China Celebs

Drugs, Tibet Bus Accident & Ice-buckets

Published

5 years ago

August 18, 2014

Trending topics of August 18, 2014: Famous Taiwanese actor and singer Ke Zhendong (柯震东) , also known as Ko Chentung, has been arrested for suspected drug use. The 23-year old celebrity was arrested in Beijing this week together with Jaycee Chan, the 31-year old son of actor Jackie Chan. The news leaked through Weibo on Sunday the 17th before being picked up by local Chinese media. The news of Ko’s arrest is one amongst many recent cases of celebrity drug use. The great number of celebrities arrested in Mainland China has led to much amusement amongst microbloggers, who made a spoof of the Hong Kong movie ‘Prison on Fire’ to ridicule the stars.

The #2 trending topic of the day is about a bus accident that occurred in Tibet on the morning of August 18th (#西藏大巴翻入河道#). The bus with 47 people on board was going from Lhasa to Nyingchi when it got a flat tire, causing the vehicle to pull of the road and drive into the river next to it. Over 10 people have been rescued thus far, it is not yet known if there are any casualties. This is the second serious bus accident in Tibet within a week; on August 11 a tourbus accident killed 44 people when it plunged into a valley.

The ‘icebucket challenge‘ that has gone viral over social media in the West has now also made it as a trending topic on Sina Weibo. The social media craze started when celebrities drenched themselves in buckets of ice and water to raise awareness for motor neurone disease, also known as ALS. Chinese celebrities are now doing the same.

China Arts & Entertainment

‘First Lady of Hong Kong TV’ Lily Leung Passes Away at Age 90

Chinese netizens pay their respects to veteran actress Lily Leung Shun-Yin (1929-2019), who passed away on August 13.

Published

1 month ago

August 13, 2019

Manya Koetse

Lily in 1996, image via Sing Tao Daily.

While the Hong Kong protests are dominating the headlines, the death of Hong Kong veteran actress Lily Leung Shun-Yin (梁舜燕) has become a top trending topic on social media site Sina Weibo under the hashtag “Hong Kong Actress Liang Shunyan Dies from Illness” (#香港演员梁舜燕病逝#).

Lily Leung, image via http://www.sohu.com/a/333418087_161795.

The actress was born in Hong Kong in 1929. She starred in dozens of television series, including the first TV drama to be locally broadcasted. She became known as “the first lady of Hong Kong TV.”

Leung acted for TVB and other broadcasters. Some of her more well-known roles were those in Kindred Spirit (真情) and Heart of Greed (溏心风暴).

Leung, also nicknamed ‘Sister Lily’ (Lily姐), passed away on August 13. According to various Chinese media reports, the actress passed peacefully surrounded by family after enduring illness. She was 90 years old.

“I’ve seen so much of her work,” many Weibo netizens say, sharing the favorite roles played by Leung. “I always watched her on TVB while growing up, and will cherish her memory,” one commenter wrote.

Another well-known Hong Kong actress, Teresa Ha Ping (夏萍), also passed away this month. She was 81 years old when she died. Her passing away also attracted a lot of attention on Chinese social media (
#演员夏萍去世#).

Many people express their sadness over the fact that not one but two grand ladies from Hong Kong’s 20th-century entertainment era have passed away this month.

“Those people from our memories pass away one by one, and it represents the passing of an era,” one Weibo user wrote.

“Two familiar faces and old troupers of Hong Kong drama – I hope they rest in peace.”

By Manya Koetse
Follow @whatsonweibo

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China Celebs

Iconic Shanghai Singer Yao Lee Passes Away at the Age of 96

Yao Li, one of the seven great singing stars of Shanghai in the 1940s, has passed away.

Published

2 months ago

July 19, 2019

Manya Koetse

Chinese singer Yao Lee (姚莉), the ‘Queen of Mandarin pop,’ passed away on July 19 at the age of 96.

The singer, with her ‘Silvery Voice,’ was known as one of the seven great singing stars (“七大歌星”) of Shanghai of the 1940s.

For those who may not know her name, you might know her music – one of her iconic songs was used in the hit movie Crazy Rich Asians.

Yao’s most famous songs include “Rose, Rose, I Love You” (玫瑰玫瑰我爱你), “Meet Again” (重逢), and “Love That I Can’t Have” (得不到的爱情).

Yao, born in Shanghai in 1922, started singing at the age of 13. Her brother Yao Min was a popular music songwriter.

When popular music was banned under Mao in the 1950s, Hong Kong became a new center of the Mandarin music industry, and Yao continued her career there.