ABSTRACT
This chapter examines print and online media coverage in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) of celebrity Chinese-foreign marriages in the reform period. Since the mid-1990s, the growth of large-scale entertainment industries and commercial advertising in the PRC has facilitated the emergence of a celebrity culture and both national and international celebrity stories have become a staple feature of China's media. The chapter looks at the case of Shen Danping, reportedly the first entertainment star in reform-era China to marry a foreigner in 1984. It takes a closer look at other media reports of celebrity Chinese-foreign marriage in the 1990s, showing how they simultaneously deride female celebrities and celebrate them as extraordinary women with modern careers and fairy-tale romances and marriages. Finally it examines celebrity Chinese-foreign marriages in the 2000s, revealing that these marriages are portrayed in terms of a reversed migration trend, wherein celebrities and their foreign partners relocate from abroad back to China.
