https://www.scmp.com/rss/522692/feed The latest news and top stories on Louis Cha Leung-yung, also known by his pen name Jin Yong. A highly influential Chinese writer, he was celebrated for his wuxia novels, which sold over 100 million copies and were widely adapted into films and television. Beyond his literary prowess, Cha was a prominent journalist, editor and publisher, co-founding the influential Ming Pao newspaper in 1959. His career also included screenwriting and political commentary, notably serving on the Basic Law... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Shi Huang Shi Huang On the top floor of a trendy anime-themed mall near Beijing’s Chaoyang Park, a three-minute trailer gave a taste of what is expected to be China’s next blockbuster role-playing video game. On the large screen, characters called Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor and Northern Beggar appeared in exquisitely rendered martial arts duels. Rising above it all with a sinister smile was Dongfang Bubai, a martial artist who castrated himself to learn the secrets of the skills in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343967/chen-mo-man-behind-heroes-jin-yong-ai-and-making-blockbuster-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343967/chen-mo-man-behind-heroes-jin-yong-ai-and-making-blockbuster-game?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Lisa Cam Lisa Cam This is the 70th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. For many of her admirers, the defining image of Athena Chu Yan remains a single, fleeting moment from 1995. As the Zixia Fairy in the two-part film A Chinese Odyssey, she gazes at the Monkey King (Stephen Chow Sing-chi) and delivers a wink – playful, radiant and hopeful. That split second transformed Chu into not just an icon of Hong Kong cinema but also one of its most popular “sexy... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343404/how-hong-kong-actress-athena-chu-escaped-sex-symbol-trap-after-chinese-odyssey-fame?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3343404/how-hong-kong-actress-athena-chu-escaped-sex-symbol-trap-after-chinese-odyssey-fame?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 09:15:09 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis To the uninitiated, the sight of a blood-soaked swordsman fighting on with an arrow lodged in his chest seems absurd. Yet, in the world of Hong Kong cinema, realism is rarely the point. Martial arts films, whether “kung fu” fisticuffs or “wuxia” sword-fighting, operate on a unique logic of physical poetry and historical myth. Below, to help find your footing, we punch out some commonly held misconceptions about this widely cherished tradition. Why the unrealistic fights and injuries? Martial... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3342311/beginners-guide-watching-hong-kong-martial-arts-movies-and-why-realism-doesnt-matter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3342311/beginners-guide-watching-hong-kong-martial-arts-movies-and-why-realism-doesnt-matter?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Feb 2026 09:15:07 +0000 Josephine Ma Josephine Ma Nie Weiping, a legendary Go master in China, died in Beijing at the age of 73 on Wednesday. Nie is best remembered for his dramatic victory in the first Japan-China Super Go in 1985. Few had hope that China would win because its players had long lagged behind Japanese competitors in the strategy board game. By the time it was Nie’s turn to play in Tokyo, Japan’s top player, Kobayashi Koichi, had already won six straight games against his Chinese counterparts. Nie was the only Chinese player left... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3340042/nie-weiping-chinese-go-master-known-dramatic-victory-over-japanese-rival-dies-73?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3340042/nie-weiping-chinese-go-master-known-dramatic-victory-over-japanese-rival-dies-73?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:57:06 +0000 Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak This is the 67th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. From growing up impoverished in a village in Huizhou, in east-central Guangdong province, to sending his son to an elite international school in Shanghai, the life of actor and singer Jordan Chan Siu-chun has been a roller coaster defined by extreme reinvention. Today, at 58, he has crafted a new image as a stellar husband and father, living in mainland China with a wife 16 years his... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3338135/how-actor-singer-jordan-chan-went-hong-kong-bad-boy-patriotic-family-man-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3338135/how-actor-singer-jordan-chan-went-hong-kong-bad-boy-patriotic-family-man-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jan 2026 23:15:08 +0000 Alice Yan Alice Yan A restaurant in China which lets its staff play popular characters from a famed martial arts novel to interact with customers has trended on mainland social media. Xiangyang Courtyard in Xiangyang, Hubei province, central China, which opened in September, features martial arts performances, the Jimu News reported. It is decorated in the style of classic gardens from ancient China. In addition, some employees are dressed up as leading characters in the martial arts novel The Legend of the Condor... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3330776/china-restaurant-features-villains-martial-arts-novel-who-cook-using-kung-fu-techniques?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3330776/china-restaurant-features-villains-martial-arts-novel-who-cook-using-kung-fu-techniques?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Nov 2025 08:00:08 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Ann Hui On-wah is rightly praised for her realistic films about social issues and Hong Kong society. But the acclaimed director has made films in many genres during her career. Here we look at her once-lost martial arts masterpiece and a ghostly horror film. The Romance of Book and Sword / Princess Fragrance (both 1987) This epic three-hour wuxia film, released in two parts, is still one of Hui’s most ambitious projects to date. Shot in the deserts of Xinjiang and the Jiangnan region in mainland... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3321929/why-director-ann-huis-rare-spins-martial-arts-and-horror-film-genres-were-special?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3321929/why-director-ann-huis-rare-spins-martial-arts-and-horror-film-genres-were-special?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Aug 2025 04:15:08 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Artificial intelligence and video gaming company CreateAI is looking to develop China’s next blockbuster AAA title on the back of its global rights to the works of acclaimed Hong Kong martial arts novelist Louis Cha Leung-yung, also known as “Jin Yong”. CreateAI, formerly known as the autonomous vehicle firm TuSimple, aims to make Heroes of Jin Yong “one of the largest-scale triple-A, open-world role-playing games (RPGs)” in the market, president and CEO Lu Cheng told the South China Morning... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3321304/hong-kong-author-louis-chas-novels-form-basis-chinas-next-aaa-video-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3321304/hong-kong-author-louis-chas-novels-form-basis-chinas-next-aaa-video-game?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Aug 2025 02:00:12 +0000 Mabel Lui Mabel Lui This is the 55th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. An enduring name in Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, Adam Cheng Siu-chau has been a prominent actor and singer for the past five decades. Beginning his career in the 1960s, he went on to make a name for himself as a suave leading man, particularly in wuxia period dramas. Among his most popular television shows are The Legend of the Book and the Sword (1976), The Heaven Sword and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3318715/how-hong-kong-star-adam-cheng-went-tv-heartthrob-stock-market-jinx?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3318715/how-hong-kong-star-adam-cheng-went-tv-heartthrob-stock-market-jinx?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Jul 2025 09:17:23 +0000