Famous people from China
Here is a list of famous people from China. Curious if anybody from China made it our most famous people in the world list? Read the aformentioned article in order to find out.
Mao Zedong
Military Commander
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung, and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, politician and socio-political theorist. The founding father of the People's Republic of China from its establishment in 1949, he governed the country as Chairman of the Communist Party of China until his death. In this position he converted China into a single-party socialist state, with industry and business being nationalized under state ownership and socialist reforms implemented in all areas of society. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, his theoretical contribution to the ideology along with his military strategies and brand of policies are collectively known as Maoism. Born the son of a wealthy farmer in Shaoshan, Hunan, Mao adopted a Chinese nationalist and anti-imperialist outlook in early life, particularly influenced by the events of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and May Fourth Movement of 1919. Coming to adopt Marxism-Leninism while working at Peking University, he became an early member of the Communist Party of China, soon rising to a senior position. In 1922, the Communists agreed to an alliance with the larger Kuomintang, a nationalist revolutionary party, whom Mao aided in creating a revolutionary peasant army and organizing rural land reform. In 1927 the KMT's military leader Chiang Kai-shek broke the alliance and set about on an anti-communist purge; in turn, the CPC formed an army of peasant militia, and the two sides clashed in the Chinese Civil War. Mao was responsible for commanding a part of the CPC's Red Army, and after several setbacks, rose to power in the party by leading the Long March. When the Empire of Japan invaded China in 1937, sparking the Second Sino-Japanese War, Mao agreed to a united front with the KMT, and both sides fought with the Allies of World War II until war's end. The civil war then resumed, in which Mao led the Red Army to victory as Chiang and his supporters fled to Taiwan.
Katrina Kaif
Actor
Katrina Kaif is a British Indian film actress and model. She is primarily known for her work in Bollywood films, though has also appeared in Telugu and Malayalam films. After a successful modelling career, Kaif made her acting debut in 2003, with a role in Kaizad Gustad's box office bomb Boom, after which she was initially written off. She consequently appeared in a Telugu film—the hit romantic comedy Malliswari. Kaif later earned commercial success in Bollywood with the romantic comedies Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya? and Namastey London, in which her role in the latter earner Kaif critical appreciation. She followed it with glamorous roles in a series of box office hits, though was criticised for having little to do in male-centric films like Partner, Welcome and Singh Is Kinng. The 2009 terrorism drama New York marked a significant turning point in her career, earning her praise, as well as a Filmfare Best Actress nomination. She subsequently featured in more prominent roles in films like Raajneeti, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Ek Tha Tiger. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics for her acting prowess, she has established herself as a commercially successful actress of Hindi cinema.
Jet Li
Martial Artist
Li Lianjie, better known by his English stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and wushu champion who was born in Beijing. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen. After three years of intensive training with Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring from Wushu at age 19, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple. He went on to star in many critically acclaimed martial arts epic films, most notably the Once Upon A Time In China series, in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung. Li's first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4, but his first Hollywood film leading role was in Romeo Must Die. He has gone on to star in many Hollywood action films, including Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed. He co-starred in The Forbidden Kingdom with Jackie Chan, The Expendables with Sylvester Stallone, and as the title character villain in The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor opposite Brendan Fraser. He also appeared in the Hong Kong film Ocean Heaven, directed and written by Xue Xiaolu.
Chiang Kai-shek
Military Commander
Chiang Kai-shek was a 20th-century Chinese political and military leader. He is known as Jiang Jieshi or Jiang Zhongzheng in Mandarin Chinese. Chiang was an influential member of the Kuomintang, the Chinese Nationalist Party, and was a close ally of Sun Yat-sen. He became the Commandant of the Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun's place as leader of the KMT when Sun died in 1925. In 1926, Chiang led the Northern Expedition to unify the country, becoming China's nominal leader. He served as Chairman of the National Military Council of the Nationalist government of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1948. Chiang led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, consolidating power from the party's former regional warlords. Unlike Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek was socially conservative, promoting traditional Chinese culture in the New Life Movement and rejecting western democracy and the nationalist democratic socialism that Sun embraced in favor of an authoritarian government. Chiang's predecessor, Sun Yat-sen, was well-liked and respected by the Communists, but after Sun's death Chiang was not able to maintain good relations with the Chinese Communist Party. A major split between the Nationalists and Communists occurred in 1927; and, under Chiang's leadership, the Nationalists fought a nation-wide civil war against the Communists. After Japan invaded China in 1937, Chiang agreed to a temporary truce with the CPC. Despite some early cooperative military successes against Japan, by the time that the Japanese surrendered in 1945 neither the CPC nor the KMT trusted each other or were actively cooperating.
Li Na
Tennis Player
Li Na is a Chinese professional tennis player. As of September 2013, Li has won 7 WTA and 19 ITF singles titles. Li rose to prominence after she won the 2011 French Open singles title, making her the first and only Grand Slam singles champion from an Asian country. Prior to this Li had already become the first player representing an Asian country to appear in a Grand Slam singles final, a milestone she achieved at the 2011 Australian Open. She was also the runner-up at the 2013 Australian Open, three times a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon and a semi-finalist at the 2013 US Open. Her career-high singles ranking is World No. 3 and is currently the World No. 3 and Chinese No. 1.
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Religious Leader
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama, as well as the longest lived incumbent. Dalai Lamas are the head monks of the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, and is also well known for his lifelong advocacy for Tibetans inside and outside Tibet. The Dalai Lama was born in Taktser, Qinghai, and was selected as the rebirth of the 13th Dalai Lama two years later, although he was only formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama on 17 November 1950, at the age of 15. The Gelug school's government administered an area roughly corresponding to the Tibet Autonomous Region just as the nascent People's Republic of China wished to assert central control over it. There is a dispute over whether the respective governments reached an agreement for a joint Chinese-Tibetan administration. During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India, where he denounced the People's Republic and established a Tibetan government in exile. He has since traveled the world, advocating for the welfare of Tibetans, teaching Tibetan Buddhism and talking about the importance of compassion as the source of a happy life. Around the world, institutions face pressure from China not to accept him. He has spoken about the environment, economics, women's rights, non-violence, interfaith dialog, physics, astronomy, reproductive health, and sexuality, along with various Mahayana and Vajrayana topics.
