One would think that after having his most intimate moments splashed across countless tabloids, his genitalia picked apart in minute detail by thousands, if not millions of strangers, and gangsters threaten him with mutilation (or worse), Edison Chen (陳冠希) would be happy to hole up in a monastery and dedicate himself to a lifetime of celibacy. But, no.
Hong Kong gossip rag Oriental Sunday (東方新地) reports that the pop star, who is gradually emerging from his self-imposed exile, enjoyed a hot night out in Malaysia a few days before arriving in Taiwan on Tuesday. Chen was in Kuala Lumpur for the grand opening of his clothing store and celebrated afterwards by throwing a bash at a nightclub, where he was photographed with scantily-clad revelers clinging to him, despite a strict ban on cameras at the party. Apparently, female guests had managed to stuff mini-cameras down their (presumably just as tiny) panties to take souvenir photos with Chen.
The Hong Kong actor and singer spent the early part of the evening chatting with his male friends and studiously avoiding contact with the opposite sex. But a few drinks later, he was unable to resist temptation and, judging by his wide grin in the snaps, didn’t mind being photographed in the act.
A few days later, Chen (and his four bodyguards), looking none the worse for wear, discreetly arrived in Taipei to film a commercial for a certain brand of jeans. Ironically (or perhaps intentionally), the clothing company that hired him also counts Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) among its roster of celebrity models. Followers of Chen’s sexcapades might remember that Tsai was briefly sucked into the photo scandal when pictures of a woman resembling the pop singer in a compromising position found their way onto the Internet. The lingerie-clad beauty was dismissed as a look-alike, but Tsai continued to battle rumors that she’d made sex videos with Chen, a rumored ex-boyfriend. Gossip rags reported that the two will not be appearing in commercials together anytime soon.
Despite Chen’s recent efforts, the Liberty Times [the Taipei Times’ sister paper] somewhat prudishly speculated that the shots from Malaysia might undo his attempts at rehabilitation in the Hong Kong media. He can take heart that the gossip rags there might be too busy, however, with their strange and somewhat morbid fascination with the miscarriages (real and alleged) of female stars. The glossies, which breathlessly covered pop queen Faye Wong’s (王菲) miscarriage last year, are now targeting actress and singer (and former Chen paramour) Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝), who they say lost what would have been her second child with husband Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒).
A Hong Kong news outlet said that the star has been depressed since the alleged miscarriage and refuses to leave the house. But Tse and his mother both angrily denied the rumors. In an interview with a Chinese newspaper, Tse snapped to a reporter, “if my wife were pregnant, don’t you think I would know?”
In somewhat happier news, Zhang Ziyi (章子怡) and her venture capitalist fiance Aviv Nevo are still very much in love, even though the two have no time to get married. The peripatetic duo had originally planned to get hitched next month on a private island in Italy, but have now postponed their nuptials indefinitely because of their work obligations. The Liberty Times reported that Zhang gave an interview last year to a Chinese newspaper where she expressed some trepidation about matrimony, despite her happy relationship. “What do you do if the marriage goes wrong?” she asked. “I want mine to last a lifetime, because the person I am with is wonderful.”
Zhang and Nevo may still be going strong, but it seems that Taiwanese-American basketball star James Mao (毛加恩) and model Bianca Bai (白歆惠) have finally split for good. Tittle-tattle has been rife about the status of the duo’s (known collectively in the media as Bai Mao, or white fur) on-off relationship, but Mao seemed eager to proclaim his single status at a nightclub last weekend, reports NOWnews. He was cavorting with an assortment of lamei (辣妹), or hot chicks, allegedly nibbling on one lady’s ears. The 196cm tall Mao had to stoop to talk to many of his admirers, but NOWnews cheekily reported that he stooped so low — figuratively and literally — that his eyeballs were hovering mere centimeters away from his conversation partners’ buntlines.
Bai’s reaction? “Whatever,” she said. “If that’s what makes him happy, then that’s fine.” She added that she’s so busy shooting a new movie she barely has time to think about her ex and his earlobe-loving ways.
On Jan. 17, Beijing announced that it would allow residents of Shanghai and Fujian Province to visit Taiwan. The two sides are still working out the details. President William Lai (賴清德) has been promoting cross-strait tourism, perhaps to soften the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) attitudes, perhaps as a sop to international and local opinion leaders. Likely the latter, since many observers understand that the twin drivers of cross-strait tourism — the belief that Chinese tourists will bring money into Taiwan, and the belief that tourism will create better relations — are both false. CHINESE TOURISM PIPE DREAM Back in July
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