A topless Zhang Ziyi (章子怡) has been warming up winter for the blogosphere, as paparazzi snapped up shots of the Chinese actress and her fiance, Israeli venture capitalist Aviv “Vivi” Nevo, frolicking on the Caribbean island of St Barts.
A collection of 80 photos, taken while the pair were on vacation earlier this month, has been posted on various Web sites, a few of which have received server-crashing traffic, according to the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper).
The couple’s frisky beachside manner had blogging tongues wagging the most. Nevo was photographed giving the 29-year-old starlet’s tush a robust squeeze as she lay sunbathing. In another shot, he nuzzles her squarely where the sun don’t shine (not even on this tropical island). The Apple Daily noted the shocked reactions on the Internet to this “butt biting.”
Others in the Chinese-language press dutifully regurgitated the posted blog comments, which included remarks to the effect of “get a room,” “disgusting foreigner,” “oh my, they’re not even married,” and “what a disgrace to the Chinese people.” Apple’s assessment combined concern for Zhang’s “future happiness,” given Nevo’s past as a playboy, with bewilderment: “For famous foreigners, sunbathing topless is no big deal at such a locale, but [Zhang] and Aviv’s overly brazen display of passion would have even Hollywood celebrities admitting defeat.”
The saga of the troubled marriage between actress Annie Yi (伊能靜) and singer Harlem Yu (庾澄慶) has taken yet another twist. While their marriage has reportedly been on the mend, Next magazine has stirred things up again, reporting that Yi had been seeing Chen Chia-chun (陳嘉鈞) before her reported affair with Laurence Huang (黃維德).
According to Next, Chen, the younger brother of a prominent newscaster and former boyfriend of Little Pan-pan (小潘潘), was so distraught after reports of Yi’s affair with Huang that he went on a drinking binge. When confronted by reporters, Chen denied that he was drowning his sorrows over the affair, but expressed his “appreciation” for “this caring female friend.”
Who’s number one? The question has spawned the latest “war of words” in the Mando-pop world, as Little Pig (小豬) claims to have bested Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) for the top spot in G-music’s sales charts for the final week of December. Both Little Pig, also known as Alan Luo (羅志祥), and Wang have just released new albums. When asked how he felt about beating Wang, Little Pig said “I can only make comparisons with myself,” reported the Liberty Times.
But Wang’s label, Sony, doubted the accuracy of the charts. A company representative offered a sore response, implying that Little Pig’s label, Gold Typhoon (金牌大風) rigged the charts: “Everyone in record industry knows that whenever major artists from a certain well-known label come out with a new release, they come up with ways to make sure they are the top sellers.” Wang chimed in, saying that “there’s not enough credibility to the charts, they don’t really matter.”
Gold Typhoon, shot back with more numbers: number one in mobile phone ring tones and nine other sales charts and an average of 5,000 copies sold at autograph signing events. “We’ll continue to work hard — not make excuses,” said a company representative. Now, now, there’s enough room for both of you, said the Liberty Times report, which commented that the real praise should go to the two stars for their charity work.
Pretty-boy rockers Mayday (五月天) endured a rough start to the New Year. According to the Liberty Times, disgruntled fans on Internet boards complained that lead singer A-hsin (阿信) was singing off key throughout the band’s New Year’s eve concert in Taipei. Other fans aired suspicions that he was lip-synching, which Mayday’s manager vehemently denied, saying that the band was in the middle of a grueling tour schedule and A-hsin had been suffering from a cold.
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)
“How China Threatens to Force Taiwan Into a Total Blackout” screamed a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) headline last week, yet another of the endless clickbait examples of the energy threat via blockade that doesn’t exist. Since the headline is recycled, I will recycle the rebuttal: once industrial power demand collapses (there’s a blockade so trade is gone, remember?) “a handful of shops and factories could run for months on coal and renewables, as Ko Yun-ling (柯昀伶) and Chao Chia-wei (趙家緯) pointed out in a piece at Taiwan Insight earlier this year.” Sadly, the existence of these facts will not stop the
Oct. 13 to Oct. 19 When ordered to resign from her teaching position in June 1928 due to her husband’s anti-colonial activities, Lin Shih-hao (林氏好) refused to back down. The next day, she still showed up at Tainan Second Preschool, where she was warned that she would be fired if she didn’t comply. Lin continued to ignore the orders and was eventually let go without severance — even losing her pay for that month. Rather than despairing, she found a non-government job and even joined her husband Lu Ping-ting’s (盧丙丁) non-violent resistance and labor rights movements. When the government’s 1931 crackdown
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