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Asian cinema: Chinese films

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Asian cinema: Chinese films
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Asian cinema: Chinese films. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM
Tourists listen to a tour guide outside the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain. Photo: AP

How to be a good tourist; a guide for the modern traveller

With the world’s most popular destinations bursting at the seams – and neither residents nor visitors happy with the fact – it would be in everyone’s interests for travellers to rethink their approach.

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Potatoes dry in the sun in Peru’s Sacred Valley. Photo: Shutterstock

Revealed: the ancient Andean secrets behind Peru’s vibrant potato varieties

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The setting-up of the night market at Drum Tower Square, in Kaifeng, Henan province. Photo: Getty Images

Making tracks through China’s past and present

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Amahs in Hong Kong, in 1971. Many joined a family as a teenager and devoted the rest of their lives to serving that household. Picture: SCMP

Language Matters | Where Hong Kong got ‘amah’, old word for maidservant, from

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Liverpudlian Steve Vickers, founder and CEO of Steve Vickers & Associates, has spent his life fighting crime in Hong Kong. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

An ex-policeman recounts fighting triads, kidnappers and counterfeiters

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Crispy three-yellow chicken with scallion oil and mushroom sauce at Canto Jade. Photo: courtesy Canto Jade

Hong Kong’s hottest new openings, from Korean hotspot Yusang to the Song dynasty-inspired Canto Jade

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Content from SCMP's Specialist Publications
Martial arts choreographer, actor and stuntman Alfred Hsing (left) worked as a member of Jackie Chan’s stunt team on the 2015 historical epic Dragon Blade. The California-raised wushu expert has also shared the screen with some of the world’s biggest movie stars, from Michelle Yeoh to Jet Li. Photo: Courtesy of Alfred Hsing
American cinema

Desk job to Jackie Chan stunts: martial artist Alfred Hsing’s rise in film

After leaving a financial career, the wushu champion became a fight coordinator, stuntman and actor working with some of film’s top stars.

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China society

Opinion | How a Chinese kitchen in the Middle East could stir up global cinema

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Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How Josie Ho rejected her billionaire heiress destiny for indie filmmaking

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Wakesurf Lovers: Jeffrey Ngai, Renci Yeung make a splash in uneven sports drama

Full of beautiful bodies but paper-thin characters, Fung Chih-chiang’s film about wakesurfing and cybershaming drifts nowhere in particular.

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Renci Yeung (left) and Jeffrey Ngai in a still from Wakesurf Lovers (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Fung Chih-chiang.
Chinese language cinema

The Chinese Mulholland Drive? Why ‘so bad it’s good’ film Niu Lai is special

Initially mocked, the low-budget film by a first-time animator and his mum is now being hailed as a bastion of hard work and free expression.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Ronny Yu and Jet Li made Fearless (2006) a martial arts masterpiece

Director Ronny Yu put Jet Li’s martial arts skills and acting chops to good use in this classic, blending superb fights and a human story.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | A Mighty Adventure: wordless animation by McDull director is breezy if flawed

Hong Kong director Toe Yuen’s film about insects surviving the city is a visual marvel, though dialogue would have made it more expressive.

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A still from A Mighty Adventure.
Trending in China

Meme magic: how a crude Chinese animation reshapes country’s viewing habits

Expert cautions against replicating Niu Lai as a business formula, viewing it instead as a unique social phenomenon.

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China society

Opinion | Why Chinese film-goers are flocking to a movie they hate

Niu Lai’s runaway success is not an endorsement of its quality. Audiences are paying for the perverse enjoyment of seeing how bad it gets.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | The Dating Menu: a drifter chef looks to connect in wistful romantic drama

Lo Chun-yip plays a chef who tries out a dating app and cooks for four very different women as he tries to get over a previous relationship.

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Lo Chun-yip (left) and Crystal Cheung Man-ka in a still from The Dating Menu.
100 Top Picks

Video | Niu Lai is China’s latest box office hit

Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan predicted that the film could make 18.4 million yuan (US$2.7 million) within 30 days of release.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How ‘Siuyea’ Lo Chun-yip shed his indie director mindset to become a leading man

The ‘late bloomer’, who switched directing for acting in 2015, takes on his first main lead role with new film The Dating Menu.

