The picture shows the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Hong Kong's TV drama and film model is relatively mature and has a lot of experience. Coming to the mainland, Hong Kong artists have an advantage. (People's Vision/Photo)
One of the hottest variety shows in 2021, the "Brother of the Greater Bay Area" represented by Chen Xiaochun, Zhang Zhilin, Lin Xiaofeng, Xie Tianhua and Liang Hanwen, set off the "Greater Bay Area Fever", and the collective "rejuvenation" of Hong Kong stars that are quickly forgotten by the audience has frequently appeared in the mainland.
On the live broadcast platform, Joey Yung and Twins sold spicy strips, Mai Changqing became a well-known UP master at the B station, and Andy Lau entered Douyin, resulting in system paralysis...
Hong Kong stars went north to pan for gold, and the wind and water were rising. Nowadays, Hong Kong stars are breaking through in the Bay Area, and most of them have adopted the "four-step re-employment" - settling down on short video platforms, docking network large drama crews, participating in large and small variety shows, and investing in business.
Tang Zhenye, Huang Yishan, Lu Songxian
Get together a short video: "Let friends in the mainland know me better"
Since the first two years, netizens have been brushing up on videos of Hong Kong celebrities living in the mainland more and more times. For example, "Liu Xing" Li Yaoxiang shared his experience of riding the high-speed rail in the mainland, "Liang Feifan" Mai Changqing went to Houjie Street in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, to "plant grass" and burn goose powder, and "Pomegranate Sister" Yuan Qiongdan performed a hilarious drama short film.
"I recently signed a short video company and did a lot of footage and scenes." At a tea restaurant in Shenzhen, Wu Qihua told Southern Weekend that he also opened a film and television company, "there are still many things to do."
He was once a popular student on TVB and played "Fang TangJing" in "Nine Pin Sesame Officer". The scene of scolding with "Bao Longxing" played by Stephen Chow still impresses many viewers.
Shooting short videos is one of the keywords of Wu Qihua's restart of his career in Shenzhen.
"Before coming to Guangdong, the pressure of life in Hong Kong was a very serious problem for me." Wu Qihua said that when he was on the TV station, he did not get the pay he deserved. "For example, if I shoot a play, I could have gotten ten yuan, but the TV station would take eight yuan and only give me two yuan, so it's difficult to live."
Low salary is a common feeling of Hong Kong artists.
Wu Qihua said that even if he was a male protagonist in TVB at that time, there were only a few thousand pieces a month, which was not as beautiful as everyone looked.
"There are a lot of Hong Kong artists who come to the mainland and live well enough to do commercial performances." Wu Qihua revealed that the income of a commercial performance is equal to two months' salary of the TV station.
Wu Qihua is no stranger to Guangdong.
In 2007, Wu Qihua was filming in Guangzhou, one night sitting near Ersha Island, looking at the river and there were new buildings, the environment was very good, "A look is quite cheap, I bought a one-bedroom apartment, small is very suitable for a person to live." "This is his first house in Guangdong. Later, he settled in Shenzhen, the most convenient place to return to Hong Kong.
"Now that the mainland market is large and the production funds are large, it has slowly surpassed Hong Kong." Wu Qihua said that when they come to the mainland, Hong Kong artists have an advantage. Because Hong Kong's TV drama and film model has been relatively mature and has a lot of experience. "Everyone is Chinese, Hong Kong people can come to the mainland, and mainland people can go to Hong Kong."
A few days ago, Wu Qihua put on a Tang costume, put on a hat ornament, and re-interpreted the "Fang Tang Mirror", the lines, expressions, and actions were imitated in place, and even the injured makeup that was beaten by someone was "restored by God". As of now, this video has 110,000 likes, although this data is not the highest among Wu Qihua's other short videos. "At least this is a more proactive way to let more friends in the mainland know me."
In Shenzhen, Wu Qihua will often meet his friend Lin Weichen for morning tea and go fishing.
