Grace Chan (陳凱琳) was more than ready to set aside her stresses for the day to take a walk around the Lunar New Year Fair, a festival held on the last week of every lunar year. The former Miss Hong Kong was recognized when she visited the fair, but the 25-year-old didn’t mind the attention at all, and happily chatted and took photographs with her fans. “[The first time] I visited the fair was in 2013, after I competed in the pageant,” shared Grace. “I went with my dad. No one really knew who I was then, so I felt very free. It’s definitely a different atmosphere now. I can feel everyone’s passion and enthusiasm, and it makes me really happy. It still feels like a miracle.” Grace said she once thought of putting up her own vendor in the fair to sell eggettes. “Just imagine a couple—the girl is holding a bag of eggettes, and the boy is helping her hold her boba tea. It’s so sweet and romantic! The thought of it just makes me so happy!” Spends Lunar New Year with Kevin Cheng’s Family The 25-year-old Brother’s Keeper II <巨輪II> star has been dating 47-year-old Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎) for two years. The couple are publicly affectionate, and are often a popular topic to cover among tabloids. Asking Grace if Kevin would walk the fair with her, Grace laughed and said, “It’s going to be a vain attempt. He’s completely not interested. I’d just go with my mother and aunt.” (Not even if you ask him?) “To be honest, entertainers like us tend to avoid crowded places. I am pretty much walking to my death right now! Haha!” Grace and Kevin spent their Lunar New Year’s Eve together, eating dinner with their families. The actress is not worried about Kevin’s parents pressuring her to marry into the family, saying, “His mother is very happy that we are in a very stable relationship. It is blissful thing—to have the opportunity for us to get together whenever we can.” (Does Kevin’s mother recognize you as the family’s daughter-in-law?) “I would hope so! I wouldn’t want her to dislike me, right?” Wants a Casual Beach Wedding Last year, Grace’s seniors such as Linda Chung (鐘嘉欣), Tavia Yeung (楊怡), and Eliza Sam (岑麗香) have individually announced their marriages. Asking Grace if she had ever dreamt about her own marriage, the 25-year-old said, “I am still very young. Marriage is a huge step in life but it’s still something that many girls would dream about in the future.” Grace doesn’t want a huge wedding or ball. She prefers a quieter, more intimate celebration, inviting only close friends and family to witness the event. “Maybe a small wedding at the beach, so we can play in the sand. There’s no need to look really official and serious. I want everyone to be more free and casual.” Would she consider a “flash wedding” with Kevin? The actress said, “I don’t know, but it wouldn’t come suddenly. Everything would have been planned out. It wouldn’t be a big party.” Learns How to Let Go of Criticism 2016 was a whirlwind year for Grace. Receiving negative remarks on her acting in dramas such as Blue Veins <殭> and Brother’s Keeper II, Grace was also teased when she uttered the wrong Chinese idiom during a live broadcast for the TVB Anniversary Gala. “I’ve started to realize that no matter how well or bad you do, you’ll always get different feedback,” she said. “Hopefully they can build up my courage.” Taking criticism seriously, and not personally, is not an easy task. The angry comments were hard to face at first, but Grace has learned to let them go. “The more people notice you, the more stress you have to take, but it can also be seen as an encouragement. You have to use it to better yourself, so you can be the right role model for those who support you. Some are constructive criticism, but some are there for the sole purpose of hurting you. I rarely read comments by netizens, but I will intently listen to the words said by producers and actors, because [their words] give me a positive direction to run toward.” On her plans for 2017, Grace said she will continue to focus on her career, and work on improving her performance. She shared that she will be spending the next six months filming the TVB epic drama My Ages Apart <跨時代>, which stars Bobby Au-yeung (歐陽震華), Moses Chan (陳豪), Maggie Shiu (邵美琪), Kristal Tin (田蕊妮), and Louis Cheung (張繼聰). At the mention of her hilarious mistake at the TVB Anniversary Gala last year, Grace said, “There is no human who doesn’t make mistakes. I’ve said something wrong, and I can’t take it back. But I’m glad that people are having so much fun with it. In that case, it was pretty successful!” Creds: Ming Pao
