Celebrity Chinese blogger's magazine folds

The "Party" is over for one of China's most popular bloggers.
Han Han, whose blog has clocked more than 441 million hits in the past five years, announced in his latest post Tuesday that he has shut down his literary magazine "Party" after publishing just one issue.

The 28-year-old best-selling author of novels and professional race car driver is one of the most recognized faces among Chinese youth. His provocative online commentaries on current affairs have also earned him the accolade as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2009.

Han said the first issue of "Party," launched in July and sold 1.5 million copies. The second issue was due out at end of August.

"Too many people in relevant departments of the Chinese government are capable of turning literary magazines to cultural relics," he wrote in his usual sarcastic style. "If we ever meet, please tell me what went wrong."

At least three things could have gone wrong, according to industry analysts.

"In China, the publication, printing and distribution of reading materials require three different sets of licenses and permits," explained Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of the popular China media website Danwei.org. "So there are three places they can stop you."

Han revealed in the blog the difficulties he repeatedly encountered during his brief magazine-publishing career. He ostensibly denied the magazine's premature death was caused by the state's propaganda czars, who have in the past censored his writings online.

The debut issue of "Party," which analysts say had to undergo major cuts to secure government approval, featured novels, essays, poems, photos and cartoons from writers and artists across the Chinese-speaking world, including a serial penned by Han.

"It got an anti-establishment attitude, a kind of rebellious feel to it, but there was nothing explicitly anti-government," Goldkorn said.

The long delay in the second issue may have prepared Han's fans for the worst-case scenario. Among the thousands of comments left below his latest post, there is sadness, sympathy but little surprise.

"Our great motherland can tolerate so much evil but not a magazine," one reader wrote.

"I will hold on to my collector's item (the first issue) and wait for the sun to rise again," said another reader.

Despite his scathing social commentaries, Han is savvy enough to know the limits of what he can and cannot write about.

He famously posted a pair of empty quotation marks in his blog on the day the Norwegian Nobel committee announced its decision to award this year's peace prize to an imprisoned Chinese dissident.

As the government blacked out all news coverage on the Nobel announcement, Han's blog went on to attract more than 1.3 million views and some 28,000 comments.

His increasing celebrity at home and abroad, however, seemed to have come short in changing his magazine's fate in the country's tightening media environment.

"The structure in place to control the print media is much stricter than that to control the Internet," said Goldkorn, the media analyst. "There will be no loosening up until after the next leadership change in 2012."

"The Nobel peace prize made everyone in media even less willing to take risks," he added.

That dampens the prospect of Han resurrecting his "Party" anytime soon, despite the hope of many of his admirers.

"I'm not asking or requesting much -- I just hope that all the people in arts, all the literati, painters, and directors can work in an unregulated and uncensored environment," Han told CNN in an interview last May.

For now, apparently, he is asking too much.

Source : http://www.cnn.com

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Michelle Yeoh returns to martial arts film genre

HONG KONG - A decade after "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Michelle Yeoh has returned to the martial arts genre with dramatic acting skills to match her formidable swordplay and fight moves.

The 48-year-old former Bond girl plays a retired assassin haunted by her past life in the kung fu thriller "Reign of Assassins," which opens in Asia on Thursday. Producer John Woo crafted the role in the $14 million picture for his longtime friend when both Hong Kong transplants were developing their Hollywood careers in Los Angeles.

Yeoh has focused on her career in the West since the global success of "Crouching Tiger," appearing in a range of works including "Memoirs of a Geisha," the third installment of "The Mummy" franchise and Oscar winner Danny Boyle's sci-fi thriller "Sunshine." Many of these parts were dramatic roles.

The extended absence might have some fans wondering if the ballerina-turned-action star has lost her touch for the more physical screen performances she is known for in Asia.

A former Miss Malaysia, Yeoh parlayed her beauty pageant credentials into a full-fledged acting career in Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s, where she earned a reputation as a gritty daredevil who could hold her own against — and even outshine — the likes of Jackie Chan and Jet Li in complicated kung fu and stunt sequences. Hollywood came beckoning in 1997 with a costarring role alongside Pierce Brosnan in the James Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies."

Yeoh told a news conference in Hong Kong recently that she, too, had initial doubts about the role, noting it required challenging swordplay that drew her close to her fellow actors.

"I was a little worried initially. I had not shot a kung fu movie since 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.' I put that skill set aside for a long time," she said.

But her years of experience in action film quickly showed, especially when it came to fight sequences where the actors were suspended by wires.

"Your timing has to be very accurate. I've done a lot of wire work before. I can see that experience makes a big difference," Yeoh said.

Woo, whose Lion Rock Productions made "Reign of Assassins," said Yeoh's action prowess has not waned. The veteran actress performed 90 percent of her own moves and stunts, he said.

"Her kung fu moves are still so clean, so powerful. She still has great rhythm. She still looks great," Woo told The Associated Press. "Michelle Yeoh is the same."

Director Su Chao-pin said he was impressed by Yeoh's routine of waking up three hours before 7 a.m. shoots for stretching and running.

"Her level of fitness is the product of tremendous self-discipline," Su told the AP.

Woo said he was also struck by Yeoh's ability to tackle the emotional journey of her character, who's determined to forge a new life as an unknown fabric seller with her new husband (South Korea's Jung Woo-sung), only to be tracked down by accomplices from her past. Her husband, a courier, also harbors a secret identity.

"It's completely different from her previous characters where she is an action star or plays someone who is a strong fighter. In this movie, not only does she fight well, she acts well too. She shows her real emotion," the "Mission: Impossible II" director said.

Perhaps due to Yeoh's growing international profile, Woo said "Reign of Assassins" has drawn more interest from distributors in Europe and North America than "Red Cliff," his recent historical epic that marked his return to Chinese film.

"To be honest, I'm a little jealous," Woo joked.

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