In a recent four part series we took a look at the top 20 Chinese celebrities who were part of Forbes Magazine’s China’s 25 Most Powerful Celebrities. From actors to athletes the list has them all.  However, rather than just listing the celebrity’s name and their “power” rank like the Forbe’s article does, we decided to look into who each of these celebrities are and what makes them famous and so “powerful.”  Below is a quick index for the 4 parts we posted and who was profiled in each part.

20 Most Powerful Chinese Celebrities – Part 1 (Rank 20 – 16)

20.  Huang Shengyi – actress/singer

19.  Betty Sun Li – actress

18.  Lin Dan - athlete (badminton)

17.  Ge You – actor

16.  Huang Xiaoming – actor

20 Most Powerful Chinese Celebrities – Part 2 (Rank 15 – 11)

15.  Zhang Liangying – singer

14.  Zhang Guoli – actor

13.  Guo Degang – comedian/actor

12.  Xu Jinglei – actress/singer

11.  Gong Li – actress

20 Most Powerful Chinese Celebrities – Part 3 (Rank 10 – 6)

10.  Zhao Benshan – actor

9.  Li Bingbing – actress

8.  Zhou Xun – actress/singer

7.  Zhao Wei – actress/singer/director

6.  Fan Bingbing – actress

20 Most  Powerful Chinese Celebrities – Part 4 (Rank 5 – 1)

5.  Zhang Ziyi – actress

4.  Yi Jianlian – athlete (basketball)

3.  Jet Li – actor

2.  Liu Xiang – athlete (track & field)

1.  Yao Ming athlete (basketball)

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In part 1, part 2, and part 3 of our 4 part series we looked at the most powerful Chinese celebrities ranked from 20 to 6.  Instead of just listing a simple one line description of these celebrities like the Forbes article China’s 25 Most Powerful Celebrities does, we were inspired to look a little more in-depth into who these celebrities are.  Today in our final part we’ll look at the top 5 most power Chinese celebrities ranked.   You probably have heard of these people, but maybe you’ll learn something new.

5. Zhang Ziyi

Best Known For: Being the crazy woman in Crouch Tiger Hidden Dragon and as well as for her roles in Memoirs of a Geisha and Rush Hour 2…

Basic Info: Chinese name is 章子怡 (Zhāng Zǐyí).  She is currently 30 years old (birthday is February 9, 1979) and was born in Beijing, China.  At the the age 19 she was offered her first role in the award winning Chinese film The Road Home.  From there her star continued to rise.  In addition to acting she also has dabbled in singing where she sang a few tracks for the House of Flying Daggers soundtrack.  Had she never gone into acting she saud sge would have liked to have been a kindergarten teacher (since she “loves children”).  She is currently engaged to a multi-millionaire venture capitalist, Vivi Nevo.  In 2007 she made $8 Million.

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4.  Yi Jianlian

Best Known For: Being the other tall Chinese NBA basketball player for the New Jersey Nets…

Basic Info: Chinese name is 易建聯 (Yì Jiànlián).  His age is currently disputed, but “officially” it is 21 (birthday is October 27, 1987) and he was born in Guandong (Canton), China.  In addition to speaking Mandarin he also speaks Cantonese.  He was drafted in 2007 by the Milwaukee Bucks, but then in 2008 he was traded to the New Jersey Nets.  He is also quite tall standing at 7 feet tall.  His parents instead of being professional basketball players were actually professional handball players.  2007 was a good year for him as he made $4.2 Million.

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3.  Jet Li

Best Known For: His martial arts skills and starring in Romeo Must Die and Lethal Weapon 4.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 李連杰 (Lǐ Liánjié).  He is currently 45 years old (birthday is April 26, 1963) and was born in Beijing, China.  He started out as a member of the Beijing Wush Team (a martial arts team) where he won several championships.  He also was part of the Chinese delegation that visited the United States in 1974 and took part in a 2 man fight performance on the lawn of the White House for President Nixon.  Why the name “Jet”?   A PR firm decided that his career was starting to take off…like a jet.  His launch has been financially rewarding making him $35 Million in 2007.

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2.  Liu Xiang

Best Known For: First Chinese person to win a gold medal in a track and field event (110 meter hurdles in 2004 Athen Olympics).

