New Theater Performance Meditates on Womanhood in Chinese Society

Monologues of n Women, a new theater production by creative Christie Zhao, will hit the stage in Seattle on the third and fourth weekends of September 2022.


What started as a collaborative project and a three-month online workshop involving actors, dancers, and designers will conclude as a full-fledged performance piece. To put on a successful production, Zhao first crowdsourced ideas from theater devisers in China, Seattle, New York, and London, and cast seven Asian actresses in Seattle. They are currently doing in-person rehearsals and preparing for the show in September.

A meditation on the pressing problems faced by women who grew up in Chinese society, Monologues of n Women shines the spotlight on the suppressed. Influenced by rom-coms, social media, and patriarchal traditions, many women in China feel unable to voice their true thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, they must conform to often unattainable beauty standards.


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A scene from one of Christie Zhao’s theater workshops


The theatrical piece uses a blend of modern dance and acting sequences to touch on topics such as sexual harassment and institutional problems.


Incensed by a viral video of a woman chained up in rural China that blew up the internet in February of this year, Zhao was moved to start her theater program to lend a voice to vulnerable women. The controversial case sparked an outcry for justice and inspired a slew of artists to do the same.

According to the local government, the woman in the disturbing footage originally comes from Southwest China’s Yunnan province and has mental health issues. She disappeared from her hometown sometime in the 1990s and was reportedly sold as a bride twice by a trafficker.


Hailing from Anhui province, a two-hour drive from the chained woman’s location, Zhao was especially saddened by the news. It concerned her that her mother’s hometown was even closer.


In more recent months, a spat of other attacks on women in China — including a drink-spiking incident in Shanghai and a vicious public beating in Tangshan — have also outraged the public, making Monologues of n Women’s message more relevant and important.


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For Zhao, the process of putting her show together has proven incredibly therapeutic. Participants of her online workshops, who hail from different cultural backgrounds and go by different gender identities, are grateful for the chance to share their own experiences.


During one workshop practice, each participant shared one thing that they were forced to believe about their genders; the rest of the group then disproved this notion.


Zhao hopes that Monologues of n Women has the means to help its cast and all those involved, including the audience, heal from generational trauma. If executed well, the work should also inspire everyone to reflect on their own lives, and create a more inclusive environment.


The project is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. Donors will enjoy different perks — think social media shoutouts, copies of the original soundtrack, digital copies of the show, or behind-the-scenes access — depending on their selected pledge packages.


All images courtesy of Christie Zhao

Stephanie H. Shih Sculpts Kosher Chinese Food for ‘Open Sundays’

Golden-brown challah aglow with egg wash, green pickled vegetables that involuntary make one’s mouth pucker, and a glorious roast pork on garlic bread or ‘RPG’ sandwich complete with burnt ends — these are just a handful of comestibles lovingly handcrafted by Stephanie H. Shih for Open Sundays.


Despite each dish’s delectable appearance, to tuck into the spread would be to chip a tooth — such is the ceramic artist’s technical prowess.


Worth the schlep to Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Open Sundays will be on view at Harkawik art gallery from June 28 until August 6, 2022.

The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Shih first turned to clay as a form of therapy at a time of her life marked by chronic pain, reports Bon Appétit. As her artist bio reads, Shih shines the spotlight on “diasporic nostalgia and material lineages of migration and colonization through the lens of the Asian American kitchen.”


Anyone who has studiously followed Shih’s trajectory might sense there’s been a change in the wind. Having come into her own, Shih, who formerly sculpted Asian groceries at large, is zooming in on a cozier niche for her fifth exhibition: The confluence of Chinese and Jewish communities in the Lower East Side.


Frozen Dumplings

Frozen Dumplings


Streit’s Passover Matzos

Streit’s Passover Matzos


Why ‘Open Sundays’?


While New York City’s Christian majority traditionally keeps their businesses shuttered on Sabbath, Sunday marks the start day of the work week according to Jewish tradition. (Weekends in Israel are on Friday-Saturday.)


Not limited to nosh, the artworks on display at Open Sundays include “relics of cultural overlap,” like trilingual street signs or a mahjong set. While the tile-based game mahjong was invented in China in the 1800s, it became an earmark of Jewish American culture in the mid-20th century, explains The Wall Street Journal in an article from May 2021.


RPG (Roast Pork on Garlic Bread)

RPG (Roast Pork on Garlic Bread)


A stellar example of a cross-cultural dish, if there ever was one, the aforementioned roast pork on garlic bread is arguably one of the most curious artifacts at Open Sundays. Born in the ‘Borscht Belt’ in the Catskills in Upstate New York, the fabled sandwich sees Chinese BBQ roast pork set on a crusty loaf with a hearty schmear of mustard and a Kosher pickle and duck sauce on the side.


The bottom line of Open Sundays is that there is nothing black and white about intercultural traditions, which have just as much claim to ‘authenticity.’ If anything, cross-cultural relics paint a clearer picture of our increasingly globalized world.


Cover image via Harkawik

Blackpink’s Lisa and BTS’s Tae-Hyeung Stun Fans at Celine Fashion Show

On June 26, French luxury fashion brand Celine closed Paris Fashion Week (PFW) with a presentation of its summer 2023 men’s collection. However, social media users seemed more interested in the celebrities in attendance, namely Lisa from Blackpink and V (born Kim Tae-hyung) from BTS.


Korean actor Park Bogum showed up with the two K-pop stars, forming a wow trifecta. The news has since gone viral on Weibo, with a related hashtag amassing more than 89 million views at the time of writing.

Obsessed over Lisa and V’s outfits, thousands of Chinese fans have reposted clips and photos of their looks.


