Carina Lau Reveals The Mahjong Quirks Of Leslie Cheung and Lin Ching Hsia

Like this tidbit she shared about the late screen legend Leslie Cheung's unfortunate lack of a poker face (or should it be hands?) when he played mahjong.

According to Carina, whenever they played together, Leslie would get so nervous that his hands would start shaking.

She even acted out Leslie’s behaviour for the cameras, revealing that if his tiles were bad, his hands would only vibrate a little, but if his tiles were good, Leslie’s hands would shake continuously.

She went on to share that even though his hands were shaking, Leslie would still try to look “carefree” by lighting a cigarette with a shaking hand.

Leslie was not the only celeb pal whose mahjong-playing habits got 'exposed' by Carina. She also revealed that former screen goddess and huge mahjong fan Lin Ching Hsia, 67, has a room just for the game at her house.

“It's not a very big room, but once you enter, [you can see] a picture that’s hung in the middle of the room, and it’s of her as Dong Fang Bu Bai”, Carina said, adding that when you look up from the mahjong table, you'll see the picture looming right in front of your eyes.

For those not in the know, Dong Fang Bu Bai, a gender ambiguous pugilist created by wuxia novelist Louis Cha, is Ching Hsia's most iconic movie role and she has played the villainous character in films like 1992's Swordsman II.

“There's no way you can play mahjong in that room,” laughed Carina. "You're already scared to death!"

In an old interview, Carina also once revealed that she still hangs on to this Hongkong apartment that she bought in 1995 ‘cos Leslie lived in the apartment beside it at that time.

Therefore, even after Leslie passed away in 2003, Carina, who has since moved out, refused to sell the apartment, as it still holds special meaning for her and her late pal.

Photos: Carina Lau/Weibo, Dragon Television/Weibo,