Once, Lin Weichen and Wu Qihua met in Huizhou, took a boat out to sea to fish, and started a live webcast. During the live broadcast, the two switched back and forth in Mandarin and Cantonese, interacting with netizens, attracting many people to watch.
As the "old minister" of ATV, Lin Weichen is Jiang Yujun in "Nanhai Thirteen Langs", and Yelü Haonan in "Mu Guiying", and he has also blown up a "trend model" among the audience.
In 2013, Lin Weichen came to the mainland to develop and filmed some dramas. Later, he returned to Hong Kong and accompanied his mother on his last journey. Until 2017, I came to Shenzhen.
"The market, exposure, and opportunities are all more points in Shenzhen." Lin Weichen feels that Shenzhen, as a special economic zone, will have a great chance of being seen by mainland producers when it develops here, and the opportunity to be invited to participate in offline commercial performances is also much greater.
"In Shenzhen, I live close to Hua Ge (Wu Qihua) and I will play together a lot of times." Lin Weichen told the Southern Weekend reporter that in addition to taking over some episodes and guest movies, most of the time he did work related to short videos.
However, as a non-"top-notch" Hong Kong artist in the mainland, the road of transforming into an anchor is not easy.
Once Lin Weichen opened the live broadcast, the following netizens commented, "How did this brother fall into live broadcast with goods." Some netizens also left a message, "After watching for half a day, who are you?" ”
Lin Weichen said, "In fact, we just changed a medium to show ourselves. He believes that being a public figure should be strong at heart and don't have to care too much about negative voices.
"I bought a house in Huizhou that faces the wetland park and has no shelter." Lin Weichen said that when he was usually stressed at work or not too busy, he would return to Huizhou to live for a while and enjoy a slow-paced life.
TVB has left a glorious mark on a generation of Hong Kong artists, and the same is true for Tang Junming.
Tang Junming, 47, has been in the industry for more than 20 years. He has appeared in many major dramas such as Forensic Pioneer IV, Demon Slayer 2.0, Acts 3, and Step Over the Boundary II. "I've acted in probably more than three hundred TV series." Tang Junming said.
In September 2020, Tang Junming, together with former Hong Kong TVB signed artist Gu Minghua and four other people, came to Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, starting from running a short video account and developing his own other career.
200,000, which is the number of fans of Tang Junming's video account so far.
For more than a year, he has insisted on shooting running videos, recording life moments, and turning on live streaming to try to let more people know him.
At the beginning, Tang Junming did "fire".
When he began shooting running videos, many media reported on the current situation of Hong Kong artists coming to Guangdong, but as the popularity declined, the number of video likes decreased, and Tang Junming felt that he had encountered a "bottleneck".
"I've tried one person to play 4 roles at the same time." Tang Junming said that the effect of shooting is not very good. "I may not be familiar with the culture of the motherland, and Hong Kong-style jokes may not be funny in the mainland."
For Tang Junming, coming to Zhongshan means more that everything has to start over. "Another purpose of making short videos is to tell the directors and audiences in the mainland that I am here."
From Hong Kong to the mainland, Tang Junming's habitual expression is "up". Tang Junming told southern weekend reporters, "Even if you don't 'come up' now, you will (come) in five or ten years." ”
Nowadays, Hong Kong artists flock to the field of short videos, and while "inner volume", not everyone can receive satisfactory returns. How to attract more "fans" has become a problem that many Hong Kong stars doubt.
"Sometimes I miss my wife and daughter." Talking about his family, Tang Junming's eyes became gentler, "Sometimes I feel that when I am alone, I seem to be a little lonely. ”
Almost every day, Tang Junming will video with his family, chat with his wife about his daily life, and talk to his daughter about fairy tales, in this way, to treat his "homesickness". In his view, the encouragement of his family is an important factor supporting his journey in Zhongshan.
Cai Qijun, Liang Jinghui, and Caring Yan
The "old character" in the big online movie: still fighting for the family
For most people, the "old line" of acting is still their original professional intention and the most stable source of income.