Stephen Chow
Actor
Stephen Chow is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, screenwriter, film director, producer and political adviser of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Andy Lau
Actor
Andy Lau Tak-wah MH, JP is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer, actor, presenter, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time. In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop along with Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung and Leon Lai. In 2005, Lau was awarded "No.1 Box office Actor 1985–2005" of Hong Kong, yielding a total box office of HKD 1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years. The aforementioned figure is as compared to the first runner-up Stephen Chow's and second runner-up Jackie Chan's. "I've never imagine that it would be as much as 1.7 billion!" he told the reporters. For his contributions, a wax figure of Lau was unveiled on 1 June 2005 at the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong. In 2007, Lau was also awarded the "Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia" by the Nielsen Company. He also entered into Guinness World Records for "Most Awards Won by a Cantopop Male Artist". By April 2000, he had already won a total unprecedented 292 awards.
Laozi
Philosopher
Lao-Tse is a Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism.
Qin Shi Huang
Monarch
Qin Shi Huang; personal name: Zhao Zheng; was the king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC, during the Warring States period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC. He ruled until his death in 210 BC at the age of 49. Calling himself the First Emperor after China's unification, Qín Shǐ Huáng is a pivotal figure in Chinese history, ushering in nearly two millennia of imperial rule. After unifying China, he and his chief advisor Li Si passed a series of major economic and political reforms. He undertook gigantic projects, including building and unifying various sections of the Great Wall of China, the now famous city-sized mausoleum guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army, and a massive national road system, all at the expense of numerous lives. During his reign, Qin Shi Huang outlawed and burned many books and buried some scholars alive.
Wu Zetian
Noble person
Wu Zetian, also known as Wu Zhao, Wu Hou, in Tang Dynasty, Tian Hou, and in English as Empress Consort Wu, or by the deprecated term, "Empress Wu", was a Chinese sovereign, who ruled officially under the name of her self-proclaimed "Zhou Dynasty", from 690 to 705; however, she had previous imperial positions under both Emperor Taizong of Tang and his son Emperor Gaozong of Tang, of the Tang Dynasty of China. Wu was a concubine of Emperor Taizong; after his death she married his successor and 9th son, Emperor Gaozong, officially becoming Gaozong's furen in 655, although having considerable political power previous to this. After Gaozong's debilitating stroke in 660, Wu Zetian ruled as effective sovereign until 705. She is the only woman to rule China in her own right. The importance to history of Wu Zetian's period of political and military leadership includes major expansion of the Chinese empire, extending it far beyond its previous territorial limits, deep into Central Asia, and completing the conquest of upper Korean Peninsula. Within China, besides the more direct consequences of her struggle to gain and maintain supreme power, Wu's leadership resulted in important effects in regards to social class in Chinese society and in relation to state support for Taoism, Buddhism, education, and literature. Wu Zetian also had a monumental impact in regard to the statuary of the Longmen Grottoes and the "Wordless Stele" at the Qianling Mausoleum, as well as the construction of some major buildings and bronze castings which no longer survive. Despite these important aspects of her reign, together with the suggestions of modern scholarship as to the long-term effects of some of her innovations in governance, much of the attention to Wu Zetian has been to her gender, as the anomalous female supreme sovereign of a unified Chinese empire, holding during part of her lifetime the title of Huangdi.
Ang Lee
Film Director
Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director, screenwriter and producer. Throughout his career, Ang Lee has sought to explore complex themes in his movies. His earlier films frequently sought to explore the relationships and conflicts between tradition and modernity, eastern and western. This is clearly evident in films such as The Wedding Banquet, Pushing Hands, Eat Drink Man Woman. Lee also adeptly deals with the complexities of human emotion in many of his films including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hulk, and Brokeback Mountain. Whatever Lee has chosen to deal with in his films, he has done so in a way that demonstrates his remarkable insight into the human heart. It is this insight which has allowed his films to transcend cultural and linguistic barriers to speak to audiences all over the world. Lee has won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, first for Brokeback Mountain and most recently for Life of Pi. He also won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He is the first person of Asian descent to win an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA for Best Director, and the only director to win two Best Film Awards at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Donnie Yen
Martial Artist
Donnie Yen Ji-dan is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist. He is best known for his role as Ip Man in the eponymous film. Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularization of the traditional martial arts style known as Wing Chun. He played Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the 2008 film Ip Man, which was a box office success. This has led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, leading to hundreds of new Wing Chun schools to be opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered. Yen is considered to be Hong Kong's top action star; director Peter Chan mentioned that he "is the 'it' action person right now" and "has built himself into a bona fide leading man, who happens to be an action star." Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts into the mainstream of Chinese culture, by choreographing MMA in many of his recent films. Yen has displayed notable skills in MMA, being well-versed in boxing, kickboxing, taekwondo, Muay Thai, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. Seen as one of the most popular film stars in Asia in recent years, Yen is currently one of the highest paid actors in Asia.
Deng Xiaoping
Politician
Deng Xiaoping was a politician and reformist leader of the Communist Party of China who, after Mao's death led his country towards a market economy. While Deng never held office as the head of state, head of government or General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, he nonetheless served as the "paramount leader" of the People's Republic of China from 1978 to 1992. As the core of the second generation leaders Deng shared his power with several powerful older politicians commonly known as the Eight Elders. Born into a peasant background in Guang'an, Sichuan, Deng studied and worked in France in the 1920s, where he was influenced by Marxism-Leninism. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1923. Upon his return to China he worked as a political commissar in rural regions and was considered a "revolutionary veteran" of the Long March. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Deng worked in Tibet and other southwestern regions to consolidate Communist control. Deng was instrumental in China's economic reconstruction following the Great Leap Forward in the early 1960s. His economic policies, however, were at odds with the political ideologies of Chairman Mao Zedong. As a result, he was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution, but regained prominence in 1978 by outmaneuvering Mao's chosen successor, Hua Guofeng.
Zhang Ziyi
Actor
Zhang Ziyi, sometimes credited as Ziyi Zhang, is a Chinese film actress and model. Chinese media have called her one of the Four Dan Actresses in China's film industry, along with Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei and Zhou Xun. Her first major role was in The Road Home. She achieved fame in the West after leading roles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Rush Hour 2, House of Flying Daggers, and Memoirs of a Geisha. She has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe Award.
