1.
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
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The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts is a provider of tertiary education in Hong Kong. Located near the north coast of Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, apart from the main campus in Wanchai, Bethanie, the site of the institutions Landmark Heritage Campus in Pokfulam, has housed the School of Film and Television since 2007. Its educational policy reflects the diversity of Hong Kong with an emphasis on Chinese and Western traditions. Every year, the Academy enrols about 750 students for its programmes and around 770 students for its Junior Music Programme. Furthermore, its extensive EXCEL programme offers part-time personal enrichment courses, the government responded with a proposal to develop an academy for the performing arts. On 15 September 1981 the Jockey Club formally announced plans to build the academy on a piece of vacant land in Wan Chai, granted by the government, the academy was established in 1984. In the early 1990s, the APA became a degree-granting institution, the main campus was designed by local firm Simon Kwan and Associates, who were among six firms invited to submit designs in a limited competition. It comprises the Academy Block, the Theatre Block, and the Administration Block, the Administration Block was ready for occupation in July 1985. The Academy Block was formally opened on 18 September 1985 by Governor Edward Youde, the Theatre Block was opened by the Duchess of Kent on 3 February 1986, the same day the inaugural opera season began as part of the 1986 Hong Kong Arts Festival. The 1981 model produced for the competition is now held by the M+ museum. In 2006 the academy established a campus at Béthanie in Pok Fu Lam. It mainly houses specialist facilities for the School of Film and Television, the original campus was designed for a student population of 600 students. The academy has been facing space constraints as enrolment has gradually risen, the 334 Scheme further exacerbated the problem. In June 2012 the Legislative Council approved funding of $444.8 million for construction of a nine-storey annex block, the expansion will house classrooms, studios, laboratories, music rooms, offices, workshops and support facilities. The academy is working with the West Kowloon Cultural District, which is construction, on education plans. The academy is governed under the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Ordinance, under the legislation the academy is mandated to foster and provide for training, education and research in the performing arts and related technical arts. The academy is funded through tuition fees as well as a subvention provided by the Home Affairs Bureau and this arrangement differs from most other post-secondary institutions in the territory, which are funded by the University Grants Committee. Kevin Thompson was director of the academy from 2004 to 2012, Thompson also initiated planning for campus expansion
2.
Wan Chai
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Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west, the area north of Gloucester Road is often referred to as Wan Chai North. Wan Chai is one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong with offices of many small, Wan Chai North features office towers, parks, hotels and an international conference and exhibition centre. As one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is densely populated yet with noticeable residential zones facing urban decay, arousing considerable public concern, the government has undertaken several urban renewal projects in recent years. There are many landmarks and skyscrapers within the area, most notably the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Central Plaza. Wan Chai originally began as Ha Wan, literally meaning a ring or lower circuit. As one of the earliest developed areas in Hong Kong along the Victoria Harbour, Central, Sheung Wan, Wan Chai literally means a cove in Cantonese from the shape of its coastal line. The area is no longer a cove, however, due to city development. Wan Chai was first home to the many Chinese villagers living along the coastlines in proximity to Hung Shing Temple. Most of them were fishermen, who worked around the area near Hung Shing Temple overlooking the entire harbour, Hung Shing Ye, the God of the Sea, was one of the deities worshiped by the locals. With the growth of the British Hong Kong administration, centred in old Victoria, Wan Chai attracted those on the fringes of society, such as coolie workers, a focal point of development at that time was Spring Gardens, a red-light zone. By the 1850s the area was becoming a Chinese residential area. There were dockyards on Ship Street and McGregor Street for building and repairing ships. The edge of Sun Street, Moon Street and Star Street was the site of the first power station in Hong Kong, operated by the Hongkong Electric Company. One of the first water-front hospitals was the Seamans Hospital, built in 1843 and it was then sold to the British Royal Navy in 1873 and subsequently redeveloped into the Royal Naval Hospital. After the Second World War, the hospital was revitalised as the Ruttonjee Hospital, the district was home to several well-known schools. One of these schools was established by the traditional teacher. Started as a shushu in 1919, the school was renamed Dunmei School in 1934 after him and it taught classical Chinese writings and Confucian ethics
3.
Hong Kong
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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
4.