China’s film industry

How a ‘rough’ and ‘crude’ Chinese cartoon ox went from box office zero to hero

Widely slated on its release, Niu Lai has become the summer’s most surprising smash hit despite competition from The Odyssey and Spider-Man.

Chinese language cinema

Review | All Wishes Come True!: Chinese animation reinvents the Eight Immortals

This culturally authentic and wholly accessible origin story is a visually dazzling infusion of Chinese and Western storytelling conventions.

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A screen grab from from All Wishes Come True! from Pearl Studio, which also produced Kung Fu Panda 3 and Netflix’s Academy Award-nominated Over the Moon.
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | Alex To’s 40-year Cantopop legacy: R&B origins, comebacks, acting triumphs

The now 64-year-old Hong Kong-born singer and actor remains one of the industry’s most enduring and unpredictable figures.

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Alex To performs during the “2021 New Year Concert – Sailing in the Greater Bay Area” in Shenzhen in January 2021. Photo: Weibo
European cinema

How this British-Chinese filmmaker aims to build the Blumhouse of action

Inspired by John Woo and Chow Yun-fat, Chee Keong Cheung talks about his Action Xtreme studio and upcoming film Bad Day at the Office.

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China property

Derelict cinema on scenic Hong Kong island has a US$1 million price tag

Peng Chau Cinema was once a bustling nightspot but has lain virtually empty for almost four decades and is now set to go under the hammer.

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American cinema

How did Snow Flower and the Secret Fan become such an ambitious failure?

Wayne Wang’s 2011 film blends past and present, but despite its ambition and talent, it struggled to resonate with audiences.

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Jun Ji-hyun (left) and Li Bingbing in a still from Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011), a film that earned director Wayne Wang some of the worst reviews of his career.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Curry and Pepper showed Stephen Chow’s comedy genius before superstardom hit

The 1990 buddy cop film was released less than three months before All for the Winner turned Stephen Chow into a superstar in Hong Kong.

Chinese language cinema

Review | Back to Love: the Teochew romance that led to smash hit Dear You

Exploring family dynamics and modernity in a heartfelt Teochew romance, Lan Hongchun’s Back to Love charms with its cultural themes.

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Asian cinema

10 must-see movies and programmes at Hong Kong’s Summer IFF 2026

This year’s Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival boasts 37 features, from regional premieres to 4K restorations of Hong Kong classics.

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Hwang Jung-min in a still from Hope, one of our picks of features to catch at the 2026 Cine Fan Summer International Film Festival in Hong Kong.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

What makes the 1981 horror film The Imp such a terrifying cult classic?

Directed by Dennis Yu, The Imp blends elements of Western horror classics with Taoist beliefs to create a thoroughly modern shocker.

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Charlie Chin in a still from The Imp (1981), a unique, suspenseful Hong Kong horror film that avoids parody and embraces genuine scares.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Daniel Wu is swapping ‘broken’ Hollywood for Hong Kong films

Wu discusses his coming films including Cold War 1995 and the Twilight of the Warriors sequel, and how Hollywood has ‘dropped diversity’.

Art

Hong Kong artist channels Leslie Cheung film Farewell My Concubine for live show

Berlin-based Isaac Chong Wai’s all-male Hong Kong show An Intimate Surrender draws on the 1993 gender-fluid romance to explore vulnerability.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Jacob Cheung’s Cageman and Intimates became his most memorable films

In Cageman, Cheung leaned on social observations and light drama. In lesbian romance Intimates, he focused on romance, not sexual passion.

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A still from the 1992 film Cageman.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Maggie Cheung went from commercial film eye candy to art-house legend

After being cast for her looks early in her career, Cheung proved herself in serious roles, then stepped away from the industry altogether.

Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung poses for a picture in 1991. Cheung was prolific between 1984 and 2010, appearing in dozens of films as a pretty “vase” character and later proving her range in more demanding roles. Photo: SCMP/TVB Weekly
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | How 94-year-old Bowie Woo became Hong Kong’s ultimate evergreen entertainer

Since becoming a film star in 1953, ‘Sau Gor’ has adapted to remain a feature of Hong Kong screens, and his recent concert set a world record.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Prolific Hong Kong director Andrew Lau looks back on his most iconic films

From the Young and Dangerous series to The Storm Riders and Infernal Affairs, Andrew Lau has captivated audiences for decades.

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