Wang Lee-hom (王力宏) usually does a good job of keeping his private life out of the tabloids, but a wig and mysterious travel plans sparked rumors that he recently enjoyed a tropical getaway with actress Shu Qi (舒淇).
A reporter from the Liberty Times (our sister newspaper) saw Wang arriving at Taoyuan International Airport (桃園國際機場) sporting the fake tresses. On the same night, Shu was spotted flying into Hong Kong. Though there is no concrete proof that the two were vacationing together, intrepid netizens noted that their arrival times coincided with flights from Bali.
“After 10 years of disguising himself, this was the first time he failed,” commented the Liberty Times, referring to Wang’s ability to keep the press off his trail. While some of Wang’s fans mocked him on the Internet for his subterfuge, others were frothing at the mouth over the potential of a juicy new celebrity romance.
Photo: Taipei Times
“If it’s true, then announce it!” went one typical posting.
Rumors of a relationship have dogged the two ever since Shu appeared in one of Wang’s music videos five years ago. After shooting wrapped up, the two reportedly started seeing each other and the tabloids even said that they had been spotted in Tokyo department stores shopping for a diamond ring. Wang and Shu are said to have kept their alleged affair under wraps because his mother disapproves of the romance, but fans are now keeping their fingers crossed.
On Dec. 29, the Liberty Times received a tip-off from a reader about Wang and Shu’s arrivals in Taiwan and Hong Kong, respectively. A reporter rushed to Taoyuan and managed to intercept Wang, who was wearing his disguise and looked surprised to have been discovered. When asked if he had been in Bali with Shu Qi, Wang did not respond.
The two have refused to confirm or deny reports of their trip, but fans keeping an eagle eye on all their blog postings believe there is enough evidence. Shu insisted that she had planned to go skiing over the winter holidays, but readers figured out that a photo she posted online of herself enjoying the slopes was actually a year old. Some fans also believe that Wang convinced a blogger to post a snap of a “chance encounter” with the singer in Beijing. They argue that the jacket he is wearing in the photo would have provided scant protection against the Chinese capital’s frigid winter temperatures, and therefore the report is fake.
The Liberty Times speculated that the two spent their rumored Bali trip celebrating the critical success of Chinglish, a theatrical production by Chinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang (黃哲倫) that uses 11 of Wang’s songs. Time magazine placed it at number three in its list of last year’s top 10 Broadway shows. Wang’s music was also included in How Can I Live on Without You (如果沒有你) by Cloud Gate Theatre (雲門舞集).
Shu issued a statement chiding the press for making a big deal out of nothing. “This is not worth responding to,” she told reporters. Managers for both stars said that their agencies had been closed for the New Year’s weekend and were therefore unable to confirm or deny the rumors.
Wang’s love life has long been the focus of intense speculation. When the singer recently uploaded a photo to his blog that he snapped while recording a song, some fans mistook the background for a home studio. While some sighed with envy over Wang’s luxurious bachelor pad, others lamented how lonely he looked in the picture and called for Wang to find himself a wife right away. The singer’s management company quickly sent out a clarification that Wang was at Platinum Studios (白金錄音室).
Even though their bitter separation and divorce topped the headlines for months on end last year, Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒) and Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝) are now denying rumors that they are getting back together. Tse confirmed that he often sees his ex-wife, but explained that it was for the sake of their two small children. Tse and Cheung were recently spotted taking their oldest son Lucas to a feng shui master, but Tse wrote on his blog that they were just enjoying a family outing as parents. After spending a good part of last year duking it out over real estate holdings and custody arrangements, Tse said that he and Cheung “cooled down” after their divorce was finalized and are now open to being good friends — but no more than that.
As I finally slid into the warm embrace of the hot, clifftop pool, it was a serene moment of reflection. The sound of the river reflected off the cave walls, the white of our camping lights reflected off the dark, shimmering surface of the water, and I reflected on how fortunate I was to be here. After all, the beautiful walk through narrow canyons that had brought us here had been inaccessible for five years — and will be again soon. The day had started at the Huisun Forest Area (惠蓀林場), at the end of Nantou County Route 80, north and east
Specialty sandwiches loaded with the contents of an entire charcuterie board, overflowing with sauces, creams and all manner of creative add-ons, is perhaps one of the biggest global food trends of this year. From London to New York, lines form down the block for mortadella, burrata, pistachio and more stuffed between slices of fresh sourdough, rye or focaccia. To try the trend in Taipei, Munchies Mafia is for sure the spot — could this be the best sandwich in town? Carlos from Spain and Sergio from Mexico opened this spot just seven months ago. The two met working in the
Exceptions to the rule are sometimes revealing. For a brief few years, there was an emerging ideological split between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that appeared to be pushing the DPP in a direction that would be considered more liberal, and the KMT more conservative. In the previous column, “The KMT-DPP’s bureaucrat-led developmental state” (Dec. 11, page 12), we examined how Taiwan’s democratic system developed, and how both the two main parties largely accepted a similar consensus on how Taiwan should be run domestically and did not split along the left-right lines more familiar in
This month the government ordered a one-year block of Xiaohongshu (小紅書) or Rednote, a Chinese social media platform with more than 3 million users in Taiwan. The government pointed to widespread fraud activity on the platform, along with cybersecurity failures. Officials said that they had reached out to the company and asked it to change. However, they received no response. The pro-China parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), immediately swung into action, denouncing the ban as an attack on free speech. This “free speech” claim was then echoed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC),
RSS