Leslie Cheung smolders in the opening scene of "Days of Being Wild."

1. Leslie Cheung: The male diva of the late 20th century

They don't make 'em like Leslie Cheung anymore. The bisexual star burns up the screen with sex appeal in nearly every movie he's in, playing suave, charismatic characters with a dose of mystery and emotional torment. Cheung ended his own life by jumping off of the Mandarin Oriental when he was 46, and to this day, his fans fly in from around the world to gather at the iconic hotel to commemorate his death. Time calls him "the most widely adored male diva of the late 20th century."

Tony Leung in "2046" gets Zhang Ziyi riled up.

2. Tony Leung Chiu-wai: The Clark Gable of Asia

Tony Leung Chiu-wai's talent is irresistible. De Niro openly admires him. Maggie Cheung adores him. Wong Kar-wai built a career on him. His acting has an incredible range of depth, from wholesome heroes that you can take home to impress your dad with, to evil villains like the so-scary-he's-sexy one in "Lust, Caution." The Cannes Film Festival winner tells his fans that off-set he is "very restrained, very suppressed, very quiet" and that it is only through acting that he can express his emotions without being embarrassed. It's this abandonment of inhibitions in his work that has a magnetic power over cinema-goers.

Big Tony as the beautiful, rich Chinese making a move on Jane March in "The Lover."

3. Tony Leung Ka-fai: The tall, sexy Tony

To distinguish him from Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the tall Tony Leung Ka-fai is also known as 'Big Tony.' Leung has a learned, bookish, college professor thing going for him, but his dark complexion gives him an exotic sexiness. All this makes him an ideal selection for the role of the wealthy Chinese playboy who takes a teenaged French girl for a lover in the on-screen adaptation of Margarite Duras' novel "The Lover." The camera pays homage to every chiseled curve and plane on Leung's face and body in this sensual film.

Daniel Wu's cinema debut, in Yonfan's "Bishonen," as scrumptious cop Sam who befriends the homosexual Jet.

4. Daniel Wu: The New Andy Lau

Acclaimed Hong Kong director Yonfan saw the then unknown model Daniel Wu in a clothing ad and asked Wu to star in his next movie "Bishonen," a gay flick set in Hong Kong. And the rest is history. Wu's pretty face -- with a resemblance to another of Hong Kong's classic leading men, Andy Lau -- muscular physique, and budding acting talent had girls and boys swooning even though the Californian struggled with pronouncing Cantonese properly. Wu went on to win best new director in the Hong Kong Film Awards for "Heavenly Kings," produced several films, and founded the online artists' community AliveNotDead.com.

A montage of Chow's iconic gangster look in "A Better Tomorrow."

5. Chow Yun-fat: Classic gangster

One of the most successful Hong Kong actors to have crossed over to Hollywood, Chow Yun-fat is best known by fans in the West for playing robed heroes in kung-fu dramas, like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." But in Hong Kong, Brother Fat will always be thought of in his signature role as Mark Gor in the genre-defining gangster flick "A Better Tomorrow." After the film hit cinemas, Hong Kong youngsters emulated the look of Chow's criminal-with-morals character -- Alain Delon sunglasses sold out and trenchcoats became a la mode even though temperatures soared in subtropical Hong Kong.

Lui Kei opposite Connie Chan pre-color TV.

6. Lui Kei: Fresh-faced heartthrob to soft-core director

Lui Kei was the most popular clean-cut teen heartthrob of the 1960s and 1970s. Teaming up with Connie Chan Po-chu, the duo were box-office gold for a decade. For some reason, Lui went on to become a soft-core porn director. We're still undecided over whether this lowers this poster boy's hotness, or not.

The younger Tse stars topless in this music video.

7. Nicholas and 8. Patrick Tse: Like father, like son

Hearthrob-ness runs in the Tse family. Patrick Tse and his son Nicholas Tse have classically handsome faces with a smugness to them that is very George Clooney. For 70 year-old Patrick Tse, his long pony-tail and open shirt look says he's trying too hard, but apparently it works for 20-something females such as his 23 year-old ex. Nicholas Tse, on the other hand, is fully settled into married life with actress Cecilia Cheung and their son Lucas, and hard at work on his acting and singing career. 

Aaron Kwok's convincing acting in "Divergence" -- he's hot even when blubbering.

9. Aaron Kwok: The king of dance conquers cinema

The diminutive Aaron Kwok burst onto the scene in 1990 clad in a wet shirt for a Honda motorcycle ad, and has been killing Asian girls softly with his sharp dance moves and doe-eyed good looks ever since.

Our favorite Kwok moments include his unforgettable wrist-flicking dance move from 1991 smash hit “Loving You Never Stop,” and him chasing after a pink car in denim hot pants in the music video of “The Wild City” circa 1994.

In the past 20 years, the superstar has moved into cinema in a big way and has received the Golden Horse Award for best actor twice, for "Divergence" and "After Our Exile." He's also collected at least 12 super cars.

Kenny Bee's breakout role in "Just Make Laugh."

10. Kenny Bee: Winning antics

Leading the 1970s poster boy pack is Kenny Bee, jovial lead singer of Hong Kong pop band The Wynners. Bee drove girls into a frenzy covering English songs at a time when Western folk songs were in vogue, and the fact that he looks smashing in a leather jacket doesn’t hurt either. The only natural thing for Bee to do was to move onto romantic comedy leads in Hong Kong and Taiwanese films.

He encountered a major setback in 1987 when he married shopaholic socialite Teresa Cheung, who shopped his fortune away and divorced him. Bee filed for bankruptcy in 2002 but had since bounced back, and is now a solo performer.