Lin Dan
Olympic athlete
Lin Dan is a professional badminton player from China. He is a two-time Olympic champion, five-time world champion, and five-time All England champion. Widely considered to be the greatest badminton player of all time, by the age of 28 Lin had completed the "Super Grand Slam", having won all nine major titles in world badminton: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games, and Asian Championships, becoming the first and only player to achieve this feat. Lin Dan also became the first men's singles player to retain the Olympic gold medal by winning in 2008 and defending his title in 2012. He has been nicknamed "Super Dan" by his fans.
Xi Jinping
Politician
Xi Jinping is the current paramount leader of China and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. He has been the 6th Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission since 2012, and has been the 7th President of the People's Republic of China since 2013. As General Secretary, he is also the ex officio chairman of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, China's de facto top decision-making body. Son of communist veteran Xi Zhongxun, Xi Jinping rose through the ranks politically in China's coastal provinces. He served as the Governor of Fujian between 1999 and 2002, then as Governor and CPC party chief of the neighboring Zhejiang between 2002 and 2007. Following the dismissal of Chen Liangyu, Xi was transferred to Shanghai as the party secretary for a brief period in 2007. Xi was promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee and Central Secretariat in October 2007 and was groomed to become Hu Jintao's successor. Xi is now the leader of the People's Republic's fifth generation of leadership. He has called for a renewed campaign against corruption, continued market economic reforms, an open approach to governance, and a comprehensive national renewal under the neologism "Chinese Dream".
Hu Jintao
Politician
Hu Jintao is a former leader of the 4th generation of leadership of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party from 2002 to 2012. He was also the 6th President of the People's Republic of China from 2003 to 2013 and Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission from 2004 to 2012. He was a member of the 14th to 17th CPC Politburo Standing Committee, China's de facto top decision-making body. Hu has been involved in the Communist party bureaucracy for most of his adult life, notably as Party secretary for Guizhou province and the Tibet Autonomous Region, and then later First secretary of the Central Secretariat and Vice-President under former leader Jiang Zemin. Hu is the first leader of the Communist Party without any significant revolutionary credentials. As such, his rise to the leadership represented China's transition of leadership from establishment communists to younger, more pragmatic technocrats. During his term in office, Hu reintroduced state control in some sectors of the economy that were relaxed by the previous administration, and has been conservative with political reforms. Along with his colleague, Premier Wen Jiabao, Hu presided over nearly a decade of consistent economic growth and development that cemented China as a major world power. He sought to improve socio-economic equality domestically through the Scientific Development Concept, which aimed to build a "Socialist Harmonious Society" that was prosperous and free of social conflict. Meanwhile, Hu kept a tight lid on China politically, cracking down on social disturbances, ethnic minority protests, and dissident figures. In foreign policy, Hu advocated for "China's peaceful development", pursuing soft power in international relations and a business-oriented approach to diplomacy. Through Hu's tenure, China's influence in Africa, Latin America, and other developing regions has increased.
Sammo Hung
Martial Artist
Sammo Hung Kam-bo best known as Sammo Hung, is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and director, known for his work in many martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema. He has been a fight choreographer for, amongst others, Jackie Chan, King Hu, and John Woo. Hung is one of the pivotal figures who spearheaded the Hong Kong New Wave movement of the 1980s, helped reinvent the martial arts genre and started the vampire-like jiangshi genre. He is widely credited with assisting many of his compatriots, giving them their starts in the Hong Kong film industry, by casting them in the films he produced, or giving them roles in the production crew. In East Asia, it is common for people to address their elders or influential people with familial nouns as a sign of familiarity and respect. Jackie Chan, for example, is often addressed as "Dai Goh", meaning Big Brother. Hung was also known as "Dai Goh", until the filming of Project A, which featured both actors. As Hung was the eldest of the kung fu "brothers", and the first to make a mark on the industry, he was given the nickname "Dai Goh Dai", meaning, Big, Big Brother or Biggest Big Brother.
Cao Cao
Warlord
Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate Chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power in the final years of the dynasty. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously honoured as "Emperor Wu of Wei". Although he is often portrayed as a cruel and merciless tyrant, Cao Cao has also been praised as a brilliant ruler and military genius who treated his subordinates like his family. He was also skilled in poetry and martial arts and wrote many war journals.
Jiang Zemin
Politician
Jiang Zemin is a retired Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and as Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004. His long career and political prominence have led to him being described as the "core of the third generation" of Communist Party leaders. Jiang Zemin came to power following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, replacing Zhao Ziyang as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. With the waning influence of Deng Xiaoping and the other members of Eight Elders due to old age — and with the help of old and powerful party and state leaders, elder Chen Yun and former President Li Xiannian — Jiang effectively became the "Paramount Leader" in the 1990s. Under his leadership, China experienced substantial developmental growth with reforms, saw the peaceful return of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom and Macau from Portugal, and improved its relations with the outside world while the Communist Party maintained its tight control over the government. Jiang has been criticized for being too concerned about his personal image at home, and too conciliatory towards Russia and the United States abroad.
Guan Yu
Deity
Guan Yu, style name Yunchang, was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor. As one of the best known Chinese historical figures throughout East Asia, Guan's true life stories have largely given way to fictionalised ones, most of which are found in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms or passed down the generations, in which his deeds and moral qualities have been lionised. Guan is respected as an epitome of loyalty and righteousness. Guan was deified as early as the Sui Dynasty and is still worshipped by many Chinese people today, especially in southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and among many overseas Chinese communities. He is a figure in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to Guan are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants. He is often reverently called Guan Gong and Guan Di. His hometown Yuncheng has also named its airport after him.
Eason Chan Yik-Shun
Singer-songwriter
Eason Chan, with family roots in Dongguan, Guangdong, is a prominent male singer in Hong Kong's music industry. Eason Chan has been praised by Time magazine as a front runner in the next generation of Cantopop. He is considered by some to be Hong Kong's third "god of song" after Samuel Hui and Jacky Cheung. In 2012, Time Out Hong Kong crowned Chan as the "King of Asian Pop". Chan is ranked #6 in the 2013 Forbes China Celebrity Top 100 List. His Cantonese album U87 was nominated by Time Magazine as "Five Asian Albums Worth Buying" in 2005. Eason Chan was the big winner at the prestigious Golden Melody Awards in 2003 and 2009. In 2003, he won "Best Male Singer" and "Album of the Year awards" for his work in Mandarin album "Special Thanks To...". In 2009, Chan won "Album of the Year" again for his work in Mandarin album "Don't Want to Let Go".
