Annotation

Judging from the one copy known to have survived, general interest magazine Mingxing xibao aimed at capturing Hong Kong’s post-war outlook on life and entertainment. The issue – a copy of issue one – had a wide and diverse range of content, ranging across ‘drama, film, illustrations, fiction, amusement, strange events, sports, general knowledge and dance’. Its drama coverage focused mainly on Cantonese opera stars, while its film pieces looked at film stars and films from Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Standout pieces included an article about ‘Spirit of the Overseas Chinese’ directed by Wan Hai Ling and a comic strip by Xiao Yuan. Its fiction featured a serialised, translated novel, Aiyan Fusheng, and a work of short fiction. Another article looked at transparent fashion items popular at the time with women. Its ‘Strange Events’ pieces included articles on a tree believed to be ‘raping’ girls, exotic polygamy customs and the sexually decadent life of American soldiers. Its sports section had articles on ice-skating and football. Other articles included an item on the science behind dyed nails, a report on prostitution practised by the militaries of different countries and a dance piece about ‘dancing men’. Its ‘Correspondence Address of Opera and Film Stars’, written by ‘Reporter No. 5’, featured a list of the residential addresses of stars, including those of Ma Shizeng, Li Haiquan, Bai Qurong. It is hard to tell whether any of this information was accurate.