It must be the highest honour for an artist to be recognised for his work in France, the home of so many great artists.
Probably the most famous photographer in Hong Kong, Yonfan Man-shi has just returned from Paris where French President Jacques Chirac made him a chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur at the Elysee Palace.
Yonfan says he received the award for all his work - which includes photography, movie directing and scriptwriting, as well as his promotion of French culture in Hong Kong and Chinese culture in France.
'I just donated several Chinese paintings, among them a Chang Dai Chien to the Guimet Museum in Paris,' he tells me.
Yonfan's last movie was Bugis Street, a story about transvestites in Singapore which won the unique vision award at the San Francisco Film Festival.
He is now producing a more risque movie, S M Bay (which stands for South Middle Bay), about gigolos and policemen in Hong Kong.
Yonfan says that he is not interested in making mainstream movies.
