Michelle Yeoh: An Empress gets her star

So much of my curiosity about Chinese culture and symbolism started when I was a kid growing up in Canada watching Chinese dramas with my elders. Chinese people love costume dramas, throwing it back to the mysticism of the ancient martial arts masters or to the dynastic times, with royal court intrigue and the politics of the harem. That was my first introduction to Chinese imperial yellow, a colour that was reserved only for the emperor starting around the Tang dynasty. (Fun fact – Tang is 唐 in Chinese, and is also how Chinese people have colloquially referred to themselves: 唐人 means “Tang people” or Chinese people. And the term “Chinatown” in Chinese is 唐人街 or “street of Chinese people”.)