On July 17th, it was the 77th birthday of the first generation jade actress Zhen Zhen (real name Zhang Jiazhen), who has been friends with veteran media personality Wang Manling for over 40 years and was crowned the “number one entertainment journalist in Hong Kong”. Wang Manling, through her YouTube channel “Quick Shot. Man Lens”, created a video to wish Zhen Zhen a happy birthday. The video received praise from many internet users.
In the video, Zhen Zhen mentioned that she doesn’t celebrate her birthday much after turning 75. She has been residing in Hong Kong in recent years, rarely making public appearances but occasionally meeting up with Wang Manling, veteran actor Ginger David, and other old friends for tea.
Zhen Zhen was discovered by the famous Hong Kong director Li Hanxiang and given her stage name based on the rare pearl she is. She entered the film industry at the age of 16 and rose to fame with her first film “The Proud Princess of Heaven”. She went on to star in nearly a hundred films, including the popular “Typhoon”. She has won two Asian Film Festival awards and the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the 50th Golden Horse Awards.
Zhen Zhen married Hong Kong actor Xie Xian in 1974, but their marriage lasted only two years. They still maintain a friendly relationship to this day. Wang Manling relayed that Zhen Zhen considers her only rebellious period in life to be defying her parents’ wishes to marry Xie Xian, and her biggest regret was divorcing Xie Xian and marrying Liu Jiachang.
Taiwanese musician Liu Jiachang, known as the “Father of Mandopop”, passed away at the age of 83 last December due to cancer. Wang Manling revealed in the video: “During a conversation with Zhen Zhen that day, I asked her, ‘What insights do you have?’ and she said, ‘In fact, life is but a fleeting moment'”. However, Wang Manling also mentioned that Zhen Zhen believes that the best part of life is the existence of her son Liu Ziqian, whom she describes as a gift from God.
According to Wang Manling, Liu Ziqian is very filial towards Zhen Zhen, bowing to her on Chinese New Year to pay his respects. Wang Manling also described Zhen Zhen as a forgiving person, “because she rarely holds grudges, with a broad and generous heart, even when someone talks to her in a not-so-nice tone. She never takes offense. She always thinks maybe the person is not in a good mood and doesn’t take it to heart”.
The birthday video has received much admiration, with netizens leaving comments such as “Thank you, Manling, for bringing back so many memories for us”, “When I was young, Zhen Zhen was my favorite actress in all of Taiwan, so beautiful and lovely”, “Thank you, Manling, for sharing the detailed story of Zhen Zhen. Wish her a happy birthday and a long, healthy life”.
In recent years, Zhen Zhen had a financial fallout with Liu Jiachang, and their son later changed his name to Zhang Liheng. When Liu Jiachang passed away, Zhang Liheng was denied the opportunity to bid his father farewell, prompting Zhen Zhen to speak out on Facebook in support of her son seeking justice.