On Sunday, an unidentified expat mother was seen putting her two children onto the back of a 600 year-old statue at the Ming tombs in Nanjing. And yet, seen together in the same photograph, a sign posted nearby asks visitors to refrain from climbing onto the historical relics.

Poor behavior by Chinese tourists has been popular in the news lately, with a few tourists even being blacklisted. And, as if to punctuate its own pointed criticisms, reports of the disobeying expat mother have included photographs of Chinese parents at the same statue, doing the same thing next to the same sign.

What does it all mean? If we were to take the answer from the heated discussion from this popular post, it means that even the most benign behavior by expats can lead to heated rounds of soul-searching by Chinese.

As seen in the comments that follow, no middle ground exists between those that say expats exploit a double standard afforded to them in China, and those that say Chinese are in no position to occupy the moral high ground.

Here’s what some had to say:

伱媽脸色吥呔好：
Foreign trash has flowed into China.

脂舞先森：
So many complainers. None of you Nanjing residents have ever ridden on it when you were young?

还算幽静的胖子：
It’s common for people to have ridden on it when they were younger… what’s more, it’s been climbed upon for hundreds of years without any problem. If you honestly want to protect it, then put up a fence around it along with posting bilingual signs in Chinese and English along with regular patrols arranged by the management. Not paying attention to rules is human nature.

-fishliyan：
I think the pictogram (on the sign) is fairly easy for everyone to understand…

世界的heaven：
Chinese should be the first to pay attention towards correcting poor morals.

00要自强不息：
You retards! You say that foreigners follow the example of Chinese parents who put their children on the statue because there are no English signs. You say that even if it’s her own fault, foreigners are always cultivated people! And yet, besides not being able to read Chinese, she also can’t understand the pictures?

不捉老鼠的黑猫：
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. We can only blame our own countrymen for not setting a proper example.

南京笑笑生999：
That foreigners are shown to be “cultured” really makes people blush!

飞机飞远了：
Some people have kneeled for so long that they’ve forgotten how to stand up. And yet you say this isn’t inappropriate? Hehehehe

L刘宇翔：
Double standards are nauseating.

小D飞蛾子：
It sickens me to see people kissing up to foreigners. Those Chinese who get ridiculed when you travel abroad to places where you don’t know the local customs: Do you also ridicule your countrymen for lacking proper etiquette?

The post A Foreigner Disobeying Rules in China Starts Passionate Online Soul-Searching appeared first on The Nanfang.

There has long been a debate in China over beauty, and a question that has been raised over and over: Why do foreigners in China tend to date ugly Chinese women?

A previously published article wrestled with this conundrum. iFeng Beauty writer Xu Xiliang reasoned that Westerners knowingly marry ugly Chinese women because looks aren’t important to them. This back-handed compliment was a way to criticize Chinese society for marrying for superficial reasons. As Xu wrote, “If a man has a wife that is ugly, it is generally accepted that he is a loser.”

Recently, a new article by US-based author Qing Di tackles the same topic. Same as before, Qing discredits Western customs as a way to allow for an examination of Chinese society.

Once again, Qing states that Americans (who stand-in for “Westerners”) “do not place an emphasis upon a person’s external appearance”, instead finding traits such as “a healthy open-mindedness” and “a vigorous self-confidence” to be “beautiful”.

Qing then cuts to the heart of the matter by stating something Westerners may take for granted: that “beauty” and “sexiness” are not the same thing:

To be considered sexy by Americans, one doesn’t need to have a beautiful face, but most definitely requires ample breasts and a huge set of buttocks.

Bai Ling (shown above) is an American-Chinese actress who has found fame working in the USA, but is not considered “beautiful” by Chinese standards. Qing explains Bai’s success as a product of her willingness to cater to the second standard:

Bai has broken the mold of the traditional Asian beauty that had been entrenched in the mind’s eye of Americans. Even though many feel that Bai has discredited the dignity of the Chinese with her vulgar displays, she has been able to break into the white world of Hollywood and establish her own niche.

As much as this depicts US society as being superficial, Qing uses this point as a way to criticize Chinese society. Although the standard of beauty is rigid in China, Qing points out that the demand for fair skin in China does not have scientific merit:

The highest objective of any animal organism is to pass on their DNA: if the mate is healthy, then their offspring will also naturally be healthy. If a person’s skin is healthy, this will reflect their state of health. And yet, having fair skin won’t necessarily prove the worth of one’s internal qualities.

