Camden Town on a sunny Saturday afternoon is alive, buzzing, chic, alternative and hip. Walking towards the Lock I pass from reggae beat to hip-hop to Latin rhythm and see people in funny hairdos, tattoos, skate-wear, and piercings.On closer inspection, I realise that these are not real Chinese characters, but jumbled up knots of strokes and swishes. Chineseness, it seems, is still in fashion. Last year I thought that the Chinese trend would pass by this Summer. Then I remembered that I had thought the same the year before. So when is Chinese culture going to go out of style?

It's been a minor travelling goal of mine to blend in to the country I'm travelling through, to take up their culture, habits, styles and mannerisms...to become invisible. I think it's a challenge of observation and adaptability. Going unseen is like the passing of the test. Of course it helps that I share their Mongolian lineage but thinking about it, don't the Chinese go about their business relatively unseen, behind closed doors?

An exhibition of photographs that explore the social history of Liverpool Chinatown Saturday 16 September - Saturday 30 September David Yip recently wrote and directed a short film entitled Chinese Whispers that documented several testimonies of the history of Liverpools Chinatown. Davids project emphasised the importance of rewriting a history that had lain forgotten and neglected by both the City of Liverpool and the Chinese community itself.

Thursday 28 September - Sunday 1 October 2000
A festival directed by Tan Dun Invited by the Barbican Centre to direct a cross art-form festival, Chinese-American composer Tan Dun has created Fire Crossing Water (Thursday 28 September - Sunday 1 October), a weekend of multi-media events that will bring together collaborators of Tan's, many of whom are also his friends. These partners, "creators without boundaries", all share a similar ideology and outlook and include Yo-Yo Ma, Mark O'Connor, Ang Lee, James Schamus, Ping Chong, Bill Viola and Peter Sellars amongst others.

A film review by Jack Tan When I was growing up, while others watched Coronation Street and EastEnders, my family watched soaps about political intrigue set in Chinese imperial palaces. Emperor - Empress - Concubine - Queen Mother - Crown Prince - Prime Minister - Chief Eunuch. This was the dramatis personae contained in the piles of Cantonese videos my parents rented every other weekend. What was to be expected were plots for power, wars, assassinations, true love, long goodbyes, sacrifice, revenge and a fair amount of crying

Dimsum reviews the award winning film by Zhang Yimou. Shi Xiangsheng's story, based on his own experience, is a rural fable set in a tiny village in remote China. When, local teacher Gao has to leave for one month to visit his sick mother, 13 year old Wei is dragged in from a neighbouring village as a substitute teacher and we see how she copes with such responsibility.

23 May 2000
Early on a sunny LA morning in 1997 aspiring Singaporean porn actress Annabel Chong arrives on set. Her director gives her a brief moment to ready herself while he barks instructions through a loud hailer to her co-stars for the day. At 10am she climbs onto her altar at the centre of an orgiastic assemblage of tall pillars and spouting fountains: eyes disengaged, mouth barely summoning a smile. The cameras roll and 251 men form an orderly, naked line. Two sweating male producers attend, knowing that if you "take an English accent and an Asian look, and make her the nastiest object in a Gang Bang" you're on to a winner.

Suzie Litewate sits by her fishtank in her Wolverhampton home reading 'Feng Shui for Modern Living' as she fiddles with her jade beads. Sipping her Twinings Jasmine tea, she plays her relaxation CD of the 'Bells of Yunan', closes her eyes and considers energising her living room with another three-legged frog...

Nine Songs is a dance based on the work of the 'first great poet in Chinese history', Qu Yuan (c. 340-278 B.C.). He was a member of the ruling house, a diplomat and a court minister. He had a brilliant career at court but jealous peers eventually brought about his banishment from court. In later years after the fall of the Chu capital, he drowned himself in despair in the river Mi-lo.