Basic Info: Chinese name is 劉翔 (Liú Xiáng).  He is currently 25 years old (birthday is July 13, 1983) and was born in Shanghai, China.  In addition to be being an Olympic champion he also is a World Record Holder and World Champion.  At 6 feet 2 inches he is taller than most hurdlers and has had to adjust his running style to accommodate his height.  His popularity has soared due to his accomplishments to which even himself he has remarked that “I am a Chinese…and considering the physiology of the Chinese people, it is something unbelievable.”  Popularity has translated into dollars and in 2007 he made $23.8 Million.

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1.  Yao Ming

Best Known For: Being the extremely tall Chinese center for the Houston Rockets.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 姚明 (Yáo Míng).  He is currently 28 years old (birthday is September 12, 1980) and was born in Shanghai, China.   At 7 feet 6 inches he is among China’s most recognized celebrities.  Both of his parents were professional basketball players.  When Yao was born he weighed more than twice the weight of an average baby (11 lbs) and by age 10 he was already 5 feet 5 inches tall.  In his first year of playing for the Houston Rockets Charles Barkley stated that he didn’t believe Yao would score more than 19 points in any game.  A few months later Yao scored 20 points in a game against the Lakers.  In 2007 he made $56.6 Million.

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In part 1 and part 2 of our 4 part series we looked at the most powerful Chinese celebrities ranked from 20 to 11.  Instead of just listing a simple one line description of these celebrities like the Forbes article China’s 25 Most Powerful Celebrities does, we were inspired to look a little more in-depth into who these celebrities are.  Today in part 3 we’ll look at Chinese celebrities ranked from 10 to 6.  In this group of celebrities we have a traditional Chinese instrument player, girl with white hair, an actress who didn’t listen to her parents, an extra who decided to become an actress, and a actress who opened her own TV production studio.

10.  Zhao Benshan

Best Known For: His skits on CCTV’s New Year’s Gala and more recently acting where in 2007 he won Best Actor at the Golden Horse Awards–the Chinese equivalent to the Oscars for his performance in Getting Home.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 赵本山 (Zhào Běnshān).  He is currently 50 (born in October 1958).  Born into a peasant family his parents passed away when he was 6 years old.  After that he lived with his blind uncle who taught him various traditional Chinese instruments like the erhu (a two stringed violin), suona (chinese trumpet), and the sanxian (a three stringged plucked instrument).  It was with these skills and his sense of humor which got him his first performance on CCTV’s New Year’s Gala in 1987.  All his hardwork made him $2.9 Million in 2007.

9.  Li Bingbing

Best Known For: Her co-starring role in the 2005 romantic comedy Waiting Alone where she was nominated for Best Actress by the Chinese Film Academy.  More recently western audiences might recognize her in the Jet Li and Jackie Chan movie collaboration The Forbidden Kingdom where she played Ni Chang (the girl with the crazy white hair).

Basic Info: Chinese name is 李冰冰 (Lǐ Bīngbīng).  She is currently 33 (birthday is February 27, 1976) and was born in Harbin, China.  Interestingly she never had any intention of being an actress.  She went to school to become a teacher, but after finishing school on a friend’s suggestion she decided to give acting a shot by enrolling in the Shanghai Drama Institute.  The rest is history, albeit a lucrative history, as in 2007 she made $2.9 Million.

8.  Zhou Xun

Best Known For: Being part of the “Four Young Dan actresses” along with Zhang Ziyi, Xu Jinglei and Zhao Wei.   She won numerous awards for best actress for her performance in  Perhaps Love.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 周迅 (Zhōu Xùn).  She is currently 32 (birthday is October 18, 1976) and was born in Quzhou, China.  Against her parent’s wishes she wanted to pursue a career and education in the dramatic arts.  She eventually was accepted to Zhejiang Arts Institute and from there launched her career.  In addition to acting she is also known for her singing career launch 2 different albums and as well singing on the soundtracks for some of the movies she’s been a part of.  In 2007 she made $3.6 Million.

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7.  Zhao Wei

Best Known for: Being part of the “Four Young Dan actresses” along with Xu Jinglei, Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun. Starring in numerous film projects including lending her voice as Princess Fiona in Shrek 2.