Qing suggests the Chinese aesthetic for fair skin is “a remnant of the country’s feudal past” when women were forced to stay at home, and has since ruined the way Chinese people make important choices:

When some rich Chinese look for a marriage partner, the first thing they look for is someone with a “fair-skinned complexion”: they are turning the important decision of finding a life-long spouse into a farce.

As before, finding the answer to “Why do laowai marry ugly Chinese girls?” for Chinese people has less to do with understanding foreign cultures as it has to do with coming to understand the true nature of love.

An ancient Chinese proverbs describes the perfect couple as being “a beautiful woman and a capable man”: but if a man doesn’t love his wife for her beauty, what does he love her for?

The post “Why Foreigners Marry Ugly Chinese Girls” Causes Soul-Searching in China appeared first on The Nanfang.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for the City of Sydney said in an email that city council had “concerns regarding the potential for civil disturbance, patron-to-patron conflict and staff-to-patron conflict” and canceled the event after consulting police.

The concert organizers also determined the event was “at high risk of disruption and elevated risk to personal safety”.

A spokesperson for the City of Melbourne confirmed that a second concert scheduled in the city had been cancelled by organizers, but did not provide further details.

For weeks, Chinese communities in Sydney and Melbourne had complained that the “Glory and Dream” concerts were inappropriate for commemorating Mao Zedong.

Mao remains a polarizing figure for much of the Chinese community. Even 40 years after his death, criticizing Mao remains taboo, particularly in China where his image remains on banknotes and statues at universities.

Mao’s preserved body is available for viewing at his mausoleum in Beijing where hundreds, if not thousands of people come every day.

One of the concert organizers, the International Cultural Exchange Association Australia (ICEAA), organized a high-profile event last September to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, which coincided with a military parade held in Beijing.

More than one million of Australia’s 24 million population is of Chinese descent, making it one of the largest overseas Chinese communities in the world.

The post Australian Concerts Commemorating Mao Zedong Cancelled Due To “Safety Concerns” appeared first on The Nanfang.

The comments were made on Xinhua Bookstore’s Weibo account on July 31 in reference to Quan’s recent beauty pageant win. The Beijing Youth Daily reported that the bookstore’s Weibo account had been hacked, and their account stolen. Here is a translation of the post:

Having grown up to look the way you do, you are only fit to be exported to the USA. If you have any dignity at all, you will never return to Beijing or else you will make neighbors of your family sorry for ever meeting them. When you walk out on the street, you will scare young children. When you try to hail a ride, it’s likely no driver will stop for you. When you take public transit, it’s likely someone will report you to the police. Since you have adopted the enemy as your father, then please refer to yourself as ‘traitor’ (on this application form). Under ‘political affiliation’ please write ‘slave of a vanquished nation’.

The bookstore made another controversial post around the same time with regard to the release of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The post included a line referencing former US President Bill Clinton: “Clinton can’t control his genitals or his crazy, Nazi wife”.

Quan, 23, won the title of Miss Michigan on June 16. She immigrated to the US at age six and became a naturalized US citizen at age 14. Quan performed on the piano for the talent competition, and wore a yellow bikini for the swimsuit competition. Nonetheless, Chinese citizens were largely dismissive of her. A majority considers Quan to be “ugly” and made online jokes at her expense, while others simply accepted that East and West have different beauty standards.

Mark Zuckerberg has weighed in on the controversy. Global Times reports the US entrepreneur who has been wooing Chinese leaders for some time has said, “Physical beauty will diminish with age while inner beauty will grow with the years”. Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan had previously been targeted by Chinese citizens as being ugly.

The post State-Run Chinese Bookstore Jumps In, Calling Miss Michigan “Ugly” and a “Traitor” appeared first on The Nanfang.

The guidebook provides Chinese characters as substitutes for the English language. For example, under its list of simple sayings, “thank you” is written as sankeyou (三克油), which has a literal meaning of “three grams of oil”. Likewise, “good morning” is written as goudemaonin (狗的猫您), which as a slightly offensive ring to it as “you of the cat’s dog”.

Due to the difference between Chinese and English, spaces between words also becomes an issue. “Welcome to Hangzhou” is written as waikanmutuhangzhou or weiokangmutuhangzhou, while  “Sorry, I don’t speak English” becomes the very cryptic shaorui, aidongtesibikeyinggeleiqu.

But even if Hangzhou locals aren’t able to memorize and properly execute these Chinese pinyin representations of English, at least the guidebook will have them reciting praiseworthy statements of their fair city.

