A year after getting involve in a tax evasion scandal, Fan Bingbing (范冰冰, 38), China’s most famous actress, announced that she is breaking up with her partner.

On 2014, Fan Bingbing starred in a Chinese television series named The Empress of China (武媚娘传奇). Based on events from the Tang dynasty, the drama focused on the romance (恋情 liàn qíng) of the main character – the historical Wu Zetian, the first and only female empress in Chinese history. (Full episodes of the popular drama, including Chinese subtitles, are available on Youtube). Fan Bingbing was not only the producer of the show, but also played the main rule of the empress. Playing by her side was the actor Li Chen (李晨, 41), as the general Li Mu, Wu’s childhood sweetheart.

Only a year later, after months of rumors and paparazzi photos, the two finally confirmed that they are dating (二人终于承认恋情, èr rén zhōng yú chéng rèn liàn qíng). They made it public (公开 gōng kāi) on social media. Li posted a picture of the two of them (合照 hé zhào) on his Weibo account with the caption: 我们 (wǒ men, we). Shortly after, Fan posted the same picture with the same caption on her account.

For months, the two seem very close (显得十分亲密, xiǎn dé shí fēn qīn mì). When they revealed the secret, the headlines read: 终于公开了！ (zhōng yú gōng kāi le, finally public!). On 2016, when Fan was interviewed in the Taiwanese talk show Kangsi Coming (康熙來了) (watch the full episode here), she said: 李晨是我最后一个男朋友 (Lǐ chén shì wǒ zuì hòu yī gè nán péng yǒu, Li Chen is my last boyfriend).

On September 2017, Fan celebrated her birthday. She holds a big birthday party every year. For her 36th birthday that year, the room was filled with pink flowers, every chair was ornately decorated, and there were six elaborately designed cakes in different shapes. But the climax of the evening wasn’t planned by Fan. During the party, Li bent down on one knee and proposed (求婚 qiú hūn). After two years of relationship the lovers (情侣 qíng lǚ) got engaged (订婚 dìng hūn). On his Weibo Li wrote: 我们， 永远 (wǒ men, yǒng yuǎn, us, forever).

The joy was nipped in the bud. On 2018, Fan was charged with tax evasion, and mysteriously vanished for three months. Two days after she was ordered to settle more than 884 million RMB ($178 million) in evaded taxes and fines, Li posted a supportive message: 甭管多难，咱们一起渡过去 (béng guǎn duō nàn, zán men yī qǐ dù guò qù, no matter how difficult it may be, we will get through this together).

The two haven’t get married (结婚 jié hūn) yet, and on June 27, the famous actress announced they are breaking up (分手 fēn shǒu). After 4 years of a relationship the two decided to split up. On her Weibo account she wrote: 人的一生可能会经历各种告别 (rén de yī shēng kě néng huì jīng lì gè zhǒng gào bié, people experience all kinds of farewells during their lifetime). Saying goodbye (告别 gào bié) to someone you love can be hard. But reading on her announcement, Fan promises this is not the end of their relationship: 谢谢未来还会有的关心和爱护 (xiè xiè wèi lái hái huì yǒu de guān xīn hé ài hù, thank you for your care and love in the future). And Li promised too: 从朋友到爱人，再做回朋友 (cóng péng yǒu dào ài rén, zài zuò huí péng yǒu, from friends to lovers, then back to friends).

Both Fan and Li summed up with the sentence: 我们不再是我们，我们依然是我们 (wǒ men bù zài shì wǒ men, wǒ men yī rán shì wǒ men, we are no longer us, but we are still ourselves), using the same we phrase that described them from beginning of their relationship. Some netizens doubt the news. After Chinese media noted that the couple were spotted dining together just three days after their break-up announcement, they believe it’s a 假分手 (jiǎ fēn shǒu, fake breakup), to help Fan return to her pre-scandal status.

Text vocabulary

恋情 liàn qíng = romantic love

承认 chéng rèn = to admit, to confess

公开 gōng kāi = to make public

合照 hé zhào = to take a photo all together

我们 wǒ men = we

亲密 qīn mì = close

终于 zhōng yú = finally

男朋友 nán péng yǒu = boyfriend

求婚 qiú hūn = to propose

情侣 qíng lǚ = lovers

永远 yǒng yuǎn =  forever

一起 yī qǐ = together

订婚 dìng hūn = to get engaged

结婚 jié hūn = to get married

分手 fēn shǒu = to say goodbye, to break up

告别 gào bié = to say goodbye

朋友 péng yǒu = friends

爱人 ài rén = lover

假 jiǎ = false, artificial

好好学习，天天向上！

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