Basic info: Chinese name is 趙薇 (Zhào Wéi) and sometimes goes by the English name Vicki Zhao.  Currently is 33 (birthday is March 12, 1976) and was born in Wuhu, China.  She got her start in acting by being cast as an extra on the set of a movie.  Before she claimed never to have an interest in acting once saying that she thought actresses had to be beautiful and she thought herself ordinary.  However, after that experience as an extra she decided to pursue her acting career.  In addition to acting she has been studying to become a director and has a successful singing career as well.  In 2007 she made $2.8 Million.

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6.  Fan Bingbing

Best Known For: For her role as Jin Suo, a fragile maid, in the Chinese TV soap opera show Huan Zhu Ge Ge and its sequel Huan Zhu Ge Ge 2.  Recently she starred in the controversial movie Lost in Beijing which was banned in China for its depiction of sex, rape, and prostituion.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 范冰冰 (Fàn Bīngbīng) and sometimes has been known by her nicknames Bingbing or Baobao.  She is currently 27 (birthday is September 16, 1981) and was born in Qingdao, China.  She has transitioned her image from that of the pure “fragile” girl to that of a sexy woman thanks in part to the more recent roles she has played.  She also opened her own TV production studio which produced a TV show called “Rouge Snow.”  All her efforts made her $2.8 Million in 2007.

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View the Most Chinese Powerful Celebrities Ranked 15 to 11 (Part 2)

View the Most Chinese Powerful Celebriteis Ranked 20 to 16 (Part 1)

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In part 1 of this 4 part series we started profiling the top 20 most powerful Chinese celebrities as listed in a recent Forbes article which ranked the China’s 25 Most Powerful Celebrities for 2008.  While the list is interesting to browse, the Forbes article and accompanying picture show doesn’t go into much depth about each of these celebrities.  Here at Diptogo we wanted go more in-depth to learn these celebrities.  Part 1 looked at those celebrities ranked from 20 to 16.  Today in part 2 we’ll look at Chinese celebrities ranked 15 to 11.  In this group we have a multi-lingual singer, the emperor of China, a tea house performer, the most popular blogger, and the most beautiful woman in China.

15.  Zhang Liangying

Best Known For: Placing 3rd place in China’s national 2005 Super Girl Contest (think American Idol, but for China and only for girls) where she wowed viewers by singing in Mandarin, Cantonese, English and even Spanish.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 張靚穎 (Zhāng Liàngyǐng).  She also goes by the English name Jane Zhang.  She is currently 24 (birthday is October 11, 1984) and was born in Chengdu, China.  Recently she participated in the World Peace concert performing alongside such celebrities as U2 , Madonna, and Green Day.   As a child she used to perform at pubs to help make money for the family.  She doesn’t do that anymore as the $1.7 Million she made in 2007 is probably more than adequate to support her family.

14.  Zhang Guoli

Best Known For: Playing the role of Emperor of China during the Qing Dynasty.  Also is a director in addition to actor.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 張國立 (zhāng guólì).  He is currently 54 (brithday is January 17, 1955) and a native of Tianjin, China.  He’s also known for playing roles in modern political TV dramas. In 2007 he made $4.5 Million.

13.  Guo Degang

Best Known For: His performances as a cross talk (相聲) comedian and acting in a variety of supporting roles in Chinese films.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 郭德綱 (Guō Dégāng).  He is approximately 36 (born in 1973) and originally from Tianjin, China.  He started out doing comedic performances at tea houses and took about 10 years before he “made it.” Early on in his career he once embarrassingly performed for a one person audience. Now his performances are consistently sold out.  In 2007 he made $2.2 Million.

12.  Xu Jinglei

Best Known For: Being part of what the Chinese media consider the Four Young Leading Actresses – which also includes Zhang ZiYi.   Also has a popular blog which in 2006 at one point had the most incoming links of any blog in any language on the internet.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 徐静蕾 (xú jìnglě).  She is currently 34 (birthday is April 16, 1974) and was born in Beijing, China.  Her breakthrough came in 2002 when she wrote and directed the award winning movie My Father and I. Since then she has joined the ranks of successful female directors – a rarity in China.  Recently she has launched a singing career in addition into her acting and directing.  All these talents made her $2 Million in 2007.