Hangzhou residents will learn how to compliment themselves by saying “Hangzhou, the most beautiful city in China” and “Hangzhou, a paradise on earth”. They can also talk about the ten famous scenes of Hangzhou’s West Lake without context by saying things like “Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon” and “Dawn on the Su Causeway in Spring”, and only hope those listening will nod approvingly.

Some netizens criticized the handbook by saying the use of Chinese pronunciation of English works is an improper way to speak English. However, secretary of the West Lake District Council Xu Dongxu countered that using shorthand is a legitimate method by using foreigners as an example. “Sometimes when we hear foreigners speaking Chinese, even if the pronunciation isn’t standard, we can still understand the general idea,” said Xu.

Photos of the handbook are shown below:

The post New “English” Guide for Chinese Ahead of G20 Could Lead to Laughs and Confusion appeared first on The Nanfang.

The Ouhai police station refused to make an exception for Adam, despite the fact he was staying with his common-law wife Xiaoqiong (a pseudonym). The police said they were compelled to follow the letter of the law.

Police say foreign visitors must register within 24 hours of their arrival at a local police station; they must also provide police with their passport and the hukou of their host. Violators risk fines of up to 2,000 yuan.

Wenzhou police believed increased cross-border marriages have led to two such violations this month.

The post Foreign National Fined RMB 1K for Not Registering With Police appeared first on The Nanfang.

From 2004 to 2015, the number of Chinese students enrolled in US high schools spiked, rising from 433 to 43,000. This has led to more demand for host families that will take in these students, usually younger than 18, and serve as their legal guardians in return for a monthly stipend.

But even as the numbers continue to swell, many Chinese students are finding that their stay abroad isn’t quite what they are looking for as lifestyle and cultural differences are causing conflicts between themselves and their host families.

Chloe Cai, 16, has stayed with three host families over three years. Cai complained that her first two host families wouldn’t meet her requirements for meals to be served punctually and her need for privacy. As Global Times reported, Cai preferred to stay by herself in her own room instead of spending time with her host family, a preference of a majority of Chinese students.

“I guess one reason we could not get along was they thought I did not like them and hated communicating with them,” said Cai, who accepted the awkwardness of staying with a host family as part of the experience of studying abroad. “Most of my friends, like me, did not enjoy their life with their host families because we could not understand but have to live with some of their habits,” she said.

Kathy, 15, complained she “always felt hungry” because her host family didn’t properly feed her. “The lunch I take to school is two pieces of bread with one hotdog, one apple, one tin of juice, and several crackers,” she said. “It has never changed for a hundred years! And the vegetable I have had for the past two months is forever cauliflower!”

Complaints from Chinese students about their host families go back years. In 2007, 20 to 30 percent of students were dissatisfied with their host families, according to one agency that placed Chinese students. Most of the complaints are about distance to school, food and cultural barriers.

On the other hand, host families also have complaints about Chinese students. Christina James, who has hosted three Chinese students, said Chinese students don’t say “thank you” often, usually stay in their rooms, and did not make the first move when communicating. “They are more introverted compared with our kids. Maybe it’s because they are raised in a more reserved culture,” she said.

Just last year, one host family in South Carolina initiated a backlash against Chinese overseas students by calling them “very difficult to serve” and “little kings”. The exchange students were described as having poor living habits such as not washing their own dishes after having meals, not sweeping their own mess on the floor, not keeping an eye on their food when cooking, and not greeting people.

One popular option is for Chinese students to seek out Chinese host families so that cultural differences can be reduced.

However, the trend of younger Chinese students heading overseas to study is also seeing them more at risk for health and crime issues.

Chinese students are prone to suffer from insomnia and clinical depression when they encounter culture shock, academic pressure and communication difficulties in a different country, said Qiu Yan, a US-based lawyer who has handled a number of suicide cases involving Chinese exchange students.

A Chinese student who went abroad to study at the age of 15, Gao Ran, said, “I think that everybody is going abroad at too young an age, just at that delicate time during maturity when they need the discipline and restrictions of a mother and father. People my age will sometimes engage in copycat behavior that is not healthy.”

Exacerbating the conflict between students and their host families is that homestay services largely operates without oversight. A significant number of students who find homestay families do so without going through certified school boards or agencies.

“There’s nobody who oversees it,” says Geoff Best, director of the Ottawa International Student Program of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Meanwhile, Brenda St. Jean, a senior executive officer from Canada Homestay International, called it “an unregulated industry.”