Chow Yun-Fat
Actor
Chow Yun-fat, SBS is a Hong Kong actor. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his roles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as Li Mu-bai and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End as Sao Feng. He mainly plays in dramatic films and has won three Hong Kong Film Awards for "Best Actor" and two Golden Horse Awards for "Best Actor" in Taiwan.
Zhou Enlai
Politician
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976. Zhou served under Mao Zedong and was instrumental in consolidating the control of the Communist Party's rise to power, forming foreign policy, and developing the Chinese economy. A skilled and able diplomat, Zhou served as the Chinese foreign minister from 1949 to 1958. Advocating peaceful coexistence with the West after the stalemated Korean War, he participated in the 1954 Geneva Conference and helped orchestrate Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China. He helped devise policies regarding the bitter disputes with the U.S., Taiwan, the Soviet Union, India and Vietnam. Zhou is best known as the long-time top aide to Mao Zedong, specializing in foreign policy. Their contrasting personalities made them an effective team, according to Henry Kissinger, the American diplomat who had extensive dealings with both men: Largely due to his expertise, Zhou was able to survive the purges of other top officials during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. His attempts at mitigating the Red Guards' damage and his efforts to protect others from their wrath made him immensely popular in the Revolution's later stages. As Mao Zedong's health began to decline in 1971 and 1972, Zhou and the Gang of Four struggled internally over leadership of China. Zhou's health was also failing, however, and he died eight months before Mao on 8 January 1976. The massive public outpouring of grief in Beijing turned to anger towards the Gang of Four, leading to the Tiananmen Incident. Although succeeded by Hua Guofeng, it was Deng Xiaoping, Zhou's ally, who was able to outmaneuver the Gang of Four politically and eventually take Mao's place as Paramount leader by 1977.
Yip Man
Martial Artist
Yip Man, also spelled as Ip Man, and also known as Yip Kai-man, was a Chinese martial artist. He had several students who later became martial arts teachers in their own right, including Bruce Lee.
Lang Lang
Musical Artist
Lang Lang is a Chinese concert pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in Europe, the United States and his native China. Lang Lang currently resides in New York City.
Ai Weiwei
Contemporary artist
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural criticism. Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics. As a political activist, he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He has investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of so-called "tofu-dreg schools" in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In 2011, following his arrest at Beijing Capital International Airport on 3 April, he was held for 81 days without any official charges being filed; officials alluded to their allegations of "economic crimes".
Leslie Cheung
Actor
Leslie Cheung was a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor, film director, record producer, and screenwriter. Cheung is considered as "one of the founder fathers of Cantopop" by "combining a hugely successful film and music career." He rose to prominence as a teen heartthrob and pop icon of Hong Kong in the 1980s, receiving numerous music awards including both Most Popular Male Artist Awards at the 1988 and 1989 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards. In 1989, Cheung announced his retirement from the music industry as a pop singer. Returning to the music scene after a five-year hiatus, Cheung released his chart-topping comeback album which achieved a huge market success. In 1999, he won the Golden Needle Award for his outstanding achievement as a musician at the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, and his 1984 hit song Monica was voted as Hong Kong's "Song of the Century". He was honoured as "Asia's Biggest Superstar" at the 2000 CCTV-MTV Music Honours. Cheung won the 1991 Hong Kong Film Award and the 1994 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award for best actor. He had also won the 1994 Japan Film Critics Society Award for best actor for his performance in Farewell My Concubine and ten other best actor nominations, five Golden Horse Awards, three Cannes Film Festival Awards, a Asia Pacific Film Festival Award, and a Venice Film Festival Award.
Wen Jiabao
Politician
Wen Jiabao was the sixth Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government for a decade. In his capacity as Premier, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind Beijing's economic policy. From 2002 to 2012, he held membership in the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, the country's de facto top power organ, where he was ranked third out of nine members. Wen has a professional background in geology and engineering. He holds a postgraduate degree from the Beijing Institute of Geology, where he graduated in 1968. He was subsequently sent to Gansu province for geological work, and remained in China's hinterland regions during his climb up the bureaucratic ladder. He was transferred to Beijing to work as the Chief of the Party General Office between 1986 and 1993, and accompanied Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang to Tiananmen Square during the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests. In 1998, he was promoted to the post of Vice Premier under Premier Zhu Rongji, his mentor, and oversaw the broad portfolios of agriculture and finance. Since taking office as Premier of the State Council in 2003, Wen, along with President Hu Jintao, has been a key part of the fourth generation of leadership in the Communist Party of China. Soft-spoken and known for his strong work ethic, Wen has been one of the most visible members of the incumbent Chinese administration, and has been dubbed "the people's premier" by both domestic and foreign media.
Empress Dowager Cixi
Noble person
Empress Dowager Cixi, of the Manchu Yehenara clan, was a powerful and charismatic woman who unofficially but effectively controlled the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years, from 1861 to her death in 1908. Selected by the Xianfeng Emperor as an imperial concubine in her adolescence, she gave birth to his son, who became the Tongzhi Emperor upon Xianfeng's death. Cixi ousted a group of regents appointed by the late emperor and assumed regency over her young son with the Empress Dowager Ci'an. Cixi then consolidated control over the dynasty when, at the death of the Tongzhi Emperor, contrary to the rules of succession, she installed her nephew as the Guangxu Emperor in 1875. Although she refused to adopt Western models of government, she nonetheless supported the technological and military Self-Strengthening Movement. Cixi rejected the Hundred Days' Reforms of 1898 as impractical and detrimental to dynastic power and placed the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest for supporting reformers. After the Boxer Rebellion and the invasion of Allied armies, external and internal pressures led Cixi to effect institutional changes of just the sort she had resisted and appoint reform-minded officials. The dynasty collapsed in 1911, three years after her death.