Chungking Express
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Chungking Express is a 1994 Hong Kong drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman. The first story stars Takeshi Kaneshiro as a cop who is obsessed with the break-up of his relationship with a woman named May and his platonic encounter with a mysterious drug smuggler. The second stars Tony Leung as an officer who is roused from his gloom over the loss of his flight attendant girlfriend by the attentions of a quirky snack bar worker. The film depicts a paradox in that though the characters live in densely packed Hong Kong, they are mostly lonely. The English title refers to Chungking Mansions and the Midnight Express food stall where Faye works, the film comprises two different stories, told one after the other, each about a romance involving a policeman. Except for a moment when the first story ends and the second begins. However, the three characters from the second story each momentarily appear during the first. The first story concerns Taiwan-born cop He Qiwu, also known as Cop 223, qiwus girlfriend May broke up with him on 1 April. His birthday is 1 May and he chooses to wait for May for a month before moving on, every day he buys a tin of pineapple with an expiration date of 1 May. By the end of time, he feels that he will either be rejoined with his love or that it will have expired forever. Meanwhile, a woman in a blonde wig tries to survive in the drug underworld after a smuggling operation goes sour. On 1 May, Qiwu, looking for romance, approaches the woman in the blonde wig at a bar, however, she is exhausted and falls asleep in a hotel room, leaving him to watch old movies alone all night and order take-out food. He shines her shoes before he leaves her sleeping on the bed and she leaves in the morning and shoots the drug baron who had set her up. Qiwu goes jogging and receives a message from her on his pager wishing him a happy birthday and he then visits his usual snack food store where he collides with a new staff member, Faye. At this point, a new story begins, in the second story, the unnamed Cop 663 is similarly dealing with a breakup, this time with a flight attendant. He meets Faye, the new girl at the snack bar, the flight attendant waits for the cop around the snack bar, and finds out he is on his day off. She leaves a letter for the bar owner to give to the cop
5.
Leslie Cheung
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Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, was a Hong Kong-born Canadian singer and actor. He is considered one of the fathers of Cantopop by combining a hugely successful film. In 1989, Cheung announced his retirement from the industry as a pop singer. Returning to the scene after a five-year hiatus, Cheung released his chart-topping comeback album Most Beloved which achieved a huge market success. In 1999, he won the Golden Needle Award for his achievement as a musician at the RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. He was honoured as Asias 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. Cheungs music and films not only captured fans in Hong Kong but also other Asian areas including Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan and South Korea. He is the first foreign artist to hold 16 concerts in Japan that has yet to be broken, Cheung was ranked as the favourite actor in the 100 years of Chinese cinema. In 2010, he was voted the third Most Iconic Musicians of All Time, CNN considered Cheung as the Most Beautiful Man from Hong Kong Cinema and one of Asias 25 Greatest Actors of All Time. Cheung committed suicide on April 1,2003 by jumping off the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong, a suicide note left by Cheung stated that he had been suffering from depression. Cheung was born in Kowloon, Hong Kong, the youngest of ten children in a middle-class Hakka family, Cheung Wut-hoi, his father, was a fairly well known tailor, whose customers included American actors William Holden, Marlon Brando, and Cary Grant. His parents divorced when he was quite young, while in Hong Kong, Cheung attended Rosaryhill School at Wanchai on Hong Kong Island. At age 12, he was sent to Norwich School in England and he worked as a bartender at his relatives restaurant in Southend-on-Sea and sang during the weekends. It was around this period that he chose his name, Leslie, according to Cheung, he chose this name because I love the film Gone with the Wind. In several interviews, Cheung stated he had had an unhappy childhood. I didnt have a happy childhood, arguments, fights and we didnt live together, I was brought up by my granny. What I would say most affected me as a child, was that my parents were not at home with me, as a young kid, one could not always understand why his parents werent at home. He attended the University of Leeds where he studied textile management and he continued university at the end of his first year when his father fell ill
6.