Danny's clean-cut image was so convincing, no one ever thought he would OD.

11. Danny Chan: Byronic charm

The wholesome Danny Chan in his 1980s heyday fought for Cantopop supremacy with contemporaries Leslie Cheung (also on our list) and Alan Tam with a string of sweet romantic ballads and wildly popular movies and soap operas.

Chan, who rose to fame with a squeaky clean image, shocked his fans when he passed away in 1992 at age 35 allegedly due to an excess of drugs and alcohol.

A montage of Ti Lung's handsome close-ups. Those eyebrows can talk, and they say: "don't mess with me."

12. Ti Lung: Martial arts hottie

Hong Kong cinema in the 1960s was all about wuxia (martial arts) films and when it comes to pretty fighter boys, you’re hard-pressed to find anyone better, or more swoon-worthy, than Ti Lung.

Ti, who practices Wing Chun, was recruited by Shaw Brothers in 1969. His dashing appearance in the hugely popular feature film "Return of the One Armed Swordsman" kick-started his career, and since then he’s starred in more than 70 Shaw Brothers blockbusters, mostly playing dashing, sword-wielding martial heroes.

Ti’s supporting role in John Woo’s "A Better Tomorrow" was a watershed in his career. Now the aging star mostly plays underdog characters in feature films.

Daniel Chan in "First Love Unlimited" -- that smile was responsible for many missed heartbeats.

13. Daniel Chan: Boy next door

There weren’t many stars who could elicit as many teenybopper shrieks as Daniel during the 1990s. At the height of his fame, the boyishly handsome singer and actor was every young Hong Kong girls' crush in his cinema debut "First Love Unlimited."

Chan is currently trying to revive his career starring in soap operas and the odd movie in the mainland.

Ekin Cheng demonstrates how there's nothing like fighting to the death in tight black leather pants (02:15).

14. Ekin Cheng: Best hair

Best known for his character as Chan Ho Nam in the "Young and Dangerous" series, actor-singer Ekin Cheng ruled the hearts of Hong Kong's bad girls. Cheng played Hong Kong's sexiest triad boss in the series, with his long locks that framed his face perfectly throughout fist fights, tight leather pants that never gave him a wedgie, and heroic acts in the films. The first of the series in 1996 led Cheng into superstar status and spurred six sequels and spawned a generation of triad films in Hong Kong cinema.

We have major Maggie Cheung envy for what's hanging off of her lips.

15. Andy Lau: Evergreen hearthrob

Hong Kong’s most evergreen poster boy started his acting career in the eighties and soon gained silver screen value after playing bad boy protagonist Wah-jai in Wong Kar-Wai’s "As Tears Go By."

To date, Andy Lau has starred in over 100 films and the 49-year old star has proved to be more than just delicious eye candy with an aquiline nose and sharp jaw line. Lau’s roles in "Running Out of Time" and "Running on Karma" as a jewel thief and bodybuilder earned him best actor awards. What has us most intrigued though, is his secret twenty-year relationship and recent marriage to Malaysian girlfriend Carol Chu. 

Leon Lai as a new immigrant in "Comrade, Almost a Love Story."

16. Leon Lai: Tall, bland, but handsome 

Initially famed as the second runner up of TVB’s Fifth New Talent Singing Awards, Lai gained on-screen recognition as the emotionally torn police agent in love with his demon nemesis, played by Michelle Reis in "The Wicked City." Opposite Maggie Cheung, he received his first best actor nomination for "Comrades, Almost a Love Story" in the 16th Hong Kong Film Awards.

From science fiction to drama to action, the 43-year-old has somehow managed to always play the romantic hero in all his films. But Lai recently starred in "Bodyguards and Assassins" as an unkempt, delirious beggar. We almost couldn't recognise him.

Louis Koo -- the darker one -- in comedy "La Brassiere."

17. Louis Koo: Best tanning salon product

Starting his career as a fashion model, Louis Koo is known for breaking the conventional image of Hong Kong poster boys by adopting a dark tan that he has managed to faultlessly maintain. Although he starred in plenty of films before, we remember him most in comedy "La Brassiere" where he and Sean Lau Ching-Wan attempt to understand the essentials of making the "ultimate bra" by clumsily trying them on. After years in the film industry, the 39-year-old is beginning to blossom. "Run Papa Run" earned him the Best Actor award in the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards, and he was memorable in last year's critically acclaimed "Accident."

Bruce Lee makes Chuck Norris look like a dermatologically challenged simian in "Way of the Dragon."

18. Bruce Lee: The Legend

What more can we say about Bruce Lee? The man was a philosopher, a fighter, an artist, and he brought Hong Kong martial arts films to a whole new level. Besides, he was damn fine looking. Ripped, crazy-eyed, with great stamina and awesome war cries, Lee defeated opponents twice his size and conquered our little girls' hearts with equal ease.

Donnie Yen plays a calm kung fu master in "Ip Man."

19. Donnie Yen: The 'It' action hero

Donnie Yen's fame has been a long time coming. First starting out as a stuntsman over 20 years ago, it's rumored that Yen underwent Asian blepharoplasty -- that's a double eyelid surgery -- and emerged as a hunky, handsome leading man. If it's true, then thank god for cosmetic surgery, or girls the world over would not have been as happy about being dragged to watch Yen in his career-defining title role in "Ip Man" for the fifth time with their kung fu-crazed boyfriends. Yen today has successfully become a bona fide A-list actor, who just happens to play action heroes.