Puyi
Monarch
Aisin-Gioro Puyi, of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, commonly known mononymously as Puyi, was the last Emperor of China and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. Still a child, he ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912, after the successful Xinhai Revolution. From 1 to 12 July 1917, he was briefly restored to the throne as a nominal emperor by the warlord Zhang Xun. In 1934, he was declared the Kangde Emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo by the Empire of Japan, and he ruled until the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945. After the People's Republic of China was established in 1949, Puyi was imprisoned as a war criminal for ten years, wrote his memoirs, and became a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Puyi's abdication in 1912 marked the end of millennia of dynastic rule in China and thus he is known throughout the world by the sobriquet "The Last Emperor" of China.
John Woo
Film Director
John Woo SBS is a Hong Kong film director, writer, and producer. He is considered a major influence on the action genre, known for his highly chaotic action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and frequent use of slow-motion. Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard Boiled and Red Cliff. His Hollywood films include Hard Target, Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Mission: Impossible II. He also created the comic series Seven Brothers, published by Virgin Comics. Woo was described by Dave Kehr in The Observer in 2002 as "arguably the most influential director making movies today". Woo cites his three favorite films as David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï.
Fan Bingbing
Actor
Fan Bingbing is a Chinese actress, singer and producer. She was born in Qingdao but was raised in Yantai. She graduated from Shanghai Xie Jin Film and Television Art College and Shanghai Theatre Academy. Fan has received awards from the Tokyo International Film Festival, Beijing College Student Film Festival, Golden Horse Film Festival and Hundred Flowers Awards, among others. She was ranked first on the "50 Most Beautiful People in China" list in 2010 by the newspaper Beijing News. Due to her appearances on the red carpet, movie premieres, and fashion shows, the media describes her as a fashion icon.
Peng Shuai
Tennis Player
Peng Shuai is a Chinese professional female tennis player. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova in the final. At the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, Peng won her first ladies' double championship with Taiwanese professional tennis player Hsieh Su-wei from the Republic of China. Peng is known for her stamina and plays with two hands on both sides and hits very flat. She has defeated many top 10 and top 5 players, including Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina, Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis, Amélie Mauresmo, Francesca Schiavone, Jelena Janković, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Agnieszka Radwańska, Li Na, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and Vera Zvonareva. As of 17 June 2013, she is the 2nd ranked Chinese women's player, behind Li Na.
Zheng Jie
Tennis Player
Zheng Jie is a Chinese professional tennis player. Her career high ranking is World No. 15 which she achieved on 18 May 2009. As of 5 August 2013, Zheng is ranked World No. 56 in singles and World No. 23 in doubles and is the 3rd ranked Chinese player. Zheng is one of the most successful tennis players from China. She has won four WTA singles titles – Hobart in 2005, Estoril, Stockholm in 2006, and Auckland in 2012. She has also won twelve doubles titles, eleven of them with Yan Zi including Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006. She won the bronze medal in doubles with Yan Zi at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Her career high doubles ranking is World No. 3. Zheng has reached the singles semi-finals at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, defeating a World No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, in the process, becoming the first Chinese female player to advance to the semi-finals at a Grand Slam. She also advanced to the semi-finals at the 2010 Australian Open.
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Actor
Takeshi Kaneshiro is a Japanese actor and singer of mixed heritage - his father is Okinawan Japanese and his mother is Taiwanese.
Kangxi Emperor
Monarch
The Kangxi Emperor was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722. Kangxi's reign of 61 years makes him the longest-reigning Chinese emperor in history and one of the longest-reigning rulers in the world. However, having ascended the throne at the age of seven, he was not the effective ruler until later, with that role temporarily fulfilled for six years by four regents and his grandmother, the Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. Kangxi is considered one of China's greatest emperors. He suppressed the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, forced the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan to submit to Qing rule, blocked Tsarist Russia on the Amur River and expanded the empire in the northwest. He also accomplished such literary feats as the compilation of the Kangxi Dictionary.
Nicholas Tse
Actor
Nicholas Tse a.k.a Tse Ting-fung, Chinese: 謝霆鋒, is a Hong Kong singer, songwriter, musician, actor and entrepreneur. He is the son of Hong Kong actor Patrick Tse and actress Deborah Lee. Tse is a member of the Emperor Entertainment Group. Tse initially entered the entertainment industry in 1996 as a singer. He originally learned martial arts for the screen and television, which Tse continues to practice. He made his film debut in 1998 with the crime film Young and Dangerous: The Prequel, for which Tse received the Hong Kong Film Award for his performance in the Best New Performer category. In 2003, Tse founded Post Production Office Limited, the biggest special effects companies in Hong Kong which provides services for movies, video games, and advertisements. The company grosses over one billion Hong Kong dollars annually each year. In 2011, he won the award for Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. In November 2012, Tse attended a Hong Kong Avenue of Stars Hand Imprint Ceremony.
Zheng He
Diplomat
Zheng He, formerly romanized as Cheng Ho, was a Hui-Chinese court eunuch, mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. As a favorite of the Yongle Emperor, whose usurpation he assisted, he rose to the top of the imperial hierarchy and served as commander of the southern capital Nanjing. These voyages were long neglected in official Chinese histories but have become well known in China and abroad since the publication of Liang Qihao's "Biography of Our Homeland's Great Navigator, Zheng He" in 1904. A trilingual stele left by the navigator was discovered on Sri Lanka shortly thereafter.
Raymond Lam
Actor
Raymond Lam is a Chinese actor and singer from Hong Kong. He is contracted to the television station TVB and EEG's Music Plus label.
Xu Kuangdi
Engineer
Xu Kuangdi KmstkNO is a Chinese politician in the ruling Communist Party. He was mayor of Shanghai from 1995 to 2001. He supervised the transformation of Shanghai during his administration into a center for international investment and trade that helped lead the intensive development of China's economy. He was demoted in 2001, to a far more obscure and powerless position as party chief of the Academy of Engineering in Beijing, apparently as the result of an internal party power struggle between President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji, both former Mayors of Shanghai. Xu was replaced by Executive Vice-Mayor Chen Liangyu, one of Jiang's followers later arrested for corruption. Until 2008 he continued as Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Ju Wenjun
Chess Player
Ju Wenjun is a Chinese chess player, who holds the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster. Ju Wenjun plays for Shanghai chess club in the China Chess League. In December 2004, Ju came joint second in the Asian Women's Chess Championship in Beirut. In October 2007, she came joint fourth in the 2007 China Women's Zonal 3.5 Tournament in Tianjin. In August–September 2008 at the Women's World Chess Championship she was knocked out in the second round by Antoaneta Stefanova 1.0-3.0. Two years later in the Women's World Chess Championship 2010 she reached the quarter-finals. In June 2010 she won the Women's Chinese Championship with 8/11. In July 2011 she won the 1st Hangzhou Women Grand Master Chess Tournament ahead of reigning Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan undefeated with 6.5/9. In October 2011 she took the second place at the Women's Grand Prix in Nalchik with 7/11, ranked only after her compatriot Zhao Xue, getting her third GM norm and thus, should be ratified as a GM.http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=102346 She was the No. 3 ranked girl chess player in the world on the January 2011 Top 20 Girls FIDE rating list. She has been on the FIDE Top 20 Girls list from January 2007 to 2011.
