who talked about his own experience as an Asian American as well as his play Yellow Face, a comedy about mistaken racial identity. “I began writing because …

By Mary Tablante “Growing Up Fisher” is a new comedy that premiered Feb. 23 on NBC and stars seasoned actors J.K. Simmons and Jenna Elfman. The show follows the Fisher family — dad Mel (Simmons), mom Joyce (Elfman), daughter Katie and son Henry. It is told through Henry’s perspective as he deals with his parents’ divorce and his father’s blindness …