Yuan Qiongdan in the network movie "Tang Bohu Dian Qiu Xiang 2019", regained the classic role "Pomegranate Sister", Luo Jiaying in "Sun Wukong vs Pansi Cave", reproduced "Tang Monk". Playing the "old role" has become an important part of the "re-employment" of Hong Kong stars in the mainland.
According to the 2021 online movie screen list released by Yunhe Data, Chen Xiaochun and Tang Zhenye starred in "Endless Storm", ranking sixth, which is a relatively good achievement of Hong Kong artists in making online movies in the mainland. Most of the rest on the list are mainland artists.
"I was one of the first Hong Kong artists to come to the mainland to develop." Tang Zhenye told Southern Weekend reporters that in 1997, Hong Kong returned to the motherland, and he decided to come to Guangdong for development. At that time, Tang Zhenye invested in a karaoke company in the Luohu area of Shenzhen, and also filmed in Guangzhou, running back and forth between the two sides.
"It wasn't easy for us to come over at that time, and Luohu lake was very remote." Tang Zhenye said.
In Guangzhou, Tang Zhenye lived in Panyu Luoxi and Zhujiang New Town, staying for 13 years. He has invested in real estate, opened restaurants and sold fish eggs, "although it may not be as good as before, but there is always hope." ”
The "before" tang Zhenye talks about is the "wireless five tiger generals" formed by him and Andy Lau, Liang Chaowei, Huang Rihua and Miao Qiaowei in the 1980s. They are tvb's masters and the benchmark figures of the golden age of Hong Kong drama.
But later due to emotional problems, Tang Zhenye was insulted, just as he quit the Hong Kong showbiz circle and finally turned to the mainland showbiz circle.
"Feng Shui took turns and I witnessed a lot of things." Tang Noted that the Pearl River Delta is the first stop for many Hong Kong artists to enter the mainland. Because it belongs to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area together, the convenient transportation and familiar language environment have great attraction for Hong Kong artists.
In the online movie, the state of Tang Zhenye makes it difficult to imagine that he is 63 years old. He has six children, and the annual parenting fee is very large, and even though he already has three children working, the youngest is still in elementary school.
In the past, because the children of Hong Kong residents did not have mainland household registration, they had to attend expensive private schools. However, according to the latest regulations, the children of Hong Kong residents working in mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area can study in mainland public schools and enjoy the same educational resources as other mainland students.
"Since the fourth child, they have not been allowed to study abroad." Tang Zhenye's fourth-ranked child, currently enrolled in Jinan University, is a senior "prospective graduate". "I hope that my children can stay in Guangzhou to work and do what they want to do."
Like Tang Zhenye, "thin turtle" Huang Yishan has also been rooted in Guangzhou for decades.
The 56-year-old Huang Yishan, who was once the "royal supporting role" of Chow Sing Chi's series of movies, played the timid and funny Huang Xiaogui in "Truancy Weilong", the intellectually inferior Chinese in "Tang Bohu Dian Qiu Xiang", and the short-lived emperor in "Nine Pin Sesame Officers", leaving a deep impression on the audience.
In the 1990s, Hong Kong Star began the first wave of "going north" boom. In 2003, Huang Yishan's family moved to Panyu, Guangzhou, and it has been almost 19 years. "Every time I go out, I take the bus and subway, and I am familiar with the Guangzhou route." He felt that he was more familiar with Guangzhou than the people of Guangzhou.
In Guangzhou, which is adjacent to Hong Kong, Huang Yishan shoots online movies, TV series, and short videos, and is very busy every day, even receiving 15 plays in a month.
A large part of this "fight" is because of his two children.
"When the eldest son was young, we found out in the hospital that he had brain problems, and the younger son is currently studying at a university in the UK and also needs high tuition fees to support him." Huang Yishan said that since the heavens arranged for them to be his sons, he must fulfill his father's responsibilities.