11.  Gong Li

Best Known For: Her breakthrough international performance in Oscar nominated Raise the Red Lantern.  Also sometimes credited with bringing Chinese cinema to European and American audiences.  American audiences might recognize her in her supporting roles in Miami Vice and Memoirs of a Geisha.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 鞏俐 (Gǒng Lì).  She is currently 43 (birthday is December 31, 1965) and was born in Shenyang, China.  Over the course of her career she has won numerous awards for her acting.   Despite her enormous popularity in China she held off on doing anything in Hollywood citing her lack of English language confidence as the main reason.  In 2006 she was voted the most beautiful woman in China (at the age of 40!).  All of these accomplishments helped contribute to her 2007 income of $5 Million.

View the Most Chinese Powerful Celebrities Ranked 10 to 6 (Part 3)

View the Most Chinese Powerful Celebriteis Ranked 20 to 16 (Part 1)

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Forbes did an article titled China’s 25 Most Powerful Celebrities where they compiled a list of the most powerful and influential Chinese celebrities for 2008.  This list and rankings was based on a combination of factors like wealth, income, and the number of appearances in popular media (television, websites, newspapers, etc…).  While the list is interesting to read it doesn’t really give a glimpse into who these celebrities are beyond their income and a brief one-liner about them.  I decided to profile the top 20 from their list.  In this 4 part series we’ll take a look at Chinese celebrities ranked 20 all the way to number 1.  Today in part 1 we’ll look at celebrities ranked 20 through 16. In this group there are five celebrities that are related to hustling Kung Fu, badminton, Sam Neil (of Jurassic Park), a fear of flying, and Gucci.

20.  Huang Shengyi

Best Known For: If you have seen Kung Fu Hustle you might recognize Huang Shengyi.  She was none other than the Lollipop Girl.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 黃聖依 (huáng shèng yī).  Also has been credited as Eva Huang or Eva Wong.  She is currently 26 (birthday is February 11, 1983) and was born and raised in Shanghai, China.  Forbes says that she is a singer and dancer who is looking for TV work.  Even though she is looking for work in 2007 she made $1.5 Million.

19.  Betty Sun Li

Best Known For: She was Moon in Jet Li’s movie Fearless.  She also starred in a two part mini-series / feature length movie called Iron Road where she plays a woman disguised as a man so she can journey to the Rocky Mountains to search for her long-lost father.  The movie also stars Peter O’Toole and Sam Neil.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 孙俪 (Sūn Lì).  She has quite a few English names (or at least I found more than a few for her) including Betty Sun, Li Sun,  Sun Li,  and one website that said her English name is Susan.  She is currently 26 (birthday is September 26, 1982) and was born in Shanghai, China.  For some reason Forbes says that “movie Jin Shan expected to gain her global fame.”  However, I couldn’t find any movie by the name Jin Shan. So maybe it’s some secret movie only Forbes knows about.  In the end she made $2.2 Million in 2007.

18.  Lin Dan

Best Known For: Being a singles badminton badass.  He also won the gold medal in Men’s badminton singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 林丹 (lín dān).  His nickname is “Super Dan.”  He is currently 25 (birthday is October 14, 1983) and was born in Fujian, China.  Forbes only mentions that he is a badminton star with 10 advertising deals.  More interesting than that is that his wikipedia bio mentions “Lin is one of the more popular and controversial badminton players active today, due to his flamboyant personality both on and off the court.”   He also once was an officer in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.  The flamboyant Super Dan made a cool $1.7 Million in 2007.

17.  Ge You

Best Known For: Being one of the most recognizable actors in China.  He also won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994 for his role in the black comedy To Live (which was directed by Zhang Yimou)

Basic Info: Chinese name is 葛優 (Gě Yōu).  He is currently 51 (birthday is April 19. 1957) and is a native of Beijing.  The only thing Forbes had to say about Ge You is that he will star in an upcoming movie called the Aristocrats, however once again I couldn’t find this movie so I’m assuming they were referring to The Nobles which is in production now.  He has no children and has an intense fear of flying.  In 2007 Ge earned $1.9 Million.

16.  Huang Xiaoming

Best Known For: The lead character Yang Guo in the Chinese drama series The Return of the Condor Heroes. He was also the first Asian model ever selected by Gucci to help promote the Gucci Limited Edition 2008.

Basic Info: Chinese name is 黃曉明 (Huáng Xiǎomíng).  He is currently 31 (birthday is November 13, 1977) and was born in Qindao, China (also home to the Chinese beer Tsing Tao).  He is both an actor and a singer.  In 2007 he also sang at the Live Earth concert in Shanghai.  In 2007 he made $1.7 Million.

