Aug 7, 2005
From small-town boy to Mr Faye Wong
Li Yapeng has come a long way from his Urumqi days. But sceptics
wonder if he married Faye Wong for her money
By Foong Woei Wan
WHEN Li Yapeng was an undergraduate in Beijing, he had no money and
no connections. But he had a big, bold dream.
He had just discovered rock 'n' roll, and wanted to take an
established Beijing band, Tang Dynasty, back to his hometown for a
couple of concerts.
His hometown Urumqi in Xinjiang, the far-flung northwestern corner
of China, that is, where both rock music and concerts were unheard
of.
The rock fan pitched his idea to the band's agent, who laughed in
his face at first.
But Li meant business. Three months later, he got the sponsors, the
posters, the stadium - and the two concerts which are still the
stuff of legend in Urumqi.
Even though he has since become one of China's top TV stars, Li
still speaks of that stint as show promoter with palpable
pride.
'I still think of it as the best thing I've ever done, because I
didn't do it to make money,' he once said.
LOVE ME, LOVE MY DAUGHTER: Li, Wong and Jingtong share a happy
moment.
He's a small-town boy with heart and verve, and this may have
helped him win over Mandopop queen Faye Wong.
Li, who turns 34 next month, married Wong on July 28 after a
low-key two-year romance. It is his first marriage and her
second.
Wong, who turns 36 tomorrow, has an eight-year-old daughter,
Jingtong, by her ex-husband, Chinese rocker Dou Wei.
Famous for her fine voice, fashion flair and devil-may-care
indifference to the press, the Beijing-born Wong has been one of
the most successful Chinese singers for more than 10 years.
She announced through her manager three months ago that she would
take a break from showbiz. Rumours that she may quit altogether to
focus on family life has led to intense media interest in her
relationship with Li.
Tabloid talk has it that in the summer of 2003, he started to
pursue her, though she was then in an on-off romance with Hong Kong
singer Nicholas Tse.
She was in Shanghai making the movie Leaving Me, Loving You and Li
would SMS her constantly - sending as many as 100 messages a
day.
On her 34th birthday in August, he hosted a party for her in a
hotel in Shanghai and invited her buddies from Beijing. Tse was
absent.
HEY, GIMME BACK MY SWORD: Li in a scene from 2000's Xiao Ao Jiang
Hu (Swordsman)
When she caught a bad cold in December that year, he went to
Shanghai to look after her.
She later left Tse for Li.
