Her curiosity is boundless, as is her appetite. So it’s jarring to hear that Mijune Pak had trouble keeping food down while travelling through Dubai, Oman, Qatar, and the Maldives earlier this year. “Za’atar. Cumin. Normally, I love all that stuff,” she says, making a face at the memory. But normal wasn’t her state at the time: she was in her first trimester, expecting her first child. Those scents simply weren’t agreeing with her.
Read MoreIn a world where music transcends language, Lang Lang is a global ambassador, carrying the soul of Chinese heritage to the world’s grandest stages. With a Steinway piano at the command of his fingers and audiences across continents rising in standing ovation, he continues to redefine what it means to be an artist — not only by mastering his craft, but by embodying the power of cultural connection.
Read MoreOn a video call from his Vancouver office, Joo Kim Tiah sits with the city’s skyline behind him, a skyline he’s about to transform with what may be his most defining project yet.
The real estate developer’s vision: a $2.8-billion development that would rise from two downtown blocks, an architectural statement that will become Vancouver’s most ambitious mixed-use complex to date.
Read More“I love being a dragon,” Liann Zhang says when the subject of the Chinese zodiac comes up. “It’s this random mystical beast in the middle of it all. I feel very powerful.”
Dragons, she adds, are brave and up for adventure, qualities that suit anyone writing a novel. Zhang just did. At just 23, she’s already seeing her debut thriller, Julie Chan is Dead, become one of the buzziest Canadian novels of the year, thanks in part to its setting in the murky world of influencers. The title is a tease; the story is even sharper.
Read MoreDuring a break from her flight schedule in 2008, Skye Chan spotted a television advertisement for Miss Hong Kong pageant entrants. Most flight attendants might have dismissed the idea immediately. Chan had built her reputation on efficiency and professionalism, not the polished glamour typically associated with beauty competitions.
Yet something about the opportunity intrigued her. At twenty-three, Chan knew the eligibility cutoff of twenty-four made this her only opportunity to apply, so she downloaded the form and asked her mother to be her nominee. “You never know until you take a step forward,” she says.
Chan had no illusions about her chances.
Read MoreOn screen, Huang sat in a softly lit room at home, framed by an intricately carved wooden cabinet, its surface etched with ancient figures and traditional buildings. She smiled, glanced back at the cabinet and let the moment linger.
Off camera, one can imagine that cabinet, rich with the charm of Chinese design, has witnessed many changing seasons since her arrival in Toronto from Shanghai nearly a decade ago. It seems to speak for itself: solid, silent and carrying its own history into a new country where Huang has built a new life.
Read MoreFor a long time, many members of the Hong Kong film industry, both on and off screen, have moved to North America or constantly traveled between the two places for work, education, or simply in search of a better life. You can find them on film sets and post-production studios all over Hong Kong and Asia, while simultaneously making their mark in many North American film studios or international film festivals.
Read MoreBorn in Harbin, China, and raised in Toronto, Emily had a traditional Asian upbringing. This included parents who, naturally, encouraged her to pursue a livelihood that would be financially sound. She dutifully fulfilled her parents’ expectations, studying business and starting a stable career. They were pleased.
Read MoreArtistic soul Emma or “FYi” Khoo has straddled many mediums, including modelling, makeup and photography. She also is an accomplished singer, is pursuing a PhD and has an architecture background. Proudly showcasing her culture, Emma’s content includes stories that she grew up with, including anime, Ancient Egypt, Greek myths to Chinese legends and novels Journey to the West and the Three Kingdoms.
Read MoreTypeface or font designers are a rare breed. And Chinese typeface designers are even more scarce, which one can understand given this context: The average Western/Latin typeface is comprised of about 200 glyphs (the symbols that make up a writing system, including letters, numerals, punctuation, accents, etc. ) to create a functional set, whereas the average font used for Traditional Chinese in Hong Kong or Taiwan requires over 13,000 glyphs for basic usage. That number jumps up to a staggering 20,000 glyphs for when you add other Chinese dialects and regions, such as the characters in Simplified Chinese!
Read MoreThe Hong Kong Arts Exhibition aim to showcase how Hong Kong artists adopt traditional craft to create culturally-rich contemporary artworks including mini cheongsam dummies, lion head crafts, galvanized iron coffee sets and letter boxes for home deco or use in daily life. The making of these artworks are considered an intangible part of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage and craftsmanship.
Read MoreYou may recognize Ishie Wang’s face immediately: she is one of the prominent Asian models in Canadian advertisements for Roots, Hudson’s Bay, Sporting Life, and The Shopping Channel. From an early age, her family clearly envisioned a cultivated life of aesthetics and artistic appreciation for her. Ishie began learning piano at the age of 3 1/2, studied calligraphy and Chinese painting at the age of 4, and learned erhu at 6 and percussion instruments at 8. By the age of 11, she had completed her Grade 9 Piano certification and was recognized in numerous musical competitions.
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