Although the pressure is heavy, Huang Yishan believes that everything is worth it. "The doctor said the eldest son wouldn't live too long, but he's 26 years old now. The youngest son is about to graduate in June 2022 and is applying for graduate school at Tsinghua University. ”
In recent years, Guangzhou's housing prices have "soared", and after thinking about it again, Huang Yishan sold his house in Guangzhou and rented a duplex apartment of more than 300 square meters in Qifu New Estate.
"There are a lot of people who say that celebrities renting a house will be 'faceless', but I think as long as I have a good time and comfortable." Huang Yishan believes that there is no need for the house to become a burden on people, and it is possible to rent a house to meet the desire to live, "and put the money to buy a house in other uses." ”
As more and more Hong Kong stars come to the mainland to develop, Huang Yishan said that it is not so easy for Hong Kong stars to break through the mainland due to the saturation of the market. "However, there are still many preferential policies in the Greater Bay Area for Hong Kong people, and we must seize the opportunity."
Wu Qihua, Lin Weichen, Tang Junming
Transformation: From actor to businessman
In addition to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, many Hong Kong artists are also happy to travel to Beijing, Shanghai and even the wider mainland market to seek development opportunities.
For example, Chen Xiaochun, Ying Cai'er, Wang Zulan, Cecilia Cheung and others have officially announced that they and their families have settled in Shanghai; Ye Xuan, who became famous overnight with "Regeneration", settled in Beijing.
Lu Songxian, the actor of Ling Huchong in "Smiling Proud of the Rivers and Lakes", came to the mainland in 2005 and lived in Beijing for a long time before moving to Shanghai.
"Hong Kong artists come to the mainland in two main batches, one remains in the Greater Bay Area and the other stays in the north." Lu Songxian told Southern Weekend reporters, "Film and television companies and directors are mainly in Beijing, and it will be more convenient to talk about work." The Greater Bay Area is convenient for traveling to and from Hong Kong, and can live in Cantonese, closer to the original living environment. ”
Lui believes that it is difficult to find filming opportunities in the mainland today. "The mainland has a very complete production line, has its own artists, and Hong Kong actors playing mainland roles will make the audience feel very jumpy."
However, as a vegetarian, Lui Songxian not only filmed, but also tried to open a restaurant with friends. He endorses brands and vegetarian alliances, while partners manage and operate them.
Although Lui chose Shanghai as his foothold, he often came to Guangdong and considered settling in Zhongshan in the future. "Hong Kong is the city where I was born, and my wife wants to be closer to Hong Kong."
Former TVB actor Cai Qijun also likes to try new things and is more addicted to doing business.
The 37-year-old Cai Qijun starred in the comedy "Colleague Three Points of Affinity" with Kwan Wing Ho, but later due to various reasons, Cai Qijun's role became less and less.
In 2014, he proposed to TVB to terminate his contract and came to Foshan, Guangdong Province, to open a hot pot restaurant selling Yunnan rice noodles. "I was 30 years old, and I needed to start maturing."
After tasting the sweetness of investment, in 2017, Cai Qijun opened four branches in one go, and the former TVB "small fresh meat" transformed into the "boss" of Foshan's catering industry.
"I position myself as an investor, investing in different projects." Cai Qijun revealed that he has also done car beauty, opened a beauty salon, and will prepare to open a coffee shop next. "When the business situation is profitable and lost, and the loss is returned, it is all some experience."
In Guangdong, there are many Hong Kong star artists like Cai Qijun who choose to invest in business.
Liao Weixiong, the "Ah Can" that many people are familiar with, returned to Luoding, Guangdong Province, became a farmer, planted healthy organic rice, and sold for nearly 100 yuan a pound. He Jiajin, known as the "most handsome Zhan Zhao", cooperated with people in Huizhou to open a factory of considerable scale. Chen Xiaochun's restaurant also opened a branch in Guangzhou Liede.
"Every time I go to a friend's house in Guangdong, I almost always see exquisite tea sets on the coffee table. This is not available in Hong Kong. "Cai Qijun, who has lived in Foshan for 8 years, has adapted to life here. He likes the tea drinking culture of Guangdong, making tea, chatting, and pairing it with Cantonese-style snacks, this atmosphere makes him nostalgic and yearning.
