潘迪華 Arrives

5-19-07

Rebecca Pan, the 76-year-old cabaret singer with whom we travel for two weeks, touches-up her make-up. We wait in the lobby outside her hotel room at the Mexico City Sheraton.

She is an actress and international singer, but her celebrity is foreign to the 21st century United States. She had performed with the likes of Louis Armstrong in venues from Hong Kong to Las Vegas. That was decades ago. Today, she could be my grandmother.

Rebecca Pan: AKA 潘迪華 or 潘迪华; Poon Dik-wah (celebrity name in Cantonese), Pan Wan Ching (real name in Mandarin). I researched Wikipedia when Joyce said we’d be traveling with Rebecca, my first/only celebrity acquaintance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Pan.

Her biographical information is limited in English, Joyce said. Even so, one of the most-acclaimed directors in Hong Kong caught my attention. Wong Kar Wai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Kar-wai), the best director of the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, produced or wrote/produced/directed three of her film credits.

Rebecca’s acting roles range from queen mother to a former prostitute. In photographs, her signature birthmarks appear prominent – two large moles – above and below her mouth. The two facial moles suggest flirtation in Chinese culture, Joyce said. I had heard her sing English, Chinese and Spanish songs from Joyce’s CDs. Sitting in the lobby, I wonder, how is the real Rebecca like?

She walks into the lobby speaking Cantonese. She smiles - a flash of elegance, genuine and practiced. I see Cindy Crawford's beauty mark to the nth degree. At least 20 years are mysteriously absent from her face. Few wrinkles remain from her eventful life: She witnessed Japan’s occupation of Shanghai, moved to Hong Kong, dodged the Cultural Revolution, and lived hotel-to-hotel for years on tour.

Joining Rebecca in Mexico City are her nephew, Lancelot (a physics professor for City College in San Francisco), and his ex-patriot ex-boyfriend who lives in Mexico.

As Rebecca's entourage leaves the hotel, she latches onto my arm. Her old hands are softer and smoother than most college-aged girls. I tell her this. She laughs, “It’s because I’m Shanghainese.”

For dinner, we eat at an Italian restaurant in a Zona Rosa shopping mall. The ex-patriot recommends it. Maybe he misses America. The restaurant is comparable to any high-end, standardized restaurant chain in the States: Applebee’s, Tony Roma’s, etc. The waiter wears a tuxedo. Strange. It's a shopping mall.

Compared to the food prices Joyce and I have encountered, the menu is shocking. More than 150 pesos for a plate (equivalent to $15 USD)!!! Ridiculous. I don’t spend this much in America. Luckily, Rebecca is generous.