The post Chinese Exchange Students Filled With Complaints About Host Families appeared first on The Nanfang.

Much of the coverage at that time centered on negative aspects of failed marriages of female Chinese celebrities to foreign men. And yet, there are also a number of Chinese stars who have successful marriages that cross cultural divides. Here they are as listed by the People’s Daily Online Guangxi:

Tang Wei

The Lust, Caution star married South Korean film director Kim Tae-yong in July 2014. The pair first met while shooting the film Late Autumn in 2009, but only began dating in October 2013 after Tang had returned to South Korea to shoot a commercial.

Stephy Qi

Stephy Qi married her Korean-American husband Lee Seung-hyun in September 2014. As proof of their great chemistry together that the People’s Daily calls “sweet and cute”, Qi posted a photo of her “slapping” Lee in a photo posted to the Weibo micro-blogging platform (seen above).

Valen Tsu

After keeping it secret from the public and the press, Taiwanese singer Valen Hsu was revealed to have married her South Korean husband Choi Jae-sung in 2013 when the news was revealed at the wedding for Charlie Young.

Coco Lee

Hong Kong-American singer and recent I am A Singer winner Coco Lee married Jewish-Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz in a Hong Kong ceremony in October 2011.

Gigi Leung

Hong Kong cantopop singer Gigi Leung married Spaniard Sergio Crespo Gutes in October 2011 on the island of Ibiza after a whirlwind romance. The two met when Leung was vacationing by herself in Barcelona, Spain, and Gutes eventually followed her back Hong Kong to woo her.

Karen Joy Morris (Mok)

Hong Kong singer and actress Karen Joy Morris married her first boyfriend, German Johannes Natterer, on October 2011 in a romantic ceremony held in a chapel in Florence, Italy.

Stefanie Sun

Often referred to as the “Singaporean Mandopop Queen”, Stefanie Sun married Dutch Indonesian Nadim Van Der Ros in a secret ceremony held on March 2011 that included guests like Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai and the president of Warner Music for China.

Shen Danping

Eventually going on to win the Hundred Flowers award for Best Actress in 1995, Shen Danping married a German national referred to as “Wu Wei” in Chinese back in 1983, before she had even graduated from acting school.

Ma Yashu

Mainland Chinese actress Ma Yashu married Australian-American games company owner James Robert Hyatt in June 2010, less than a year after she divorced Taiwanese singer and actor Nicholoas Wu (Wu Qilong) in August 2009.

Hu Jing

In September 2008, Chinese mainland actress Hu Jing married Zhu Zhaoxiang, a rich Malaysian businessman with a personal net worth of 5 billion RMB.

The original People’s Daily article didn’t go into detail to explain why these cross-cultural relationships are successful. However, judging from this list of ten celebrity couples of Chinese women and their foreign husbands, there are a few things we can say.

First, most of these marriages are relatively recent, with most of them taking place within the last five years. Without counting Shen Danping’s 32 year marriage, the other nine average just over four and a half years.

Another point is that while most of these women are ethnically Chinese, they have nationalities outside of China. Furthermore some of them, like Coco Lee and Karen Joy Morris, have been Westernized from a young age, and are more capable of adapting to a Westernized partner.

But perhaps the weirdest thing we have found out is that this list of Chinese celebrities married to foreign husbands has been hanging around the Chinese internet for awhile now, only to serve a different purpose depending on the context. In a November 2012 list of top Chinese celebrities who have married foreigners, a number of these same couples appear while accompanied by the same written description and photograph.

However, some previously listed celebrity couples have since been replaced. Examples include Yuan Li, Ning Jing, Li Lingyu, and Wei Wei, all of whom have been relocated to lists of Chinese celebrities with failed marriages to foreign men.

The post 10 Chinese Celebrities in Successful Relationships with Foreign Husbands appeared first on The Nanfang.

The Beijing News reported that Li Liguo, head of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said the use of foreign names was undermining traditional Chinese culture.

The name of a place represents the local culture of the region, Li said, and eliminating westernized names while preserving traditional names, will help preserve China’s cultural heritage.

Li is urging the elimination of “capricious changes of toponym” in order to protect place names with cultural traditions. The “Western and Strange” names to be targeted include those that damage sovereignty and national dignity, which violate socialist core values and conventional morality.

Upmarket residential complexes in China often use foreign names like Palm Springs and Manhattan Gardens.

