Monkey King actor dating Mermaid star

BEIJING - Jelly Lin, the 19-year-old star of the Chinese New Year hit The Mermaid, was reported yesterday to be in a serious relationship with Feng Shaofeng, the 37-year-old actor who plays the monk Tang Sanzang in another festive film, The Monkey King 2.

Although previous rumours of the romance had been written off as stunts to generate publicity for the movies, Chinese online media company I Am Paparazzi said yesterday that the relationship is real and published its proof, including a video of the couple.

It said it had caught the pair together more than once, including at a meeting with Feng's father at a tax office in the actor's native Shanghai, on Feb 6, two days before Chinese New Year.

On Feb 7, Lin, a native of Huzhou, Zhejiang province, shared photos of a reunion dinner on Weibo, but she deleted them after she was alleged to have been in Feng's kitchen, said NetEase website.

The couple have been together since May last year, around the time Feng and actress Ni Ni annouced their amicable break-up, said I Am Paparazzi.

Lin is the latest star to be launched by Mermaid's director and comic Stephen Chow, after actresses including Cecilia Cheung and Kitty Zhang. Feng is the star of television dramas such as King Of Lan Ling (2013) and films such as Wolf Totem (2015).

This article was first published on Feb 18, 2016.
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