Yan Yuan
Philosopher
Yan Yuan founded the practical school of Confucianism to contrast with the more ethereal Neo-Confucianism that had been popular in China for the previous six centuries. Like the Han learning scholars, he rejected the abstract metaphysics of the Neo-Confucians. However, he considered Han learning as too obsessed with philology and textual criticism and not enough emphasis on pragmatism. His school promoted the Six Arts. He was born on April 27, 1635 in the Zhili province (now called Hebei) in China and spent his youth in poverty, after his father was taken into the Manchu army and never returned. He died on September 30, 1704 in the same province. Ideas of Yan Yuan were developed by his disciple Li Gong zh:李塨 (Yan-Li school). Yan's intellectual heritage was addressed by Wu Han in the 20th century. Wu has elaborated on the Yan's concept of relation between history and the present.
Tung Chee-chen
Man
Tung Chee Shing is the sibling of Tung Chee Hwa.
Liu Chengjun
Military Person
Liu Chengjun is a lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army Air Force of the People's Republic of China and the current president of the PLA Academy of Military Science. Liu was born in Chengwu, Shandong Province. His former posts included commander of the Air Force division, vice commander and later commander of PLA Air Force 8th corps and the chief of staff of the Air Force of the Nanjing Military Region. In July 2003, he was appointed vice commander of the Nanjing Military Region and commander of the Air Force of the Nanjing Military Region. In December 2004, he was promoted to the post of vice commander of the PLA Air Force. In 2007, he succeeded general Zheng Shenxia as the president of PLA Academy of Military Science. He was made a lieutenant general of the Air Force in July 2004, and is currently a member of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Sun Shuyun
Man
Sun Shuyun is a Chinese writer. She was born in China in the 1960s, graduated from Beijing University and won a scholarship to Oxford. Her books include
Yu Guangyi
Film Director
Yu Guangyi is a film director.
Hongwu Emperor
Noble person
The Hongwu Emperor, also known by his given name Zhu Yuanzhang and his temple name Ming Taizu, was the founder and first emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China. His era name Hongwu means "vastly martial". In the middle of the 14th century, with famine, plagues, and peasant revolts sweeping across China, Zhu rose to command the force that conquered China and ended the Yuan Dynasty, forcing the Mongols to retreat to the central Asian steppe. Following his seizure of the Yuan capital Khanbaliq, Zhu claimed the Mandate of Heaven and established the Ming Dynasty in 1368. Trusting only in his family, he made his many sons powerful feudal princes along the northern marshes and the Yangtze valley. Having outlived his first successor, the Hongwu Emperor enthroned his grandson via a series of instructions; this ended in failure when the Jianwen Emperor's attempt to unseat his uncles led to the Yongle Emperor's successful rebellion. Most of the historical sites related to Zhu Yuanzhang are located in Nanjing, the original capital of his dynasty.
Cecilia Cheung
Actor
Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi is a Hong Kong actress and cantopop singer. She is the ex-wife of Nicholas Tse, thus being the daughter-in-law of Patrick Tse and Deborah Lee. She and Nicholas have two sons, Lucas and Quintus Tse. She is considered a "Sing girl"—an actress who first received media attention through starring alongside Stephen Chow, and later went on to have a successful career of her own. Cheung was also involved in the 2008 Edison Chen photo scandal.
Bolo Yeung
Martial Artist
Yang Sze, better known as Bolo Yeung, is a former competitive bodybuilder and a martial arts film actor. Primarily cast as the villain in the movies he stars in, he is best known for his performances as Bolo in Enter the Dragon and as Chong Li in Bloodsport, and also for his many appearances in martial arts B-movies.
Bai Ling
Actor
Bai Ling is a Chinese-born American actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which documented her recovery from alcohol addiction. She speaks both English and Mandarin fluently.
Louis Koo
Actor
Louis Koo Tin-lok is a Hong Kong film actor. He began his professional career as an actor in local television series, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 and 2001. For the past decade, he has focused primarily on his film career. Koo has become one of the stalwarts of the Hong Kong film industry, and is a popular spokesman for various brands including Pepsi, Osim, Tag Heuer, Lotte, Zero Eyewear, Lay's, and Samsung Galaxy.
Sandy Lam
Singer
Sandy Lam, also known as Lam Yik Lin, is a Chinese singer who sings in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Japanese.
Sammi Cheng
Actor
Sammi Cheng Sau-Man is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress who has been successful in the Hong Kong music and film industry. Sammi has been called a diva and has been one of the most prominent female singers in Hong Kong since the 1990s. Her albums have sold more than 25 million copies through Asia-pacific, a record-breaking achievement. Most notably in the 1990s, she was dubbed by the media as the "Cantopop Queen". Having success in over 20 years in entertainment industry, Sammi has been regarded as one of the most notable Hong Kong artists known in Asia Pacific. Sammi Cheng breaks the record of having the most best sales albums and The Best Sales Local Female Vocalist awards in the Hong Kong Cantonpop industry since her debut. From 1993 to 2010, Sammi Cheng won a total of 12 Top Female Vocalist awards, 14 The Best Sales Local Female Vocalist Awards and has 7 albums that are The Best Sales Cantonese Release of year. She had also previously won the Most Popular Hong Kong Female Artist Award in annual Top Ten Jade Solid Gold Awards Presentation for three times, and in a year winning also the Gold Song Gold Award, the highest-ranked award which is the last to be presented at the ceremony.