View the Most Chinese Powerful Celebrities Ranked 15 to 11 (Part 2) >

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So the story supposedly goes like this.  A Chinese condom manufacturing company was suffering lackluster sales in the marketplace.  In effort to boost sales the company tried one last tactic by changing the brand name to “Becoham” which in Chinese sounds exactly like Beckham, as in David Beckham, the celebrity soccer player.  Thanks to this change now Becoham is the most popular brand of condom in China. Here is the yahoo news blurb that reported this.

This was naturally intriguing to me and curiosity got the best of me.  I had to see what a box of Becoham’s looked like. I searched around and thought I had found what I was searching for thanks to the guys at galleryoftheabsurd, a picture of an actual box of these condoms

However, if you can read Chinese or if you just loo at this image long enough, you’ll realize that no company would actually approve such a box.  It is hilarious, though.  My search continued.  Then through sheer luck I hit upon a Chinese article from Xinhuanet.com talking about the story (in Chinese) and there right at the top of the page was what I was looking for.  The actual box of Becoham (not to be confused with Beckham) condoms:

My Chinese skills are way too rudimentary to get all the details from the news story, but in it they interview a representative of the company and he had this to say:

薛先生说，“贝壳汉母”配套注册的英文标签是“BECOHAM”，由英文“be a coham”缩写而来，意思是要做“安全套中的可汗”，即套中之王，“可汗”的英文为“coham”或“kan”。作为商标标签，在注册时将“be a coham”缩写为“becoham”，音译则为“贝壳汉母”，并非球星David·beckham——大卫·贝克汉姆。

People who have much better Chinese skills than me can help me with the exact translation, but the gist of the quote says that he wasn’t trying to name it after David Beckham which in Chinese is 贝克汉姆, but instead he was trying to say the English phrase “Be a coham” which he then translated directly to 贝克汉姆 which are the exact same characters as Beckham.  If it sounds confusing and fishy, it’s because it is.  Is it as bad as the other unauthorized Viagra ads which also feature Beckham?  Probably not, but still questionable.

If you would like to learn more feel free to check out the official Becoham website and Becoham gallery (warning both links lead to Chinese websites).  They do have a cute little mascot where they proclaim “Safety is number 1!”

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When I think of places to visit in China I first think of the typical things that people think about visiting in China–the Great Wall of China, the Terracotta Soldiers, and of course the Sichuan Panda Reserve (to visit those ever adorable pandas).  Imagine my surprise when I discovered the China Sex Museum in Tongli, China.

I don’t really associate China with sex so a China Sex Museum sounds strange to me.  After thinking about it a little longer it starts to make sense.  The country has over 5000 years of history and over 1.4 billion people.  There probably has been some sex going on.

The China Sex Museum was first opened in Shanghai in 1997 and championed by a retired sociologist from Shanghai University, Dr. Liu Dailin.  When the museum first opened in Shanghai Liu thought it would be a raging success.  However, he lacked official government support which didn’t help to promote the museum (via thingsasian):

First government officials would not allow him the use of the word sex on his billboard, making the museum all but impossible for tourists to find on crowded Nanjing Road. The authorities claimed they were upholding national regulations forbidding the advertisement of sex artifacts

Ultimately, the museum had to move to a new home and relocated to it’s current location of the small town Tongli in Jiangsu Province just west of Shanghai.  I’m sure all this information you are finding fascinating, but you may be wondering, exactly what kind of sexual artifacts are in this museum?  Good question! Thanks to the wonders of the internet I found quite a few interesting artifacts courtesy of Getty Images, Flickr and Google Images (which may or may not be safe for work, depending on where you work).  If you visit the above links you’ll find all kinds of goodies from erotic gods, shagging deer to “instructional copulating miniatures,” These miniatures are kind of interesting.  Supposedly these miniatures were included in the dowry when a couple was married.  Back in the “olden days” before the Internet and textbooks, they really had no good medium for sexual education, except for making little figurines depicting sex.  Can you imagine if you were a virgin 5000 years ago and all you got explaining sex was this figurine?

So the next time you are in China perhaps you should add the China Sex Museum to your list of things to go see in China.  If we’re lucky it should fall under China’s decree to make all museum entrance fees free of charge by 2009.  What are you waiting for?  But for those who can’t make it.  I left you with a video from the China Sex Museuem’s official homepage.

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