At what was dubbed the Chinese-speaking world’s wedding of the century, Carina Lau (劉嘉玲) and Tony Leung Chiu Wai (梁朝偉) exchanged marriage vows on a meadow in front of the Uma Paro hotel in Bhutan on Tuesday.
The 100 relatives and friends that attended the nuptials included A-list celebrities such as Faye Wong (王菲), Brigitte Lin (林青霞), Wong Kar-wai (王家衛) and Chang Chen (張震).
The happy couple coughed up for the guests’ flights and accommodations and are estimated to have splurged some NT$140 million on the nuptials, with Lau’s 10-carat diamond ring clocking in at NT$100 million.
The wedding was in the same league as royal marriage dos. Having gained the full support of Bhutan’s royal family, the couple had their wedding photos taken last week in Ugyen Pelri Palace, which was sealed from prying eyes. Lau and Liu wore traditional attire usually only reserved for members of the mountain kingdom’s royal family. After all, the pair are showbiz royalty.
The helpful and friendly monarchy was probably one of the reasons why the couple tied the knot in the isolated nation where liquor is banned and the government pays more attention to the country’s Gross National Happiness than Gross National Product.
An estimated 30 journos made it to the hotel nestled on a mountain 2,300m above sea level, but which was sealed off by 80 policemen and 20 security guards.
Members of the press pack faced deportation, having their cameras smashed and photos deleted by force. This must have been one of their toughest cases to date, especially staking out the hotel accompanied by flies, bees and cows while aware that their the celebrity quarry was ensconced inside feasting.
Meanwhile, Lau’s former suitor, money bags Terry Gou (郭台銘), is set to marry his dancer girlfriend Delia Tseng (曾馨瑩) tomorrow at the Grand Hyatt Taipei. The wedding is to be held in a plain and simple style by the tycoon’s normal standard and will be attended by Chang Fei (張菲), Chang Hsiao-yen (張小燕) and Kevin Tsai (蔡康永).
While Gao’s personal life is on the up, his dream of building a film empire reportedly lies in tatters as the Chinese-language press pointed out last week that his film company closed down seven months ago.
Could his previously made promise to produce 100 Chinese-language films have been a ruse to pursue female stars?
In other nuptial news, has-been model Flora Sun (孫正華) has reportedly climbed up the social ladder by secretly marrying Miao Hua-pin (苗華斌), the heir to MiTAC (神通集團).
Though friends of both parties denied the pair had got hitched, Apple Daily nevertheless ran a relationship family tree charting the couple’s past flings. Sun was once romantically linked with Japanese soccer sensation Hidetoshi Nakata and Miao was said to be an eager wooer of local beauties including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Sonia Sui (隋棠).
Love is in the air, it seems. In Bangkok, married Chinese diva Gong Li (鞏俐) was spotted by Hong Kong paparazzi feeding a “farang” in a restaurant this month. The gossip hounds later identified the man as a 29-year-old French photographer surnamed Chang who met Gong two years ago on the set of Hannibal Rising.
Pop Stop reckons this must be true love since Chang is the same guy who was spotted fondling the actress in Beijing in 2006 and enjoying a candlelight dinner with her in Shanghai last year.
A man who published 84 images of Hong Kong actor Edison Chen (陳冠希) engaged in sex acts with several actresses and entertainers was given a two-year jail sentence yesterday, suspended for two years.
Kwok Chun-wai pleaded guilty at Kowloon city court to three charges of publishing obscene articles.
Magistrate Andrew Ma said the offences were serious and a deterrent sentence was needed, but he suspended the penalty because the defendant was not the source of the pictures and he did not intend to harm the celebrities involved.
The images, showing Chen having oral sex with celebrities including singer Gillian Chung (鍾欣桐) and actress Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝), were taken from Chen’s laptop computer.
The scandal, which broke in January, caused Chen to leave Hong Kong for Canada and the US. Chung, one half of the singing duo Twins, temporarily suspended her singing career, while Cheung separated from actor husband Nicolas Tse (謝霆鋒).
Every now and then, it’s nice to just point somewhere on a map and head out with no plan. In Taiwan, where convenience reigns, food options are plentiful and people are generally friendly and helpful, this type of trip is that much easier to pull off. One day last November, a spur-of-the-moment day hike in the hills of Chiayi County turned into a surprisingly memorable experience that impressed on me once again how fortunate we all are to call this island home. The scenery I walked through that day — a mix of forest and farms reaching up into the clouds
With one week left until election day, the drama is high in the race for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair. The race is still potentially wide open between the three frontrunners. The most accurate poll is done by Apollo Survey & Research Co (艾普羅民調公司), which was conducted a week and a half ago with two-thirds of the respondents party members, who are the only ones eligible to vote. For details on the candidates, check the Oct. 4 edition of this column, “A look at the KMT chair candidates” on page 12. The popular frontrunner was 56-year-old Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文)
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