10 Chinese Stars Who Fell in Love with Foreigners

Editor’s note: There's a popular saying that "love knows no boundaries", and, perhaps nowhere is this more true than in the Chinese entertainment industry. In recent years, it seems that more and more of China's most famous actresses and singers have favoured foreigners. Just what is it that attracts these famous ladies to foreign men? Is it their money? Their looks? Their personalities? Who knows… The following article was translated and edited from an article on Youth Leader. The article introduces 10 well-known Chinese actresses and singers who have either dated or married foreign men in recent years.

1) Yuan Li (袁莉)
Yuan Li was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province on July 12th, 1973. She graduated from Beijing Film Academy in 1992. She has made a name for herself appearing in such films as Never Die Content (永不瞑目), and The Bronze Teeth (铁齿铜牙纪晓岚). In recent months, Yuan Li began dating Blaine Grunewald, a former lawyer and CEO of Lehman Bush in Shanghai. On November 30th, 2011, the couple confirmed that they’d gotten married. Of particular interest in this instance of cross-cultural marriage, Blaine Grunewald is an "eighties baby", making Yuan Li nearly a decade his senior.

2) Sun Yanzi / Stefanie Sun (孙燕姿)
Sun Yanzi was born in Singapore on July 23rd, 1978. She graduated from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore with a degree in marketing, before pursuing a singing career. In 2000 she released her first album, for which she received acclaim and was compared to such distinguished singers as Fay Wong (王菲) and A-Mei (张惠妹). Some of her most popular songs include "The Green Ray" (绿光), "Cloudy Day" (天黑黑) and "Magical" (神奇). On May 8th, 2011, Sun Yanzi and Nadim Van Der Ros, her foreign boyfriend of more than five years, held a wedding ceremony in Singapore. Nadim Van Der Ros was born in The Netherlands and currently works in Singapore in marketing and advertising.

3) Li Wen / CoCo Lee (李玟)
CoCo Lee was born in Hong Kong on January 17th, 1975. Although she is ethnically Chinese – her father is Chinese-Indonesian and her mother is Hongkongese-Chinese – she is technically a U.S. citizen. She graduated from University of California—Irving with an undergraduate degree in biology. CoCo Lee began her singing career in Hong Kong before becoming popular in Taiwan. She has had a string of hit songs in Asia, and is internationally known for performing the song "A Love Before Time" from the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (卧虎藏龙). On October 28th, 2011, CoCo Lee was married to Bruce Rockowitz, the CEO for Li & Feng Group, atop a luxury hotel in Hong Kong.

4) GiGi Leung (梁咏琪)
GiGi Leung was born in Hong Kong on March 25th, 1976. She graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic University with an undergraduate degree in design. She was casted for her first movie roles in 1995 (Doctor Mack and Full Throttle), and released her first canto-pop album "Love Myself" in 1996. Since then, she has released more than a dozen albums and starred in over 20 movies. On October 3rd, 2011, GiGi Leung and "Sergio", her Spanish boyfriend of six months, were married in Ibiza, Spain. The two met while she was vacationing alone in Spain.

5) Wei Wei (韦唯)
Wei Wei was born in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia on September 28th, 1963. At the age of 14, she first broke into the music business, quickly becoming one of China's most treasured female singers. Two of her most popular songs are "The Dedication of Love’ (爱的奉献), which she recorded in 1988, and the duet "Great Asia" (亚洲雄风), which she performed with Liu Huan at the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990. Around the same time, Wei Wei married Swedish pianist Michael Smith. The couple had three children together, and was considered to be a "model couple" of a cross-cultural marriage in China. Sadly, the two divorced in 2003. More recently, Wei Wei has been spotted with yet another foreigner, frolicking on the beaches of Sanya.

6) Ning Jing (宁静)
Ning Jing was born in Guizhou Province on April 27th, 1972. She graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy. Her first big acting break came in 1990, when she starred in the film I'm Ugly, But I'm Gentle and Soft (我很丑，但我很温柔). In 1993, Ning Jing began working for Shanghai Film Studio, often playing the role of the "vivacious woman" (花旦) in films. She was given a Hundred Flowers Film Prize for her performance in the film "Red River Valley" (红河谷) in 1997. While filming "Red River Valley", Ning Jing fell in love with her American co-star, Paul Kersey. The two quickly married, and had a child together. However, not long after, a rumour starting going around that Ning Jing married a foreigner, not out of love, but to get back at an ex who had also married a foreigner. These days, Ning Jing and Paul Kersey are still married, although they live in separate countries because "Ning Jing's green card became invalid".

7) Zhang Mi / Mimi (张咪)
Zhang Mi was born in Heilongjiang on December 26th, 1968. She graduated from the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. She sang with the Chinese Film Symphony Orchestra in 1987 and won the national folk singer competition in 1989. From 1996 to 1999, Zhang Mi travelled around Europe and the United States. In 1998, she met and started dating an American named "Danny". Upon returning to China, people noticed a change in Zhang Mi; that is, she began using her sex appeal to land jobs as the spokesperson for various companies. She also began to re-kindle her singing career and in general, stayed in the public's eye. For one such publicity stunt, Danny, her boyfriend wrote a book entitled "My Sexy Girlfriend: Zhang Mi" (张咪我的性感女友). Seriously. 

8) Zhang Ziyi (章子怡)
Zhang Ziyi was born in Beijing on February 9th, 1979. She graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. She was discovered in 1998 by director Zhang Yimou, who casted her in The Road Home (我的父亲母亲), which won the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Zhang Ziyi starred in Ang Li's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (卧虎藏龙) in 1999, Hero (英雄) in 2002 and House of Flying Daggers (十面埋伏) in 2004. These days, Zhang Ziyi has become better known for what she does off the screen. In 2007, she began dating Israeli venture capitalist Aviv "Vivi" Nevo. The two were frequently followed by the paparazzi, and their relationship was widely publicised. Sadly, Zhang Ziyi and Vivi called it quits in late 2010, with Zhang Ziyi citing "cultural differences" as the cause for the break up.

9) Ma Yashu / Ya Ya (马娅舒)
Ma Yashu was born Kunming on March 24th, 1977. Since the age of nine, she attended the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, where she studying the role of the "vivacious woman" (花旦). Her breakthrough performances were a remake of Journey to the West (西游记后传) in 2000 and Swordsman at Large (萧十一郎) in 2001. Ma Yashu married Nicky Wu, star of the Taiwanese boy band "The Little Tigers" on December 12th, 2006. The two divorced on August 11th, 2009, after the paparazzi snapped photos of Ma Yashu having a "late night love affair" with Australian billionaire James Robert Hayes, a high-level executive of a video game software company. Ma Yashu and James Robert Hayes were married in late June 2010.

10) Zhang Manyu / Maggie Cheung (张曼玉)
Maggie Cheung was born in Hong Kong on September 20th, 1964. After winning second place in a "Miss Hong Kong" beauty pageant, she began a career as an actress. Since 1984, she has appeared in over 70 films, including the Police Story films with Jackie Chan, and In the Mood for Love (花样年华), Hero (英雄) and 2046 with Tong Leung, both of whom she has been rumoured to have been romantically linked to in the past. However, in recent years, it seems that Maggie Cheung has had more of a thing for foreign guys. She married French director Olivier Assayas in 1998 and divorced him in 2002. Since her divorce, Maggie Cheung has been dating German architect Ole Scheeren.

Source: qndb.net
 

Related links
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