Asian Entertainment News & Celebrity Gossip

Why is there a pic of a two-faced piggy here instead of China’s most successful woman as voted by 0.0000002% of the country’s population. Weird.

Zhang Ziyi has been crowned China’s most successful woman, after 31,439 netizens voted for her in a national poll conducted by Sohu.com and fashion magazine “Bazaar”.

The voters say they voted for Zhang because of her successful acting career and growing reputation in the international film industry. They praised her for being smart, confident, independent and ambitious.

Actress Zhao Wei ran second in the poll. Most netizens think she transformed herself into a mature, intellectual modern woman after she returned to film school in 2006.

Known for her funky hairstyles, Li Yuchun is seen here sporting a new ‘panda’ look

Super girl Li Yuchun weighed in as China’s third most successful woman. Pop queen Faye Wong, hostess Yang Lan, model Lv Yan and actresses Maggie Cheung, Gong Li, Zhang Jingchu and Sun Li also ranked in the top 10. [CCTV]

Multi-million dollar film deals, private jets, free designer clothing, sponsorship contracts… welcome to the insane world of Celebrities. We love them, we hate them, we can’t get enough of their self indulgent behavior and outrageous spending habits. So it’s refreshing to see stars who give back to the community or who adopt a cause. The Dumpling is now going to list a few random but no less important charities these stars feel strongly about (or at least their publicists do):

Hong Kong pop star, Joey Yung, is planning to visit Kenya for charity purposes. Prior to leaving, Joey is seen posing (above) with some of her fans at the airport who came to show her support before her departure.

Amitabh Bachchan recently appeared in a special episode of the TV show Antakshari, which will be airing a succession of six shows all aimed to support street children, among other causes. In that particular episode, Bachchan cheered on several visually impaired children participating in the singing contest and also read a poem for them.

Taiwan pop group S.H.E. is going to India later this moth for a charity project organized in collaboration between World Vision and China Airlines. World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.

Read more about your favorite stars and their charities including Vivian Hsu, Jerry Yan, Gong Li, and Zhang Ziyi after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Any environmental organization out there need some star power? Chinese star Gong Li (2046, Memoirs Of A Geisha) is keen and wants to help. She’s known more for her movie roles, particularly in her latest film The Curse Of The Golden Flower, but she’s not just an actress. Gong Li is also a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory group assisting China’s development. This year, she submitted a proposal highlighting environmental protection.

…she has reminded people of the importance and urgency to process garbage, sewage and excess gas. Though detailed measures are still being considered, she believed it was important to first make people aware of the issue.

Garbage processing drew Gong’s attention several years ago when she learned from the media that the country was facing a large number of garbage pile-ups. She said the “garbage hills” are “terrible and dangerous”.

She also talked about how celebrities can influence people to take action and expressed interest in joining an environmental group’s campaigns and projects. [Ecorazzi]

Forbes released its lists of Chinese celebrity rankings, with NBA star Yao Ming coming first both on the income and social influence rankings.

Famous athlete Liu Xiang, the 110-meter hurdling world record holder, and blockbuster director Zhang Yimou were second and third on the list of social influence, while their incomes were fourth and sixth respectively.
It is noticeable that in the top 10 in social influence, other than those named above, all the others were females from showbiz.

Gong Li, with an income of nearly US$6m, is fifth both in terms of income and social influence. Her rise in social influence is due to her growing spotlight in Hollywood after starring in “Miami Vice” and “Hannibal Rising” in 2007. Zhang Ziyi is fourth in social influence after her performance in “Memoirs of a Geisha,” but her income dropped to 18th because she had no new releases in the past year due to her studies in the United States.

Rounding out the list are actress Zhou Xun at No. 6, Fan Bingbing at No. 7, singer Li Yuchun at No.8, director and actress Xu Jinglei at No. 9 and actress Carina Lau at No. 10.

It is astonishing to find Twelve Girls Band coming in second in income. They earned about US$18m, after performing 50 concerts on their world tour. However, their social influence was only 37th. [Cri]

Following the national Chinese premiere in the capital Beijing on Monday, the Casino Royale road show made its final stop in Shanghai, marking the first time in cinematic history that a Bond adventure has been cleared by Chinese censors.

The new 007 Daniel Craig, Bond girl Eva Green, director Martin Campbell and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson were all in attendance.

According to an AFP report, if the film proves a success in China, that it would not be unthinkable that a future Bond movie may one day be filmed in China and that a Chinese woman would play the “Bond girl,” Broccoli said. “It would depend on the subject matter, but obviously it would be a wonderful place to come and shoot”.  Meanwhile Craig mentioned that he was a big fan of Chinese film and would love to work with leading Chinese actresses like Gong Li or Zhang Ziyi, “I’d love to work with them… I’m a huge Gong Li fan, I could happily watch Jet Li until I’m blue in the face” [MI6]

Gong Li denies exposing breast and responds with amusement: ‘Who’s so lucky to see my…’

Jaws dropped and cameras flashed when Gong Li reportedly had a wardrobe malfunction last Saturday.

Her right breast was said to have popped out of her back-baring Roberto Cavalli evening gown with a plunging V-neckline as she turned to pose for photographers at the Hong Kong premiere of her new film, Curse Of The Golden Flower. But the Chinese actress has denied the incident, insisting that the photographs had been doctored. At an exhibition of the film’s costumes the following night, Gong Li appeared amused rather than shocked when reporters told her about the incident.

She asked jokingly: ‘Did it happen? Who was so lucky as to have seen it?

‘The photos must have been digitally altered.’

To which a reporter said: ‘No, we took those shots.’

‘Surely that’s not possible,’ replied the actress with a laugh.

She was in good spirits though, chatting candidly about her love life with reporters.

She said: ‘I don’t live with my husband. I live in Beijing and he lives in Hong Kong because of work.

‘But our relationship is very good. There are no problems.’

She said she chose to live in Beijing as it is more convenient to visit her 82-year-old mother, who lives in Shandong and has been ill lately.