10 facts every fan should know about Hong Kong star Karen Mok

While Karen Mok is most known for being one of the biggest Cantopop singers that came out from Hong Kong, she actually is actually of mixed ancestry. In an interview with TIME, she explained her lineage. "My grandfather was Welsh, so my father's half-Welsh, half-Chinese. My mum's also a mix--yet she's a bit more complicated. Her father is half-Persian, half-German, and her mother is Chinese. So if you break it down evenly, I would still be half Chinese--and the rest is just a mish-mash."

This fact, of course, explains Karen Mok's unique features.

Since releasing her first album Karen in 1993, Karen Mok has gone on to release 18 solo albums in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. The latest of which was The Voyage in 2021. Besides albums, she has also released many EPs, singles and compilations.

Karen Mok's music has also been lauded with three Golden Melody Awards - Best Female Mandarin Artist in 2003 and 2011 and Best Mandarin Album in 2008.

Since her film debut in 1993 with a cameo in The Tigers – The Legend of Canton, Karen Mok has gone on to become a decorated film star. She has starred in multiple notable films, both in Hong Kong and Hollywood, such as A Chinese Odyssey (1995, 2016), Fallen Angels (1995), Around the World in 80 Days (2004) and Man of Tai Chi (2013), spanning genres from comedy to action. She has even scored multiple acting nominations and wins from the likes of the Hong Kong Film Awards, Golden Bauhinia Awards and Golden Horse Awards.

On the television side, Karen Mok has been on shows including Up Idol Season 2 (2016) and Infinity and Beyond (2023)

The Guinness World Record set by Karen Mok is for having a solo concert at the highest altitude. She made this achievement in 2019 when she performed at the Lhasa Masses Culture & Sports Centre in Tibet as part of The Ultimate Karen Mok Show concert tour. Not only did she have to perform at the altitude of 3,648.308 metres above sea level, Karen Mok also had to sell at least 10,000 tickets and the concert duration had to be over an hour.

ICYDK, Karen Mok was previously in a relationship with Stephen Chow and Stephen Fung. It was reported that she was the only woman Stephen Chow seriously considered marrying. They had first met working together on A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box (1995). She was then later set up with Stephen Fung by Leslie Cheung and the pair dated in secret for eight years.

Now, Karen Mok is happily married to German finance executive Johannes Natterer since 2011. The couple dated briefly when they were schoolmates at the United World College in Italy. A fateful school reunion brought them back together and the rest, as they say, is history. The couple has no children together (nor did they plan to, but Johannes Natterer has three kids from his previous marriage.

The aforementioned The Ultimate Karen Mok Show concert tour not only marked a new achievement in Karen Mok's career, but it would also be her last concert tour as she retires from it. "I don’t like to do the same things over and over again. It could be because I’m a Gemini, but I don’t want to repeat the same cycle of putting out an album once every one to two years, and then going on tour after that. It’s time for something new."

Instead, Karen Mok is challenging herself to another art form - musicals and theatre. "I personally feel that musicals are the most challenging of the performing arts. You have to sing, dance and act at the same time, while doing it live every time you take the stage." Her lofty new animations don't just end there - she hopes to create a landmark. "London has the West End, New York has Broadway, and I think the Chinese audience is ready for their own version."

Ever thought about insuring one of your body parts? Well, Karen Mok has. It was reported that for one of her past concerts, the organiser bought an insurance plan to insure her legs for 30 million yuan. With such long, slender legs, it is undoubtedly worth the protection, especially for a celebrity who depends on them.

Wanting to cash in on the fanfare, a Chinese hotel tried to auction off the room that Karen Mok had stayed in during her concert tour in Hubei. Mövenpick Hotel Enshi started an auction for the room beginning at RMB$88,000, with an increment of at least RMB$500. The advertising tagline read, "Goddess Mok has left Enshi but her warmth and smell still linger and it’s waiting for you tonight". The package also included the ability to take home any linens, towels and disposables in the room.

An uproar ensued and the hotel took down the offer and apologised.

In between her Ultimate concert performances, Karen Mok flew to Mauritius for a photoshoot. It quickly turned into an incident after the photographer got so engrossed in taking seaside shots of her by the harbour that he fell into the sea. But before he dropped in, he managed to throw the camera to the ground to prevent any damage to the camera. Karen Mok went on to praise him for his professionalism as the photographer came out unscathed.

In a 2019 Glamour interview, Karen Mok shared her beauty secrets (which involved consuming white fungus soup) and this message about what it means to be an "empowered woman".

"You should be yourself at all times. Dressing is a way of manifesting who you are, so it’s important not to just conform to trends, too. I have done some eyebrow-raising things. In the mid 90s I couldn’t stand my bleached hair anymore and I shaved it all off. In Chinese society, in 90s Hong Kong you didn’t see anyone walking around bald – that was really daring. After I shaved my head, I took a nude picture for my new album. You just see the silhouette and people still talk about it because people don’t dare to do that in Asian society. But it was my choice, I wanted to do it and I am glad I did such wild things like that. It’s made me feel more empowered in later life. Most of the time you are just giving yourself obstacles thinking, ‘Should I do this?’ But you have already said no to yourself. Never do that."