Fusion: Patriotism and Mandarin speaking are "standard"
Among the many artists who have come to Guangdong to develop, Liang Jinghui is a more special one.
Liang Jinghui, whose original name was Liang Liewei, has participated in many TVB hit dramas. But the seemingly flat star path "abruptly stopped" one day.
In 2015, Liang Jinghui posted a message to the motherland on Weibo, writing: "Long live the motherland!" He also saluted a standard military salute, but was insulted and insulted by some Hong Kong people.
"Artists' voices may be easier to hear than others, so it's more important to speak out loud." He told Southern Weekend reporters that this is a natural outpouring of his feelings as a Chinese.
Liang Jinghui revealed that once on National Day, he and his young daughter watched the military parade at home. He told the child that when the national anthem was played, he should stand up and show respect. It is precisely because of this sentence that my daughter remembered it in her heart, and even learned to do military parade footwork.
After three years of dust, Liang Jinghui made a comeback, and then won TVB Best Supporting Actor.
In 2018, when Liang Jinghui was filming the web drama "Flying Tiger Pole War", there was an accident during the filming process, and the "fake car accident" became a "real car accident", and he was hit by the car on the spot and seriously injured.
"My dad wasn't in good health for a while, and the dog at home had an accident." Liang Jinghui said that many unhappiness made him feel powerless, and then his friends asked him to find a "master" to see.
Therefore, from "Liang Liewei" to "Liang Jinghui", he looked forward to a new start.
In 2020, Leung Moved from Hong Kong to Shenzhen and continued to invest in his acting career. At the beginning of 2022, Liang Jinghui's "Heroic Hero of the Flying Tiger" appeared at the top of the mainland web drama.
"Now the state has good policy support, coupled with the implementation of the principle of 'patriots governing Hong Kong.'" Leung is glad to see this change, believing that "Hong Kong will be better tomorrow."
In Hong Kong, more and more people are concerned about the big and small things happening in the mainland, and even many Hong Kong people tell their children to learn Mandarin well.
"I haven't been back to Hong Kong in months." Hong Kong singer Guan Yan told the Southern Weekend reporter that it was necessary to quarantine for 21 days when returning to Guangzhou from Hong Kong, and considering that it would delay work, she simply lived in Guangzhou.
What worries Yan most is her five-year-old daughter. "I haven't been apart from my daughter for so long." Every night, Shee-yeon will video with her daughter and share her daughter's joys and sorrows of the day.
For many years in the industry, Caring For Yan has had many classic bitter love songs, such as "Release", "You Have a Heart", "I'm Too Strong" and "Philosophy of Lost Love", which are well received by fans.
On September 28, 2019, at the gala celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Guangzhou, Caring Yan and Chen Qitai, who is also from Hong Kong, sang "Pearl of the Orient" together. Before performing, Eun Yeon had worried about whether she could sing the song well in standard Mandarin.
"My daughter happened to be learning Mandarin." Guan Yan told the Southern Weekend reporter that two years have passed, and her Mandarin has improved a lot, but it is obvious that she has been surpassed by her daughter. "Now it's my daughter correcting my Mandarin."
Considering the importance of learning Mandarin well, Guan Yan also hired a Beijing teacher who taught in Hong Kong for her daughter, "The integration of Hong Kong and the mainland will only become closer and closer." When my daughter grows up, if she comes to the mainland to develop, Mandarin and Cantonese can be used. ”
Care Yeon has also set up her own charity foundation to do free music therapy for some people with emotional problems. "I found that music can take away people's pain, and I hope to use my own singing voice to bring more power to others."
She hopes that in 2022, she can "clear customs" as soon as possible, so that more Hong Kong friends and mainland compatriots can do charity activities together and increase the opportunities for exchanges between the two places.
"My daughter also hopes to come here to play, and even thinks about which theme room to live in when she goes to Chimelong." Caring Yeon said with a smile.
Southern Weekend reporter Wang Yaolin