Results tagged “gossip”

The Straits Times reports that actress Zhang Ziyi (章子怡) has made her first public appearance since pictures of her canoodling topless with her Israeli fiance Vivi Nevo at a beach hit the interwebs. According to the report, Zhang had a "forced smile" at the show. Also:

She avoided reporters by shunning the red carpet but, in a speech on stage, she appeared to allude to being indifferent to online criticism that she had shamed China by sunbathing topless with Israeli investor Vivi Nevo.

Continue reading "Zhang Ziyi makes first public appearance since beach photo scandal"

Aric Queen, former executive producer of ChinesePod, writing from exile, appears to think so. Once upon a time, his friend Frank Fradella flew to Shanghai and approached ChinesePod with a pitch for a new show designed to teach foreigners how to recognise radicals [see video below]. He was told by the Shanghai startup that they didn't have the budget for the show and Fradella flew home a little dejected, but that was that.

Christopher St. Cavish reports that superstar chef Jereme Leung is out at Whampoa Club, the restaurant he helped found. Cavish also says David Laris is now acting as a consultant to the restaurant that bears his name. Meanwhile — and this should be classified as gossip for now — a source on the Bund recently told us that days could be numbered for several of the tenants of the former Union Building. Stay tuned.

Actress Gong Li (巩俐) appeared recently as glamorous as ever in Beijing for a L'Oreal event in what was likely her first public appearance in China since she took on Singaporean citizenship. At a press conference she revealed that she's been receiving lots of offers from Hollywood lately, and when asked if she had any plans to return to Chinese cinema, she said, "I've always had, I've always had." But when the question moved on to her citizenship, Gong Li promptly turned around, spoke to her minders and made a quick exit.

The tiny Shanghai English-language media scene is abuzz with gossips and rumours over just what is going to happen to SH Mag next. Asia City, the publisher of SH which owns similar magazines in regional cities like Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, has apparently put up a "FOR SALE" sign over the magazine.

Since rumours of a miscarriage began making the rounds last month, Chinese pop diva Faye Wong has been spotted for the first time in public leaving a hotel in Beijing and then driving home alone. Gone are the days of her wild partying and crazy temperament. Faye Wong is now a devoted mother who has been more than happy to stay out of the limelight. This baby would have been Faye Wong's third child. Her first daughter was born to singer Dou Wei and her second daughter with current hubby Li Yapeng was born with a cleft lip — news that were lapped up by entertainment journalists around the region.

As revealed by Qilu TV, the top three earners in the Chinese sports world ranked according to the sum of their basic annual pay, prize money, endorsement and appearance fees are Yao Ming (RMB250 million), Liu Xiang (RMB70 million) and Guo Jingjing (RMB15 million). These are followed by Sun Jihai (RMB10 million), Shao Jiayi (RMB6 million), Dong Fangzhuo (RMB4.8 million) and Zheng Zhi (RMB4.5 million).

Tough times ahead, it seems, for the English-language magazines up north in Beijing. Too months ahead of the Olympics, the powers that be have declared time out on Time Out Beijing, writes Jane Macartney of The Times:

The June issue of Time Out Beijing has been banned from distribution by China's censors, The Times has learnt. But the decision seems to have been taken not because of any racy or politically incorrect content. Time Out Beijing has fallen victim to the accelerating imposition of restrictions on any aspect of life in the capital deemed to pose a potential threat to a smooth Olympics.

Continue reading "Media Gossip: Time out on Time Out; That's Beijing repossessed?"

Ex-Playboy covergirl, epileptic dancer, and Shanghai Baby Bai Ling, was, as we told you earlier, arrested for shoplifting, but apparently, her shoplifting charges have been dropped and she was fined a grand total of US$200 for disturbing the peace. Here is her account of the incident:

"I went across the [hall] with the toy in my hand, and asked which battery would fit. They told me [they knew which would fit], but they had really long line and I had to make the flight," the New York Post quoted her as saying. Bai claimed store clerks asked if she could wait and she agreed, exiting to the side of the shop, continuing to call and text. The next thing she knew, she was being arrested for shoplifting.

Continue reading "Bai Ling fined US$200"

Sorry to be giving Edison a bit more air time than he deserves, but we just COULD NOT pass this one up. Just when we were wondering when it would happen, some entrepreneurial chap in Hong Kong has already gone ahead to design some Edison Chen t-shirts, created a MySpace page for it and an online store! The t-shirts cost HK$170 a pop (not sure if they'll deliver to Shanghai) and come in 3 designs each for men and ladies, with captions that read "Edison shot me too!", "Be my friend and I'll share the other 1000 photos!" and "Edison made me naive and silly!" Ingenious, and the t-shirts aren't bad-looking at all! Now, why oh why, weren't we the first to think of this idea?

Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) has been in the news quite a bit lately, and for all the wrong reasons. Last week, pictures of a woman with an uncanny resemblance to her surfaced during the Edison Chen scandal and this time, she refers to Hong Kong as a foreign country (国外), and talks of how she wants to gain glory for the people of Taiwan (“为台湾人争光"). Her Chinese fans are not finding it funny, and she is getting it big time on the Internet. God knows what will happen to her, but we do know the last time Zhang Huimei (张惠妹) sang the Taiwanese anthem, she was barred from performing in China.

