The Beijinger Blog - Rita Chung

Schtick Up: Chicago Improv Allstars in Beijing

jackieyu — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:00:00 +0800

ChopSchticks is back, with another chuckle-bringing comedy performance. Al Samuels – of NBC’s Sports Action Team and the critically acclaimed improv musical troupe Baby Wants Candy – is returning to Beijing again heading Chicago Improv Allstars, who will perform two improv shows at Joyluck in Sanlitun on June 5. Al breaks down his funny business.

One Country, Many Kitchens – Sandra Huang guides us through China’s regional cuisines

thebeijinger — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 10:00:00 +0800

Having lived in Taipei, Port-au-Prince, Hanoi, San Francisco and Beijing, Sandra Huang believes the best way to get to know a country, its culture and its people is through food. That could mean visiting local markets, learning about farming or fishing traditions, sampling traditional snacks and dishes or taking a cooking course. Huang teaches classes in regional Chinese cuisine at The Hutong, as well as writing for Savourasia.com, a website highlighting the best eats in a selection of Asian cities, including Beijing. Rita Chung asked this professional foodie about her classes and the secrets of Chinese cuisine.

Rita Chung: How many “Chinese cuisines” are there?

Music Reviews – International: April 2009

thebeijinger — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:00:07 +0800

Hungry Bird by Clem Snide

The album that Clem Snide broke up over when it was recorded in 2006 is finally out. Needless to say, the band is also back together. Straddling the alt-country and indie rock genre, they return with darker, more foreboding lyrics. Frontman Eef Barzelay maintains his soft, twangy wailings but lacks in the whimsical memorability found on previous albums. With verses like “Not everyone will die/ but no one is promised they’ll live” propped up against melodic guitars, banjos and trombones, the songs are resigned and wounded. The esoteric lyrics still cut deep, but these ten tracks will take a few listens to stick. JP

Music Reviews – Local: April 2009

thebeijinger — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:00:52 +0800

The Gar by The Gar (嘎调)

To listen, click here

“Gar” is a term that originally refers to a singing technique in Peking Opera in which certain notes are punctuated with extra volume – quite fitting for the name of this Maybe Mars trio. Having established their on-stage reputation as somewhere between burn-it-all grunge and a band with a gradual intensity, this debut from Zhan Pan (vocals and guitar), Wu Wenjie (bass) and Wang Xu (drums) doesn’t disappoint.

Go Green and Blackout

thebeijinger — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:00:31 +0800

Balancing economic development with environmental conservation is always a tough bargain, and one of the key challenges China faces today. Global initiatives like the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour – a campaign to encourage businesses, public buildings and ordinary people around the world to symbolically turn off their lights for one hour – play a key role in raising public awareness of the dangers of environmental degradation. Ahead of Earth Hour, on March 28, we spoke to WWF communications officer and Earth Hour campaign manger for China, Su Xiaowei, about Beijing’s inaugural participation in this global climate change event.

What interested you in working on environmental issues in China?
I think China is one of the best places to work on climate change and environmental issues, because of how quickly things move forward here. I don’t think people outside of China quite understand the kind of progress that is being made here.

DIY Literary Death Matches - An Interview with Todd Zuniga

thebeijinger — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:00:38 +0800

One of the highlights of the Bookworm Literary Festival 2009 will undoubtedly be the Literary Death Match (LDM), a reading competition between world-class authors, sabotaged by absurd behavior from judges and the most random and outrageous methods to settle the score. Writing wunderkind, Opium magazine creator and editor, and creator of the LDM, Todd Zuniga, gives us some tips on how to organize our very own LDM.

Get your LDM objectives sorted out

Setting objectives is imperative to doing anything… (duh!). Knowing Todd’s objectives will help you understand why he chose the LDM format that he did, which will help you figure out your own LDM format easier (refer to point #2).

Todd’s objectives:

We wanted two things: to do something different, that appealed to people outside of the usual literary audience, and we wanted to involve the literary community. So, instead of compiling a list of readers we already knew to do an Opium (magazine) reading every month, for the LDM we invite other literary magazines to invite reader-representatives. So, the inspirations were: what would be fun? and: how do we do something that doesn't compete with, but involves, other literary magazines?  

Comic-Al: Comedian Al Samuels talks improv, China and Chopschticks

thebeijinger — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 09:00:00 +0800

There’s much in the detail of life in Beijing for an aspiring standup comedian to draw inspiration from, and yet live English-language comedy shows are still few and far between here. Chopschticks is one of the few groups putting on standup nights, bringing comics from overseas every few months to give us some laughs. This weekend Chopschticks presents the Chicago Improv All-Stars, who’ll be making it up on the spot for two consecutive nights at Block 8. We cornered the All-Stars’ Al Samuels to put his improv skills to the test ahead of the show.

Romantic Rendezvous

thebeijinger — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 09:00:00 +0800

If you're reading this and still haven't planned anything for Valentine's Day, you're either a) someone who despises the whole notion of Valentine’s Day; b ) single and still holding out hope of having fun with someone; or c) in a relationship and heading for trouble. If you’re one of the haters, there’s nothing for you here. If you fall into the latter two categories, these ideas might give you some inspiration to salvage your Valentine’s date.

Things to do over the Spring Festival: Changdian Temple Fair

thebeijinger — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:00:59 +0800

One essential element of Spring Festival in Beijing is the traditional Temple Fair (miao hui, 庙会). These typically take place in parks and temples around the city, and commonly feature song and dance performances, displays of traditional arts and crafts, stalls selling crafts, toys and other items, fairground-style games stalls, and all the food you can stuff yourself with of an afternoon. Temple fairs are colorful, noisy and fun, perfect for a day out with family or friends. Make a date to check out one of these fairs over the holiday period.

Review: DOA at D-22

thebeijinger — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:00:10 +0800

Demerit, D.O.A., Overdose,  You Mei You
RMB 50.
8pm. D-22 (6265 3177)

Eliciting the only mosh pit of the evening, DOA showed that their raw punk style could still raise hell. 30 years on from their subgenre-creating beginnings, the hardcore punks led by Joe ‘Shithead’ Keithley, are still churning out quality song after quality song; showing all four support bands just who was boss. The hour-long set never once lost its energy. Although most of the material was from their newest album, Northern Avenger, the best song of the evening was undoubtedly, World War 3, the classic anti-nuke song from their very first album, Something Better Change.