On January 24, 2026, the Cantonese Language Program partnered with the Chinese Canadian Museum to present Cantopop in Canada: Songwriting and Performing Identity, a public fireside-style panel that brought together musicians, students, scholars, and community members for an evening of conversation about language, music, and diasporic experience.
The event featured two Vancouver-based Cantonese-language musicians, Ching Choi (蔡紫晴) and handwash (手洗), and was moderated by Dr. Zoe Lam from UBC Asian Studies.
Held as part of the museum’s public programming for the major exhibition Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s–2000, the panel invited audiences to consider how Cantonese popular music continues to function as a powerful medium for storytelling across borders. While Dream Factory foregrounds the golden era of Cantonese and Mandarin pop music and its enduring cultural resonance for Chinese Canadians, Cantopop in Canada extended this historical narrative into the present by centering the voices of contemporary artists actively creating music in Cantonese today.
handwash (left) and Ching Choi (right) shared reflections on creating and performing Cantonese-language music in Canada.
Throughout the discussion, Ching Choi and handwash reflected on their personal journeys of migration between Hong Kong and Canada and how these experiences have shaped their artistic practices. They spoke about the influence of classic Cantopop on their songwriting, as well as the creative possibilities and challenges of making Cantonese-language music within a multilingual, multicultural Canadian context. Language emerged as a recurring theme, not only as a technical medium for music-making, but also as an effective resource for expressing memory, identity, and belonging.
The fireside format encouraged an open and conversational atmosphere, allowing panelists to engage directly with the audience. Approximately 40 UBC students attended the event, including students enrolled in CNTO 303 Basic Cantonese II, CNTO 401 Intermediate Cantonese I, CNTO 403 Intermediate Cantonese II, and CNTO 451 Advanced Cantonese Through Popular Culture, alongside members of the wider public. Many students posed thoughtful questions about the future of Cantopop, the impact of artificial intelligence on the music industry, and the role that Chinese Canadians can play in sustaining and growing Cantonese music.
A packed audience of UBC students and community members engaged closely with Ching Choi and handwash as they spoke about Cantonese music and creative practice.
A highlight of the event was the screening of a student video project created by Jiazheng Li and Kaylee Liang from CNTO 403 Intermediate Cantonese II. In the video, the students offered a close analysis of handwash’s Cantonese rap lyrics, examining linguistic choices and bilingual word play. The project also featured an original Cantonese rap song composed and performed by the students themselves, demonstrating how classroom learning can translate into creative engagement with contemporary Cantonese popular culture.
Kaylee Liang and Jiazheng Li analyzed handwash’s lyrics and performed their original Cantonese rap song in their video project for CNTO 403 Intermediate Cantonese II
In addition to attending the panel, participating students joined a curator’s tour of Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s–2000 led by Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee, CEO of the Chinese Canadian Museum. The tour provided valuable curatorial insights into the exhibition’s themes, artifacts, and narrative structure, helping students situate the panel discussion within a longer history of Cantonese and Mandarin popular music and its significance for Chinese Canadian communities. Some students even enjoyed impromptu singing performances on the karaoke stage which is part of the exhibition.
Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee (front left) led UBC Cantonese Language Program students and instructors through the Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s–2000 exhibition, surrounded by re-imagined classic stage costumes and a large karaoke screen playing iconic Cantonese pop songs.
By bringing students, artists, curators, and community members into the same space, Cantopop in Canada fostered meaningful exchange around heritage, creativity, and language. It highlighted how Cantonese music continues to serve as an emotional and cultural lifeline for diasporic communities, while also evolving through new generations of artists and listeners.
The Cantonese Language Program extends sincere thanks to the invited guests, Ching Choi and handwash, for their generous sharing of experiences and perspectives, and to the Chinese Canadian Museum staff for their collaboration and logistic support. We also thank the UBC Pop Culture Cluster for sponsoring the event through the inaugural Pop Pedagogies Award. Their support made it possible to bring together scholarship, creative practice, and community engagement around the ongoing legacy of Cantopop in Canada.