WARNING: If you are sick and tired of reading about Edison Chen's private parts ... stop reading now!

BAIDU RAPPED FOR SPREADING THE PICTURES; CHINESE COPS ARREST 10 SUSPECTS IN SHENZHEN

So much has happened since our last post on the Edison Chen photo scandal that it is about time we updated you! First, the Edison Chen saga has caught the attention of CNN. The Chinese-speaking world has never been as enraptured in a scandal as this, and its scale and magnitude is threatening to make Paris Hilton look very passé. Kristie Lu Stout reports:

For Part 1 of this story, click HERE.

RELEASE OF PICTURES OF HONG KONG STARS IN THE NUDE IN VARIOUS COMPROMISING SITUATIONS SETS TONGUES WAGGING ACROSS ASIA

Here, Shanghai, were your favourite stories for the month of January:

In our past life as a public relations executive, we were always surprised at how China's media world appears to be in sort of a pre-Cambrian age with as many publications going out of business as there are coming in. Call up all the journalists you've invited after a press conference and there always be bound to be one or two publications that have folded up. Well it appears we haven't quite come out of those pre-Cambrian times yet, and at least the expat magazine circle is beginning to feel the heat. Hot on the heels of the closure of News Views Reviews comes the demise of Hint Magazine. We just received this in our mail from the editors of the publication:

Dear Friends of Hint Magazine,

Continue reading "Hint Magazine calls it a day"

What should a Wall Street firm do when it loses billions on risky bets in the mortgage securities market? Have its CEO call the Chinese government for a capital infusion of course. Bear Stearns did it back in October. Yesterday, Morgan Stanley announced a USD $5 billion equity investment from China Investment Corp. after writing down USD $9.4 billion of its mortgage securities portfolio, ouch! China Investment Corp. is the USD $200 billion sovereign wealth fund that the Chinese government has setup to invest its massive foreign currency hoard, estimated at roughly USD $1.4 trillion.

Looking for something to do tonight? Enjoy explosions in the sonic soundscape (we're not sure what that means, either)? If you get a chance we recommend heading down to 4Live where the Ex-Models, from New York, will be playing along with Snapline (Beijing) and Shanghai's very own Muscle Snog. Both Snapline and Muscle Snog have been getting a lot of attention this year, so here is your chance to see why.

For a second straight week Shanghaiist has missed our Friday deadline, oops. The good news is that Saturday is when all the really good stuff happens.

As Shanghai’s punishing winter falls upon us, few things counter the chill as effectively as a steaming, bubbling hotpot. While Shanghaiist has had a long-lasting love affair with spicy Sichuan hotpot, with its communal cauldron of numbing stock and gobs of pig innards, we realize that many of our loyal readers actually shy away from rubbery entrails and multiple chopstick dipping. It is to these dear readers, and to anyone else looking for a surprisingly...

Where to go, where to go: Shanghaiist is still trying to figure out where to carb up for our big dodgeball game tonight (that's right, patches, dodgeball). Pure, the fancy new Japanese restaurant that is part of The Collection at Xintiandi, has been offering their new sushi menu for 50% off since last Thursday. The special ends tomorrow night, however, so if we enjoy ourselves tonight we may find ourselves there tomorrow as well. On...

We don't feel right doing many concert reviews, mainly because of our relationships with the bands, and the realization after years of live shows that the quality depends as much on the venue, backline, PA, sound guy, etc...as it does the band. Plus we don't like to judge people who are capable of doing things we can't (clarification: we don't like judging people we think are cool, we have no problem judging all you uncool...

For all of those of you who stayed at home, hunched over the computer, waiting for an update on the happenings in live music this weekend....well, we apologize. Dust yourself off, pick up the shaver and take a shower, today is a big day for music. Getting things started early, 4:30pm at 4Live, are Taiwan indie pop duo, Natural Q. Seems to be the season for indie pop, after performances last month by Carrchy and...

Logo has become the spot of choice for musicians and djs who are in town to put on special "unofficial" gigs and tonight DJ Dex aka Nomadico is going to burn up the decks. Last Saturday he got the crowds grooving to his elctro beat at the Shelter and we hear there was an impressive turnout. Tonights show will be for all those who either missed seeing him at the Shelter or just can't get...

Bravo to the big corporations — Hewlett Packard and Hennessy — that are each throwing huge music events this weekend and both are free to the public via registration on their respective webpages. On Friday, Hennessy is holding what is being billed as a "Hennessy Artistry Showcase" (last year featuring Juliette Louis and the Licks), out at the International Expo Center in Pudong and featuring Hong Kong pop star Wang Lee Hom, Gary Chaw, and...

Okay, okay, we promise we will STOP talking about Facebook right after this post for the next week, but seriously, people, it is such a great way to not just entertain ourselves, but also to find out about what's going on in our city [1] . Through Facebook, we've not only seen how people in our town are organising themselves for good, we find that it also can be a great source of GOSSIP. And...