The School Room

Rochelle Kwan (yiuyiu 瑤瑤) | Chinatown Records: Sonic Memories and Oral Histories

Chinatown Records 華埠錄音 is a homegrown collective and archive based in New York City’s Manhattan Chinatown. Started in 2018 by DJ historian yiuyiu 瑶瑶, Chinatown Records has evolved into a collective effort to preserve and bring to life the memories and histories that come with our favourite songs. Tune in to learn more about the work Chinatown Records has been doing in New York Chinatown and beyond. In this episode, Rochelle Kwan, aka yiuyiu 瑶瑶, sits down with host Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee to discuss how Chinatown Records has evolved from a way to reminisce with her dad to a community collection of sonic memories, why she believes Chinatowns are cultural homes for all immigrant groups, and how, you too, can use music to spark personal family conversations and record memories across generations. "Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s-2000" is now on view at the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver’s Chinatown until August 2026. Monthly curator tours are available in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. To learn more or book tickets, visit https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/ [https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/].

Wing Noodles: Montréal Chinese Legacies

If you’ve ever wandered through Montréal Chinatown, you’ve likely seen the glowing neon sign of Wing Noodles.  Founded from an import/export shop in 1897 and later reimagined as a noodle factory during WWII, Wing’s became the last remaining Chinese food manufacturer in Montréal Chinatown — and the first producer of fortune cookies in eastern Canada. The Lee family’s business nourished generations through segregation, war, and peace.⁠ In November 2025, the Lee family made the difficult decision to retire from Wing Noodles, ceasing operations forever of their iconic family business. On this episode, join Vivian Lee Orr and George Lee as they reminisce about their family’s illustrious history inside and beyond Wing Noodles, share the efforts underway to preserve Wing’s legacy, and reveal what the numbers in your fortune cookie might actually mean. "Montréal Chinois: The Lost Decades / Les décennies perdues Photography 1945–1960s" is now on view at the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver Chinatown until May 10, 2026. To learn more about the Chinese Canadian Museum and book tickets, visit https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/ [https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/].

A Lookback on The School Room: Stories That Shaped Us

As 2025 comes to a close, host Melissa Karmen Lee and producer Rosalie Gunawan join forces for a special episode reminiscing on the last two years of The School Room podcast.  Tune in for a journey across Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Australia to look back on some of our favourite stories about overseas Chinese communities that stuck with us. To learn more about the Chinese Canadian Museum or book tickets, visit https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/ [https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/].

Ann Hui | Timeless Cinema: Capturing a New Age of Hong Kong

Ann Hui (Hui On-wah) is one of the leading figures who ushered in the Hong Kong New Wave – a new age of Hong Kong cinema that began in 1979. With a career spanning more than 4 decades and 28 feature films, Ann has cemented her name as one of the greats of Chinese language cinema. Her work often focuses on ordinary people and their daily lives, speaking to themes of human consciousness, politics and migration, and national identity. Tune in to this episode of The School Room to hear about the ways Ann recreates authentic scenes in her films, her philosophy on giving back to society, and her concerns about Maggie Cheung playing the leading role in “Song of the Exile” (it’s not what you think!). “Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s-2000” is now on view at the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver’s Chinatown until May 2026. Monthly curator tours are available in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. To learn more or book tickets, visit https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/ [https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/].

Rainbow Chan | Ancestral Songs: Revitalizing Weitou Culture

Rainbow Chan is an award-winning vocalist, producer, and multi-disciplinary artist. Since moving to Australia with her family in 1996, Rainbow has built a celebrated career while tracing her maternal roots to Weitou people—one of Hong Kong’s indigenous groups who settled in the region prior to British colonization in 1898. Her creative practice, deeply informed by ideas of homeland and diaspora, has earned her recognition as one of Australia’s most innovative contemporary musicians. In this episode, Rainbow shares how she weaves her maternal Weitou heritage into song and performance, reflects on what her mother’s heritage language has meant for her identity and its role in broader cultural revitalization, and discusses which Cantopop artists from her childhood continue to inspire her practice today. Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s-2000 is now on view at the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver’s Chinatown until May 2026. Monthly curator tours are available in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. To learn more or book tickets, visit https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/ [https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/].