The Ministry had introduced a set of guidelines forbidding the use of westernized names for residential areas or buildings in China twenty years ago in 1996, but the rules were never properly enforced.

The post China Cracks Down On Foreign Names To “Protect Culture” appeared first on The Nanfang.

Last July, Sina Shanghai followed up its coverage of the Yuan Li story by publishing a list of Chinese movie stars who said they “regretted” their failed relationship with foreign men, who are often called “laowai”. Even though half a year has gone by, the popularity of this topic surged again when the same article reappeared on the Chinese Internet.

With that in mind, here is the entire Sina Shanghai article translated into English by The Nanfang:

Yuan Li takes the lead in a list of ten women movies stars who regret falling in love with a laowai

Recently, movie star Yuan Li candidly opened up on a talk show interview about her marriage. In interpersonal relationships, male foreigners are very different than Chinese men due to cultural differences. Yuan Li said, “You (can) better appreciate all the good qualities of Chinese men after marrying a foreigner.” Yuan said after the wedding that she felt pain and torment like she had never experienced before. She said she felt nothing but anguish at the beginning of the marriage, saying, “It was like a stuck gear made of flesh and blood, clacking away, grinding down upon my heart and my soul.” For a time, she only wanted to forget about this period in her life.

What is for certain is that Yuan’s life right now is not what she had initially imagined, what with all the regrets she’s managed to accumulate. Not so long ago, keeping up with the ways of the world, and the influence of trend-setting female movie stars, finding a laowai for a husband was in fashion for young Chinese women who emulated their role models and followed fads. Within entertainment circles, there have been quite a few people who have taken a laowai for a husband. Though there are some that have turned out happily, there are also those that sadly get quickly nipped in the bud. With laowai cheating their victims of money and sex as well as having to endure domestic violence, many of these Chinese women have come to regret their decisions.

Here are a list of movie stars who have come to regret falling in love with a laowai.

Ning Jing

Movie making brought Ning Jing and American actor Paul (Kersey) together in love and a quick wedding. Not long ago, someone mentioned that Ning Jing married a laowai because her ex-boyfriend had married a woman from abroad. Supposedly, her reaction was to marry a foreigner of her own. However, after the wedding, the relationship soured. Ning Jing separated from her husband once arrangements for her green card didn’t work out. Rocky relations between the two eventually led to a divorce. Ning Jing worked together with her American husband Paul Kersey in two films, Red River Valley and Love’s Grief Over the Yellow River. To use Ning Jing’s words to describe the situation, the decision to get married ‘Came very fast!’ as they got married just months later. Ning Jing said that Paul completely changed character. When Paul started to not come home at night, Ning became angry, leading to sudden emotional outbursts and exchanges. ‘Three words were all it took for him to leap up and slam his fist on the table. Often things like a stool or a cup would get thrown, turning our home into a chaotic disarray.’

Li Lingyu

Audiences are most familiar with Li Lingyu from her role as the White Rabbit from the television series Journey to the West. In 1984, 21 year-old Li completely threw away her promising acting career in a ‘flash wedding’ to her boyfriend (indicating the couple had not spent much time together before deciding to marry). However, without her own career, Li was reduced to following her boyfriend around, existing only within his shadow, completely losing all sense of herself. It was only after a painful decision in 1989 when Li sadly ended her marriage. (Li had become famous in the 80s with the popularity of Journey to the West as the White Rabbit.) In 1995, Li met Jerry, the CEO of an investment company while she was a foreign exchange student in Canada. Then in 2000, Li gave birth to a boy named Jessie. But with the culture gap between East and West proving to be too great, Li’s marriage turned out to be not so happy, and the couple often got into arguments. In 2005, Li and Jerry formally divorced.

Wei Wei

When the Asian Games were being held in Beijing, singer Wei Wei confirmed her place as a singing diva by singing the hit song, All-Mighty Asia. Wei went on to marry Swede Michael Joseph Smith and the couple raised three boys together. In May 2004, the marriage of Wei and Smith hit a red light, but who would get custody of the three mixed-race children born around the world? The two sides engaged in a heated custody battle. Not only did Smith confiscate the passports for the three children as permitted under the Swedish rules for divorce, but also threatened Wei’s life several times for which she had to resort to using the protection of bodyguards. Even though it has been years since Wei got divorced, she still can not disentangle herself from the financial affairs of her ex-husband. At present, Wei has brought her children back to China. Wei is rumored to be dating again, to yet another laowai.