Faye Wong
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Faye Wong is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress, often referred to as a diva in Chinese-language media. Early in her career she used the stage name Shirley Wong. Born in Beijing, she moved to British Hong Kong in 1987, since 1994 she has recorded mostly in her native Mandarin, often combining alternative music with mainstream Chinese pop. In 2000 she was recognised by Guinness World Records as the Best Selling Canto-Pop Female, following her second marriage in 2005 she withdrew from the limelight, but returned to the stage in 2010 amidst immense interest in the Sinophone world. Hugely popular in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, in the West she is perhaps best known for starring in Wong Kar-wais films Chungking Express and 2046. While she has collaborated with artists such as Cocteau Twins, Wong recorded only a few songs in English. Wong is known to be reserved in public, and has gained a reputation for her coolness, in Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, Jeroen de Kloet characterised her as singer, actress, mother, celebrity, royalty, sex symbol and diva all at the same time. The daughter of an engineer and a revolutionary music soprano. She also has a brother named Wang Yi. As a student, Wong already was involved in singing and attracted interest from several publishers, on occasions, the school had to hide her artistic activities from her strict mother, who as a professional saw singing as a dead-end career. For the last of these recordings, the producer Wei Yuanqiang chose the title Wong Fei Collection. In 1987, after being accepted to Xiamen University for college, she migrated to Hong Kong to join her father, the plan was for her to stay there for a year to fulfill the permanent residency requirement, and go to a university abroad thereafter. However, since Wong didnt know a word of Cantonese, the language spoken in the British colony, under Tais tutelage, the 19-year-old signed with Cinepoly Records after winning third place in an ABU singing contest in 1988. It was a move on the part of Chan Siu-Bo, Cinepolys general manager. As a result, Cinepoly asked Wong to change her Mainland-sounding name to a stage name Wong Jing Man. In 1989, her debut album Shirley Wong sold over 30,000 copies, Two more albums followed, similarly featuring many cover songs by artists from the US and Japan. However, they worse than her debut album, despite relentless promotions by the company. Many in Hong Kong perceived her to be backwards, lacking personality, frustrated with her career decision, in 1991 she travelled to New York City for vocal studies and cultural exchange
7.
Wong Kar-wai
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His film In the Mood for Love, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, notably garnered widespread critical acclaim. Wong Kar-wai was born on 17 July 1958 in Shanghai, the youngest of three siblings and his father was a sailor and his mother was a housewife. By the time Wong was five years old, the seeds of the Cultural Revolution were beginning to take effect in China and his parents decided to relocate to British-ruled Hong Kong. The two older children were meant to them later, but the borders closed before they had a chance. In Hong Kong, the family settled in the Tsim Sha Tsui district, as a youth, Wong was frequently taken to the cinema by his mother and exposed to a variety of films. He later said, The only hobby I had as a child was watching movies, at school he was interested in graphic design, and earned a diploma in the subject from Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1980. After graduating, Wong was accepted onto a course with the TVB television network. He soon began a career, firstly with TV series and soap operas, such as Dont Look Now. He worked as part of a team, contributing to a variety of genres including romance, comedy, thriller and he is credited with ten screenplays between 1982 and 1987, but claims to have worked on about fifty more without official credit. Wong spent two years co-writing the screenplay for Patrick Tams action film Final Victory, for which he was nominated at the 7th Hong Kong Film Awards, by 1987 the Hong Kong film industry was at a peak, enjoying a considerable level of prosperity and productivity. Gangster films were popular at the time, in the wake of John Woos highly-successful A Better Tomorrow, specifically, unlike Hong Kongs other crime films, he chose to focus on young gangsters. The film, named As Tears Go By, tells the story of a youth who has to watch over his hot-headed friend. Because he was acquainted with the producer, Alan Tang, Wong was given considerable freedom in the making of As Tears Go By. His cast included what he considered some of the hottest young idols in Hong Kong, singer Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, as Tears Go By was released in June 1988 and was popular with audiences. It was also a success, as several journalists named Wong among the Hong Kong New Wave. While it was a crime film, critic David Bordwell said that Wong out from his peers by abandoning the kinetics of comedies. As Tears Go By received no attention from Western critics upon its initial release, for his follow-up film, Wong decided to move away from the crime trend in Hong Kong cinema, to which he felt indifferent. He was eager to make something unusual, and the success of As Tears Go By made this possible
8.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai
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Tony Leung Chiu-wai is a Hong Kong actor and C-pop singer. He was the winner of Cannes Film Festival for Best Actor for his role in Wong Kar-wais film In the Mood for Love, Leung is also a seven-time winner of Hong Kong Film Award and three-time winner of Golden Horse Film Awards. Leung also stars in three Venice Film Festival Golden Lion-winning films, including A City of Sadness, Cyclo and Lust, Caution, Leung also stars in Academy Award- and Golden Globe Award-nominated film Hero. The 2002 book East Asian Film Stars describes Leung as undoubtedly one of the most successful and widely-acclaimed Hong Kong actors of his generation, with a broad, Leung was born in Hong Kong. Leungs early childhood was punctuated with parents quarrels and arguments about money, a mischievous boy in his early years, Leungs personality changed when his father, a chronic gambler, left the family when he was eight, he and his younger sister were brought up by their mother. Leung was a reticent, quiet child and he has said that his childhood experiences paved the way for his acting career, which allows him to openly express his feelings, You dont know what happened, just one day your pop disappears. And from that day on I try not to communicate with anyone, im so afraid to talk to my classmates, afraid that if someone says something about family I wont know what to do. So thats why I love acting, because I can express all my feelings the way I couldnt for so long, and then when I went to TV it all came out, I cried and I wasnt ashamed. The audience thinks its the characters feelings, but really its my feelings, Leung went to private school, but he quit at the age of 15 due to financial difficulties. He was a teenager who was very close to his mother. During an interview on the making of Hero, he says that he sees his mother as his definition of a hero for having brought up two children alone. After quitting his studies, Leung worked in a variety of jobs, first as a runner at his uncles shop. Around the age of 16 he met actor and comedian Stephen Chow who influenced his decision to become an actor. In 1982, he passed the courses of television channel TVB. Due to his looks, TVB cast him as host of a childrens programme,430 Space Shuttle. Leung enjoyed comedies during his years, it was for these he became well known. So, in the 1980s, he was named as one of TVBs Five Tigers along with Andy Lau, Felix Wong, Michael Miu, Leung starred in the highly successful Police Cadet TV serial in 1984. Since then they have worked together on The Yangs Saga, Days of Being Wild, Ashes of Time, In the Mood for Love, Hero, interviewed by Wong Kar Wai, Leung said that he considered Maggie to be his alter ego
9.
Eric Kot
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Eric Kot Man-fai is a Hong Kong celebrity in the Chinese hip hop industry. Hi is a popular MC/pop singer/actor who studied in California and is the youngest of three brothers and he is also known to his fans by his loud clowny voice. He formed a music duo with fellow DJ and comedian Jan Lamb. Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actor Nomination for The New Age of Living Together Best Actor Nomination for Oh
10.
From Beijing with Love
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From Beijing With Love is a 1994 Hong Kong action spy comedy film directed by Lee Lik-chi and Stephen Chow. The film is a direct spoof of James Bond fims and stars Chow, Anita Yuen. Golden Gun steals the cranium of Chinas only dinosaur fossil, Chow, starring as a hawker-cum-secret-agent 007, is sent to Hong Kong by a high-ranking government official to recapture the cranium. When he arrives in Hong Kong, he meets Lee Heung-kam, however, Heung-kam turns out to be a subordinate of Golden Gun. Golden Gun is in actuality the government official who directs 007 to find the cranium, Golden Gun instructs Heung-kam to send 007 on a false lead and tells him that the cranium may have been stolen by a smuggler. 007, with the help of Heung-kam, sneaks into a party held by the smuggler. Before he enters, he tells Heung-kam that he will fetch her some white roses, Heung-kam tells 007 to find evidence that the smuggler stole the cranium, meanwhile, Heung-kam hides in a tree, planning to snipe 007 from afar. The party is interrupted by a man and a mysterious woman who are out to kill 007. Taking this opportunity, Heung-kam shoots 007 several times, including once in the leg with 007 thinking another assassin has shot him,007 escapes, grabbing three white roses on the way out. Heung-kam is touched by this gesture and saves his life and she decides to defect from Golden Gun. Together, the two destroy the organization that is behind the theft of the cranium,007 eventually wins the hand of Heung-kam and is rewarded with a meat cleaver emblazoned with the calligraphy of Deng Xiaoping. 凌凌漆 is a homophone for the number 007 in Chinese. The name of the ultimate weapon invented by Tat Man-sai, 要你命3000, is also the name of a Hong Kong, the Universe Laser DVD cover of the movie parodies that of the 1987 James Bond movie The Living Daylights. The Golden Guns signature weapon is a spoof of the gun used in the James Bond novel The Man with the Golden Gun. Unlike the one from the James Bond series, this is a gold-plated Thompson/Center Contender with extremely powerful expanding bullets of piercing or explosive force, the song Stephen Chow sang while playing the piano is 李香蘭 by Jacky Cheung. It grossed a huge HK$37,523,850 in Hong Kong
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