Yuan Li's sheer bravado comes undone on red carpet

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You should never underestimate power dressing, especially when it's a power dress like Yuan Li's black lace affair that she wore to the 14th Huabiao Film Awards in Beijing on Sunday.

Actress Yuan Li walks on the red carpet during the 14th Huabiao Awards ceremony in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 28, 2011. [CFP]

The actress claimed she was caught out by the strong natural sunlight that caused the dress to appear so transparent she may as well have not worn it. The only other garment of any substance to cover her modesty was a thong.

Naturally the dress divided opinion, with men, mainly, saying that it wasn't a bad idea to just wear lingerie while appearing at a red carpet event, and the women saying she didn't have much of a figure to show off in the first place. Ouch!

Yuan's reaction on her micro blog quickly evolved from panic, to being resigned, to accusing others of not having the courage to wear such a dress.

The story developed further in the week when Yuan, obviously stung by criticism from a "very famous actress" she didn't name, went on the offensive.

In a series of tweets on her micro blog she described the actress as "a goody two-shoes, shameless, and having an English accent".

She then accused her of "doing shady deals, self-publicizing, pretending to be an international star, looking down upon TV series actors and actresses, and modifying her age on her ID card".

So many people assumed she was talking about Zhang Ziyi or Fan Bingbing, that Yuan had to send another tweet suggesting it wasn't them: "Don't come to hasty conclusions."

Having attracted priceless publicity, Yuan tried to call a halt to the escalating war of words with her anonymous antagonist by saying: "No matter what kind of insults will come, let everything stop here."

China's top comedian Zhao Benshan has been getting a lot of flak from the public after a video clip of his students kowtowing to him while he sits like an emperor in front of them was uploaded on the Internet.

The video shows "Uncle Benshan" and his wife receiving obeisance from the comic master's 35 apprentices, who kneel and touch their heads on the ground.

"It looks like he thinks he's the Pope ascending the throne," said one netizen.

In response, Benshan's company said the video was from 2008 and was made in order to confirm the identity of his students, as many up-and-coming comedians falsely claim they are among his followers.

We have faithfully followed the Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse divorce saga and are now pleased to report a happy ending of sorts.

The actor, who has been in the mainland filming, flew back to Hong Kong to celebrate his birthday with his family earlier this week and the news is that he and Cheung are on speaking terms once again.

The news wasn't so good elsewhere in the Hong Kong celebrity firmament as actress Carina Lau has admitted that she "needs to work" on her marriage with Tony Leung.

Lau has been caught out wining and dining with rich businessmen and enjoying her nightlife, while Leung is more your stay-at-home regular kind of guy. The couple has been trying hard for a baby but without success.

"We decided to give up technology and just let nature take its course."