Series
Macau-Born Stars
"Wait, they're from Macau too?" This series gathers the stars and artists born in Macau who went on to shine across Hong Kong and the wider Chinese-speaking world — from the composer Xian Xinghai to the diva Jenny Tseng, award-winning actresses Michelle Reis and Isabella Leong, and the seasoned actor Alex Fong. A small city, it turns out, gave rise to many familiar names.
A Small City, a World Stage
Small as it is, Macau has produced names of real weight in Chinese-language entertainment and music. Xian Xinghai
冼星海 · Xian XinghaiMacau-born composer of the Yellow River Cantata. In a life cut short at 40, he wrote nearly three hundred works and earned the posthumous title "People's Musician".Read profile → was born on a fishing boat off Macau and went on to compose the Yellow River Cantata, earning the title "People's Musician"; Jenny Tseng
甄妮 · Jenny TsengA Macau-born Mandarin and Cantonese pop singer who reigned over the Hong Kong and Taiwan charts in the 1970s and 80s. A six-time winner at Hong Kong's Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards, she remains best known for television theme songs and Cantopop standards still sung today.Read profile → became a Hong Kong diva of the 1970s–80s on the strength of her soaring voice; Michelle Reis
李嘉欣 · Michelle ReisA Macau-born Macanese actress who in 1988 won both the Miss Hong Kong title and the inaugural Miss Chinese International crown. Celebrated as one of the most beautiful pageant winners, she went on to a prominent film career in 1990s Hong Kong cinema.Read profile → went from 1988 Miss Hong Kong to the screen; Alex Fong
方中信 · Alex FongA Macau-born Hong Kong actor (original name 符力, ancestral home in Hainan). After joining TVB in 1992 he moved into film, playing tough, hard-edged roles across many Hong Kong productions and establishing himself as a dependable character actor.Read profile → moved from Macau into TVB and then film; and Isabella Leong
梁洛施 · Isabella LeongA Macau-born Macanese actress and singer of English-Portuguese-Chinese descent who built her career in Hong Kong. In 2007 she won Best Actress at Portugal's Fantasporto film festival for the film Isabella — a rare Hong Kong star honoured at a Portuguese-language festival.Read profile → won Best Actress at a Portuguese film festival for Isabella.
A Thread of Identity
Placed side by side, these names show that "born in Macau" is not just a line on a biography — it is a thread connecting the small city to Chinese pop culture and even the Portuguese-language film world. Drawing on public sources, this series focuses on their Macau roots and professional achievements, letting readers rediscover just how many familiar faces began here.
