Before there was a murder to solve at The Jade Note, there were shrimp chips to fight over at Shon Wong’s family dinners.
Growing up, the musician and creator of Chinatown Murder Mystery remembers birthdays and celebrations at Ming’s, Pink Pearl, Floata in Chinatown and the Flamingo on Fraser. Roast duck arrived garnished with shrimp chips, and the children at the table knew exactly what to do.
“Every kid at the table would battle for them. You had to be fast,” Wong recalls. “Those dinners were loud, crowded and full of personality.”
That sense of occasion runs through Chinatown Murder Mystery: The Jade Note, which comes to Capitol Hill Hall in Burnaby on November 28. There will be dinner, live jazz, Chinese erhu, audience suspects and a fictional nightclub owner whose evening has ended rather badly. Behind the whodunit, though, is a much more personal story about family, hospitality and the pleasure of making a whole night of dinner.
A family album full of characters
Wong describes himself as a third-generation Chinese Canadian. His family’s Chinatown connection, he says, reaches back to his father and grandfather’s ownership of the neighbourhood’s narrow building from the 1930s through the 1960s. Among the memorabilia he has shared is a James Wong jewellers card bearing an image of the building at Pender and Carrall.
Then there are the photographs: his father and friends in sharp suits, with slick hair and enough attitude to suggest an entire cast of characters. To Wong, the albums had the look of a Chinatown gangster movie. That is his affectionate reading of the pictures, rather than a claim about the people in them.
His father’s circle included businesspeople, gamblers, drinkers and people with stories to tell. Later, growing up in a West End apartment building during the 1980s and ’90s, Wong found himself surrounded by musicians, artists and other memorable neighbours. The fictional personalities in his productions draw on that mix.
His father, James, who inspired the name of Wong’s band, Son of James, was also a fan of Rat Pack supper-club recordings. Wong remembers him as “Las Vegas chic.” His maternal grandfather was a Chinese opera performer with his own considerable sense of style.
Wong says his father was 60 when he was born, putting the two men close in age. Both dressed well, laughed loudly and knew how to make an entrance. Watching them greet a roomful of people became an early education in hosting.
“Their sense of style and showmanship is all over The Jade Note,” he says.
Dinner was always part of the show
For Wong, the supper-club idea starts with Chinese New Year restaurant celebrations where a meal might come with a lion dance, martial arts, singers or dancers. Dinner and entertainment belonged to the same evening. He found another version of that experience while backpacking through China in 2001, when he visited supper clubs with full variety shows.
Vancouver’s own Chinatown nightlife has a history beyond Wong’s family memories. The Chinatown Storytelling Centre revisited the Marco Polo nightclub in its Marco Polo Memories program in June 2026, bringing together stories from the Louie family and music by Henry Young. That is a separate historical reference point for the neighbourhood’s entertainment culture.
The Jade Note itself is an invented club set in 1959. In Wong’s story, police attention has prompted its move east along Hastings Street, giving the Burnaby location a role in the plot. This is theatrical licence, with a setting shaped by family photographs, musical influences and Wong’s imagination.
Capitol Hill Hall appeals to him because its house-like exterior suggests an earlier era and its interior gives him room to create the club he has in mind.
Jazz, erhu and a roomful of suspects
This is Wong’s fourth Chinatown Murder Mystery. The first two took place at Cindy’s Palace at First and Nanaimo; last year’s third instalment was Whispers in Rome. With The Jade Note, he continues taking Chinese stories and music into different rooms.
The interactive mystery unfolds in the style of a radio play, with six audience volunteers taking on the suspects. Other guests can follow the clues and try to work out who killed the club’s owner.
Wong says guests will hear live jazz during supper, along with Anna Fang playing familiar jazz and pop songs on the Chinese erhu. Songs from the 1980s and ’90s are woven into the script, too, so the 1959 setting leaves room for a few musical time jumps and a communal sing-along.
The announced entertainment includes the Dave Say Jazz Trio, Yung Coffey, Jonathan Muller, Fang and magician Yoosik Ethan Oum. Once the mystery is solved, the evening continues with a dance party.
Italian-inspired food at a Chinatown supper club
Chef Ilaria Albo of Ila’s Catering returns after working with Wong on Whispers in Rome. They have known each other for years through mutual friends, and Wong says the response to that production’s food made another collaboration an easy decision.
The earlier Cindy’s Palace shows featured 10-course Chinese banquets. For this production, Wong wanted a lighter tasting menu, while keeping food central to the experience of spending an evening in a supper club.
The menu is served over two intermissions. First come tuna tataki, bruschetta and Nonna’s meatballs, followed later by creamy shiitake mushroom risotto with fresh bread and butter. The event listing says gluten-free options are available.
“You can enjoy Chinese stories and Chinese music while eating Italian food. Why not?” Wong says.
It is an approach that makes sense alongside the Rat Pack tapes, Chinese opera memories, jazz and pop songs that have found their way into his work. The evening takes its cues from the people and pleasures he grew up with, then gives them a new setting and a mystery to carry the night along.
As Wong puts it: “Chinatown isn’t a museum. It’s a stage.”
Images supplied by Shon Wong from his family and band collections.
The Jade Note: event information
What: Chinatown Murder Mystery: The Jade Note
When: Saturday, November 28, 2026
Where: Capitol Hill Hall, also listed as Capitol Hill Community Hall, 361 Howard Avenue, Burnaby
Doors: 7 p.m.
Show: 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $99 early-bird admission, plus Eventbrite fees. The ticket selector checked November 13 showed a $7.77 fee and a total of $106.77 per ticket. Wong confirms early-bird pricing ends November 20. Dinner, music and the interactive murder mystery are included; cocktails are not included. Check the current price and availability when booking.
Dress: Vintage suits, cocktail dresses and supper-club glamour are encouraged, but optional.
Bookings: The Jade Note tickets on Eventbrite.