Lin Biao
Politician
Lin Biao was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China. Lin was the general who commanded the decisive Liaoshen Campaign and Pingjin Campaign, co-led the Manchurian Field Army of the People's Liberation Army into Beijing, and crossed the Yangtze River in 1949. He ranked third among the Ten Marshals. Zhu De and Peng Dehuai were considered senior to Lin, and Lin ranked directly ahead of He Long and Liu Bocheng. Lin abstained from taking an active role in politics after the civil war, but became instrumental in creating the foundations for Mao Zedong's cult of personality in the early 1960s. Lin was rewarded for his service to Mao by being named Mao's designated successor during the Cultural Revolution, from 1966 until his death. Lin died in September 1971 when his plane crashed in Mongolia, following what appeared to be a failed coup to oust Mao. Because little inside information is available to the public on what has been dubbed as the "Lin Biao incident", the exact events preceding Lin's death have been a source of speculation ever since. Following Lin's death, he was officially condemned as a traitor by the Communist Party of China. He and Jiang Qing are still considered to be the two "major Counter-revolutionary cliques" blamed by the Communist Party for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution.
Moses Chan
Actor
Moses Chan Ho is an actor from Hong Kong. Having started his career working mostly on films, Chan subsequently concentrated on his TV acting career with Television Broadcasts Limited, including roles in productions like War and Beauty, a drama produced by TVB. On 17 November 2007, he won both the Best Actor and Most Favourite Character Awards at the TVB 40th Anniversary Award Show for his character Dak Dak Dei in the popular drama series Heart of Greed. He was a judge in Miss Hong Kong 2007 and Miss Chinese International 2008.
Li Keqiang
Politician
Li Keqiang is the current Premier of the People's Republic of China and party secretary of the State Council. An economist by training, Li is China's head of government as well as the leading figure behind its economic policy. He is also the second ranked member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, the de facto highest decision-making body of the country. From 2008 to 2013, Li served as the First Vice-Premier under then-Premier Wen Jiabao. During this tenure, Li's official portfolio included economic development, price controls, finance, climate change, and macroeconomic management. Li rose through the party ranks through the Communist Youth League. From 1998 to 2004, Li served as the Governor of Henan and the province's Party secretary, and then the Liaoning party secretary, an office that made him first-in-charge in that province. Li is a leading figure in the "fifth generation" of Communist Party leadership.
Lu Xun
Novelist
Lu Xun or Lu Hsün, was the pen name of Zhou Shuren, one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century. Considered by many to be the leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in Vernacular Chinese as well as Classical Chinese. Lu Xun was a fiction writer, editor, translator, critic, essayist and poet. In the 1930s he became the titular head of the Chinese League of the Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai. Lu Xun's works exerted a very substantial influence after the May Fourth Movement that began around 1916 to such a point that he was highly acclaimed by the Communist regime after 1949. Mao Zedong himself was a lifelong admirer of Lu Xun's works. Though sympathetic to communist ideas, Lu Xun never actually joined the Chinese Communist Party. Like many leaders of the May Fourth Movement, he was primarily a leftist and liberal.
Yongle Emperor
Noble person
The Yongle Emperor, born Zhu Di, was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was originally created Prince of Yan in May 1370, with his capital at Beiping. Amid the continuing struggle against the Mongols, Zhu Di consolidated his own power and eliminated rivals such as the successful general Lan Yu. He initially accepted his father's appointment of his elder brother Zhu Biao and then his teen-aged nephew Zhu Yunwen as crown prince, but when Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne as the Jianwen Emperor and began executing and demoting his powerful uncles, Zhu Di found pretext for rising in rebellion against him. Assisted in large part by eunuchs mistreated by the Hongwu and Jianwen Emperors, who both favored the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats, Zhu Di survived the initial attacks on his fief and drove south, sacking Nanjing in 1402 and declaring his new era the Yongle, or the time of "Perpetual Happiness". Anxious to establish his own legitimacy, Zhu Di voided the entire reign of his young nephew and established a wide-ranging effort to destroy or falsify records concerning his childhood and rebellion. This included a massive purge of the Confucian scholars in Nanjing and grants of extraordinary extralegal authority to the eunuch secret police. One favorite was Zheng He, who employed his authority to launch major voyages of exploration into the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. The difficulties in Nanjing also led the Yongle Emperor to re-establish Beiping as another capital, Beijing. He repaired and reopened the Grand Canal and, between 1406 and 1420, directed the construction of the Forbidden City. He was also responsible for the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, considered one of the wonders of the world before its destruction by the Taiping rebels in 1856. As part of his continuing attempt to control the scholars, the Yongle Emperor also greatly expanded the imperial examination system in place of his father's use of personal recommendation and appointment. These scholars completed the monumental Yongle Encyclopedia during his reign.
Wendi Deng Murdoch
Businessperson
Wendi Deng Murdoch is a Chinese-born American businesswoman. She is the third wife of News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, who filed for divorce from her in June 2013. In 1988, Deng was sponsored by an American family for a student visa. She attended Cal State Northridge for economics and completed her master's degree in business at the Yale School of Management, where she currently serves on the board of advisors. Deng's debut in the media came with Fox TV. She was offered an internship at Star TV, Hong Kong, part of News Corporation.
Charmaine Sheh
Actor
Charmaine Sheh Sze-man is a Hong Kong actress and a contracted artiste under TVB best known for acting in many television series produced by TVB since 1999.
Liu Xiaobo
Politician
Liu Xiaobo is a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for political reforms and the end of communist single-party rule. He is currently incarcerated as a political prisoner in Jinzhou, Liaoning. Liu has served from 2003 to 2007 as President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center. He was also the President of MinZhuZhongGuo magazine since the mid-1990s. On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained because of his participation with the Charter 08 manifesto. He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009 on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power". He was tried on the same charges on 23 December 2009, and sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009. During his fourth prison term, he was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." He is the first Chinese citizen to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China. Liu is the third person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention, after Germany's Carl von Ossietzky and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi. Liu is also the second person to be denied the right to have a representative collect the Nobel prize for him.
