Hong Kong – Once upon a time, Mandopop queen Faye Wong was in love with Cantopop brat Nicholas Tse and Chinese screen stars Zhou Xun and Li Yapeng were an item.

Eventually, Wong, 43, married Li, 41, and now, in a made-for-the-tabloids game of musical chairs, Tse has struck up a romance with Zhou, says Apple Daily.

Tse, 32, and Zhou, 38, have been dating for six months, after they bumped into each other at an underground rock music bash in Beijing late last year, says the report, quoting unnamed sources.

The two rock fans hit it off and Tse, whose divorce from actress Cecilia Cheung was finalised last year, was quick to court Zhou.

Zhou, who is known for putting her love affairs first, has moved to Hong Kong and is Tse’s neighbour at Pacific Place Apartments, says the daily.

Apparently, she has met his friends, including actor Stephen Fung and singer Eason Chan, but they have kept their romance relatively quiet to avoid aggravating Cheung, 33.

Tse’s former wife, it is said, is jealous and has been talking about moving to Canada with their sons, Lucas and Quintus.

Zhou has been lying low not only because of Tse, but also because she is being treated for a skin condition.

She has turned down many movie offers this year, except for a cameo in a sequel to last year’s The Silent War, because it will be filmed in Hong Kong, says the newspaper.

The couple actually met as early as 2000, when working on a commercial in China. But Tse was with Wong then and Zhou with Chinese singer Pu Shu.

Zhou’s other former boyfriends include Taiwanese make-up artist Lee Ta-chi; Wang Shuo, son of Chinese property tycoon Wang Zhicai; and Dou Peng, cousin of Chinese rocker Dou Wei – Wong’s former husband.

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