The stars shined brightly last Saturday at the red carpet opening ceremony of the 10th annual Shanghai International Film Festival at Shanghai’s Grand Theatre. Tiffany, Zach and their friend Meredith, aka THE THREE, were on hand to enjoy the legions of screaming fans massed along the street and the continuous rapid-fire camera flashes of the paparazzi, from inside the velvet rope. Thanks to insider connections and clout, none of which came from Zach, THE THREE were able to score highly-prized tickets to the opening ceremony and the celebrity-packed after-party on the Bund.
The opening ceremony was a chance to see some of Asia’s film stars walk the red carpet in all
their glitz and glamour. While completely unknown to THE THREE, it was apparent by the increase in “screech factor” and intensity in flashbulbs who the more popular stars were. The runway procession did include two American stars, film star Sharon Stone and Michelle Rodriguez, star of the film “Girlfight” and TV show “Lost”. Interestingly, the evening’s Master of Ceremonies gave a brief description of each star as they walked the carpet, and gave an English translation for the two Americans. Sharon Stone’s introduction included something along the lines of “famous American sex symbol” and “naked film star”.
Inside the theater, the opening ceremony featured a few dance numbers, an award given to Maggie Cheung (from Jet Li’s “Hero” and Jackie Chan’s “Supercop”), the only Asian actor recognized by Zach, some very nice speeches in Chinese that only Meredith could understand, and a performance of Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” by a Chinese opera singer, sung at a volume that led to Tiffany plugging her ears.
The highlight of the night was the even more exclusive after-party, the entrance to which was heavily guarded and covered with flash happy photographers shooting everybody that entered on the off-chance he or she was a celebrity, socialite or somehow famous. Though none of the above, THE THREE basked in the artificial glow of celebrity nonetheless.
Inside the party the atmosphere was as rare and stratified as China had to offer. The peak of the affair came when Tiffany was approached by a Chinese girl, aka THE FAN, who proceeded to gush compliments to Tiffany in an excited stream of Mandarin Chinese. While flattered by her apparent admiration, Tiffany unfortunately couldn’t understand why. When the language barrier became apparent, THE FAN switched to English and confessed to Tiffany that she loved her show. Tiffany, feeling glamorous from all the champagne and flashbulbs, ingeniously responded ‘You must be mistaken, I’m not an actress, I’m in marketing’. THE FAN was embarrassed when she realized that she had fallen victim to the common stereotype known as “They all look alike,” but Tiffany was unfazed and they proceeded to talk amiably with THE FAN about the actual TV star (a well-known Caucasian woman who spoke fluent Chinese) and her show.
The opening ceremony was a chance to see some of Asia’s film stars walk the red carpet in all
their glitz and glamour. While completely unknown to THE THREE, it was apparent by the increase in “screech factor” and intensity in flashbulbs who the more popular stars were. The runway procession did include two American stars, film star Sharon Stone and Michelle Rodriguez, star of the film “Girlfight” and TV show “Lost”. Interestingly, the evening’s Master of Ceremonies gave a brief description of each star as they walked the carpet, and gave an English translation for the two Americans. Sharon Stone’s introduction included something along the lines of “famous American sex symbol” and “naked film star”.Inside the theater, the opening ceremony featured a few dance numbers, an award given to Maggie Cheung (from Jet Li’s “Hero” and Jackie Chan’s “Supercop”), the only Asian actor recognized by Zach, some very nice speeches in Chinese that only Meredith could understand, and a performance of Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” by a Chinese opera singer, sung at a volume that led to Tiffany plugging her ears.
The highlight of the night was the even more exclusive after-party, the entrance to which was heavily guarded and covered with flash happy photographers shooting everybody that entered on the off-chance he or she was a celebrity, socialite or somehow famous. Though none of the above, THE THREE basked in the artificial glow of celebrity nonetheless.
Inside the party the atmosphere was as rare and stratified as China had to offer. The peak of the affair came when Tiffany was approached by a Chinese girl, aka THE FAN, who proceeded to gush compliments to Tiffany in an excited stream of Mandarin Chinese. While flattered by her apparent admiration, Tiffany unfortunately couldn’t understand why. When the language barrier became apparent, THE FAN switched to English and confessed to Tiffany that she loved her show. Tiffany, feeling glamorous from all the champagne and flashbulbs, ingeniously responded ‘You must be mistaken, I’m not an actress, I’m in marketing’. THE FAN was embarrassed when she realized that she had fallen victim to the common stereotype known as “They all look alike,” but Tiffany was unfazed and they proceeded to talk amiably with THE FAN about the actual TV star (a well-known Caucasian woman who spoke fluent Chinese) and her show. 
Although THE THREE never saw Sharon Stone at the after party, and thus Zach never got to use his suave opening line of, "I loved you in ‘Bobby’!" (which he never saw), it was a memorable evening nonetheless, with memories of beautiful yet unknown celebrities, high fashion, legions of high-pitched shrieking fans, the attendant paparazzi, and a brief encounter with fame to carry with them for many days to come.
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