Li Ka-shing
Businessperson
Sir Ka-shing Li, GBM, KBE, JP is a Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of October 7, 2013 he is the richest person in Asia, with a net worth of $28.8 billion. He is the Chairman of the Board of Hutchison Whampoa Limited and Cheung Kong Holdings as of 2008; through them, he is the world's largest operator of container terminals and the world's largest health and beauty retailer. Considered one of the most powerful figures in Asia, Li was named "Asia's Most Powerful Man, Li Ka-Ching" by Asiaweek in 2001. His companies make up 15% of the market cap of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Forbes Magazine and the Forbes family honoured Li Ka-shing with the first ever "Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award" on 5 September 2006, in Singapore. In spite of his wealth, Li has cultivated a reputation for leading a no-frills lifestyle, and is known to wear simple black dress shoes and an inexpensive Seiko wristwatch, which is at odds with the house he owns in one of Hong Kong's most expensive precincts, Deep Water Bay in Hong Kong Island. Li is also regarded as one of Asia's most generous philanthropists, donating over US $1.41 billion to date to charity and other various philanthropic causes. Li is often referred to as "Superman" in Hong Kong because of his business prowess. Because of his wealth, he is regarded as a celebrity, and even has a wax statue in his likeness. See: Li Ka-shing wax statue in Hong Kong
Karen Mok
Actor
Karen Joy Morris, better known as Karen Mok or Mok Man-wai among Chinese-speaking communities, is a three-time Golden Melody Award-winning Hong Kong actress and singer-songwriter.
Li Bingbing
Actor
Li Bingbing is a Chinese actress and singer.
Myolie Wu
Actor
Myolie Wu Hang-yee, is a Hong Kong actress and singer. Born in Hong Kong with Guangdong Taishan ancestry, she is signed under for the Hong Kong TVB television station and a singer under contracts with Neway Star. She has twice won "My Favorite TV Actress" at the Astro Favorites Awards Ceremony. She has also won "Best Actress" for her role in Curse of the Royal Harem, a TVB grand production, "Most Favourite TV Female Character" for her role in Ghetto Justice and also won "Extraordinary Elegant Actress" at the TVB Anniversary Awards 2011, making her the first ever Triple TV Queen of the year.
Bosco Wong
Actor
Bosco Wong Chung-chak with family roots in Jiangmen, Guangdong, is a Hong Kong actor under TVB management and singer under East Asia Music.
Liu Yifei
Actor
Liu Yifei is a Chinese actress, model, and singer. She holds United States citizenship.
Bao Zheng
Politician
Bao Zheng, commonly known as Bao Gong, was a government officer during the reign of Emperor Renzong in ancient China's Song Dynasty. During his twenty five years in civil service, Bao consistently demonstrated extreme honesty and uprightness, with actions such as sentencing his own uncle, impeaching an uncle of Emperor Renzong's favourite concubine and punishing powerful families. His appointment from 1057 to 1058 as the prefect of Song's capital Kaifeng, where he initiated a number of changes to better hear the grievances of the people, made him a legendary figure. Nicknamed "Clear Sky Bao", Bao Zheng today is respected as the cultural symbol of justice in Greater China. His largely fictionalized gong'an and wuxia stories have appeared in a variety of different literary and dramatic mediums, and have enjoyed sustained popularity.
Fala Chen
Actor
Fala Chen is a Hong Kong actress and singer. Currently active in Hong Kong's entertainment industry, she had signed with Television Broadcasts Limited after clinching the 1st runner-up in the 2005 Miss Chinese International Pageant. Having starred in numerous Hong Kong drama series, some of her notable works are Heart of Greed, Steps, Moonlight Resonance, Ghost Writer, Can't Buy Me Love, No Regrets, Lives of Omission and Triumph in the Skies II.
Justin Lin
Film Director
Justin Lin is a Taiwanese-born American film director whose films have grossed $2 billion worldwide. He is best known for his work on Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious franchise and the television show Community.
Ma Ying-jeou
Politician
Ma Ying-jeou is a Taiwanese politician and the 12th and 13th term President of the Republic of China, and the Chairman of the Kuomintang. Previous roles include Justice Minister and Mayor of Taipei. He is also the current Chairman of the Kuomintang having served in that role since 2005 stepping down for a period between 2007 and 2009. Ma first won the presidency by 58.45% of the popular vote in the presidential election of 2008, and was re-elected in 2012 with 51.6% of the vote. He was sworn into office as president on 20 May 2008, and sworn in as the Chairman of the Kuomintang on 17 October 2009.
Zhou Xun
Actor
Zhou Xun is a Chinese actress and singer. She is regarded as one of the "Four Dan actresses" in the early 2000s, along with Zhang Ziyi, Xu Jinglei and Zhao Wei.
Joan Chen
Actor
Joan Chong Chen is a Chinese actress, film director, screenwriter and film producer. She became famous in China for her performance in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor. She is also known for her roles in Twin Peaks, Red Rose, White Rose, Saving Face and The Home Song Stories, and for directing the feature film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl.
Jimmy Lin Chih Ying
Actor
Jimmy Lin Chih-ying is a Taiwanese singer, actor and professional race car driver.
Hua Mulan
Costume drama Film
Hua Mulan is a legendary figure from ancient China who was originally described in a Chinese poem known as the Ballad of Mulan. In the poem, Hua Mulan takes her aged father's place in the army. She fought for twelve years and gained high merit, but she refused any reward and retired to her hometown instead. The historical setting of Hua Mulan is uncertain. The earliest accounts of the legend state that she lived during the Northern Wei dynasty. The Hua Mulan crater on Venus is named after her.
Yellow Emperor
Man
The Yellow Emperor or Huangdi, formerly Chinese romanized as Huang-ti and Hwang-ti, is one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Tradition holds that Huangdi reigned from 2697 to 2597 or 2698 to 2598 BC. Huangdi's cult was particularly prominent in the late Warring States and early Han period, when he was portrayed as the originator of the centralized state, a cosmic ruler, and a patron of esoteric arts. Traditionally credited with numerous inventions and innovations, the Yellow Emperor is now regarded as the initiator of Chinese civilization, and said to be the ancestor of all Huaxia Chinese.
Coco Lee
Singer
Coco Lee is a Hong Kong-born American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress. Lee's career began in Hong Kong and then expanded to Taiwan. Her single, "Do You Want My Love" also entered the US music charts. Her first full-length English language album was Just No Other Way. As a Chinese American, Lee is the first and only person of Chinese ethnicity to perform at the Oscars; she performed the Best Original Song nominated, "A Love Before Time".
Francis Ng
Actor
Francis Ng Chun-yu is a famous Hong Kong actor and director. He is known for the TVB series Triumph in the Skies. He has a helicopter licence to be used in Mainland China.