“It doesn’t matter which country they go to, they still have fans screaming at the top of their lungs,” observed one Weibo user.


More succinct comments range from “Taehyung stunned me” to “Lisa is so beautiful.”


Kim Taehyung sporting a glam-rock Celine outfit. Via Twitter

Kim Tae-hyung aka V from BTS wearing Celine. Image via Twitter


Rocking a red leather jacket, black leather pants, a turtleneck bedecked with black sequins, and an oversized necklace from Dysfunctional Bauhaus, designer Heidi Slimane’s latest collection for Celine, V was the very epitome of edgy glam rock.


Lisa, on the other hand, paired a black sequined halterneck top with black shorts and completed her look with a black Celine Triomphe bag.


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Lisa from Blackpink at the Celine fashion show. Image via Twitter


A global face of the brand since September 2020, the female rapper and singer has appeared in several Celine campaigns and attended various fashion shows. Since PFW, a hashtag related to her role as one of Celine’s brand ambassadors has gained over 140 million views.


A phenomenon born of the global rise of Korean entertainment, it has become common practice for European luxury brands to choose Korean stars as their brand ambassadors. Beloved in China and the rest of the world, K-pop idols are likely to grace more established European events in the near future.


Cover image via Weibo

China Requires Livestreamers Be Politically Correct and “Wholesome”

A version of this article previously appeared on TechNode.


On June 22, China’s media regulators released a new regulation to tighten scrutiny on livestreaming hosts’ behavior.


The rules require livestreamers to adhere to a set of similar standards applied to the country’s tightly regulated traditional media hosts, a sign of growing oversight of the fast-growing and lucrative industry.


Jointly released by China’s National Radio and Television Administration and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the rule consists of 18 guidelines for livestreaming hosts.


The guidelines emphasize that livestreamers must uphold correct political values and social values, create and promote more “positive” stories, and maintain a “wholesome” taste. In addition, it advises hosts to self-regulate and avoid content that only focuses on generating online traffic, has morbid aesthetics, caters to fandom culture, or promotes money worship.


Meanwhile, livestreaming hosts in professional fields like law, medical health, education, and finance must obtain relevant qualifications and approvals from the streaming platform. WeChat told the Chinese media outlet The Paper late Wednesday that it will draft punishment measures for people who disobey these new rules.


In this regard, the rules also mention that livestreaming platforms should take responsibility for their implementation, giving positive encouragement to rule-followers and punishing those who break the rules. Users who severely violate the new regulations will be put on a blacklist and receive a permanent ban.


Furthermore, the rules apply to virtual hosts and the human vocalists who create the audio and dialogue for virtual hosts.


Livestreaming has become an integral part of China’s bustling ecommerce industry

Livestreaming has become an integral part of China’s bustling ecommerce industry


Livestreaming ecommerce and entertainment have become part of Chinese people’s online shopping routine. Recently, education company New Oriental has been able to utilize livestreaming to make a significant comeback after China’s new rules on private tutoring cut off the bulk of its income.


Since early 2021, China has been pushing to further regulate the livestreaming industry. In late last year, authorities cracked down on several top livestreaming channels due to inappropriate or illegal behaviors.


One of the country’s top ecommerce streamers, Viya, was banned for tax evasion in 2021 and was fined 1.3 billion RMB (270 million USD). Before being banned, her platform generated 8.3 billion RMB in sales on the first day of the Singles’ Day shopping holiday in 2021.


In May, the country’s media regulators started to rein in minors’ access to livestreaming, such as barring them from buying gifts for livestreamers or hopping onto livestreaming themselves without parental consent.


All images via Depositphotos

Indie Video Game Recreates Cognitive Experience of Alzheimer’s Patients

What would it be like to lose a grip on your memories? With Room 301, Building 6, you can find out.


“This is my home; I’ve always lived here. But even this place is unfamiliar to me,” is the opening line of this meditative indie video game that lets you step into the shoes of an Alzheimer’s patient.

Developed by three students from the Communication University of China in Beijing and published by Gameragame, Room 301, Building 6 started as an experiment on immersion in different states of consciousness.


Huang Yuhan, one of the game’s developers, tells RADII they had several ideas initially but eventually settled on Alzheimer’s, as some of their loved ones have suffered from the disease.


“We have very personal memories, and it was very smooth to express them through the creation of the game,” explains Huang.


Room 301, Building 6


In Room 301, Building 6, players step into the shoes of a retired grandmother on a five-day-long quest to retrieve her memories by finding objects scattered around her apartment.


Just as in real life, Alzheimer’s medication can boost the character’s ability to remember, helping players advance in the game.


“We pondered over it for a long time, but we eventually reached a consensus to prioritize a faithful and unadorned reproduction over conventionally fun gameplay,” Huang shares.


Room 301, Building 6


The game is split into two screens to simulate the cognitive limitations that plague Alzheimer’s patients.


On the right, players can only catch glimpses of their character’s apartment instead of seeing the complete picture. This limited visual field serves as a reminder of patients’ shortened attention spans and the difficulties they face in organizing logical thinking. Signifying memory loss, players sometimes need to revisit the same objects.


Using the left panel, players must navigate a maze using their keyboards while constantly exploring the same room and seeking familiar elements and shapes.


Room 301, Building 6 video game


The game’s developers hope that, in addition to imbuing gamers with a better understanding of Alzheimer’s, Room 301, Building 6 will have a broader emotional impact on the public.


“This story simulates just one out of millions of patients in the world, but if there is even one small facet of the game that evokes memories or feelings for our players, we’ll have achieved our goal,” underscores Huang.


While an official release date has yet to be announced, a free trial of the indie video game is available for PC users on Steam.


All images courtesy of Gameragames