Maggie Cheung

In a 1998 flash wedding that raised an uproar across internet forums, Maggie Cheung married French director (Oliver) Assayass, a man seven years younger than her. At the time, many people feared she would be forgotten in Chinese film circles. However, after going on honeymoon and finishing filming In the Mood for Love, (Cheung) endured domestic abuse which eventually resulted in the couple’s divorce. It would appear as though the wounds from the divorce still remain as Cheung has not been seen dating recently.

Jessey Meng

Throughout her transition from a model, to a host, to an actor, the talents of Jessey Meng are always on display. Meng had an unforgettable cross-border relationship, but who would have guessed that this was just a ‘honey trap’? After living with her Italian boyfriend for four years, Jessey got dumped. Not only was Jessey used for sex, but Jessey’s boyfriend had also taken much of her money, using hundreds of thousands of Euros to take another girlfriend on a trip of hedonism, and blowing the fortune that Jessey and her family had worked so hard to accrue.

Chen Luyu

Chen Luyu married an American in 1995. The next year, Chen brought her husband to China as she joined the line-up of Phoenix Television. But while Chen was receiving accolades for her work, her marriage hit a red light. According to reports, this was a time when Chen was anchoring the Phoenix morning rush hour report. Chen went to bed at 7pm, got up at 4am, and had never taken a day off work for a year. Even though Chen did not think that her busy work schedule would leave her estranged from her husband, the couple eventually got a divorce in 1999. Additionally, there are reports that the actual reason behind the divorce was that Chen was physically abused by her foreign husband.

Zhang Mi

Despite having enjoyed a brief case of popularity, Zhang Mi attracted more media attention for her relationship. With unending tales of her husband’s infidelity, the man even authored a book called Zhang Mi, My Sexy Girlfriend in which racy stories of their sex life were revealed in graphic detail. All the same, not long afterwards, Zhang and her boyfriend parted ways.

Jessica Hsuan

40 year-old Jessica Hsuan had been dating South Africa Ruan Bester, a man four years her junior, since 2009. Hsuan’s side has maintained that the two get along well and had an affinity for each other. However, when it came time to announce the wedding, Hsuan suddenly announced the two had broken up, stunning everyone with the news. As it has been said, Hsuan would often get into disputes over getting married, which Hsuan was in favor of. Unsuccessful in her attempt, Hsuan decided to end their relationship. People in the know have said that the South African man had no intention of getting married, and was just ‘playing around’.

Zhang Ziyi

In 2007, Zhang Ziyi became involved with Israeli venture capitalist (Aviv ‘Vivi’ Nevo) who is worth 4.2 billion yuan. The two would often be seen at high profile public events. In January 2009, the spotlight-seeking Zhang was (photographed by paparazzi) at a Caribbean resort in which their passion for each other left tongues wagging in shock. However, a divorce happened shortly thereafter, leaving people to wonder why the 43 year-old foreign boyfriend would end the marriage. Afterwards, ‘Vivi’ was seen dating other girlfriends and appearing at other high-profile events, while Zhang Ziyi still remains fixated upon her former flame.

We’d like to add just a few points that may contradict some details of the Sina Shanghai article.

First off, not all the women in the list have public expressed regret at their failed relationships. Jessica Hsuan has said that despite her breakup with Bester, she doesn’t hold any regrets. “We’re adults. The break up is not a bolt from the blue. We are still friends,” said Hsuan. Likewise, Zhang Ziyi has expressed amicable feelings towards her ex-boyfriend after their breakup, saying, “I tried to make it work but it didn’t, and I have no regrets over it.”

As well, it’s noteworthy to add that many of these actresses have had failed relationships with Chinese men in addition to foreign men. Zhang had a failed relationship with CCTV host Sa Beining, and Maggie Cheung dated Hong Kong director Derek Yee, but the two eventually separated. Meanwhile, Yuan Li has two failed marriages of her own with Zhao Ling and Xu Wei, with whom she shares a son.

And lastly, most of these women don’t harbor lingering wounds from their divorces. Since her breakup with ‘Vivi’, Zhang Ziyi has gotten engaged to Chinese musician Wang Feng, and the two welcomed a baby girl just last week, signifying that she may have gotten over any lasting heartbreak. Also, enjoying a robust dating life post-divorce, is Maggie Cheung, who had been dating German architect Ole Scheeren until their breakup four years ago.

The post The Chinese Movie Stars Who Regret Their Failed Relationships with Foreign Men appeared first on The Nanfang.