The celebrities that wowed Shanghai in 2009

1. Barack Obama

Maybe it’s more a statement on politics than celebrity, but Obama was arguably the biggest star to come through town this year. He started the trip off with loads of goodwill and a meet and greet with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, but in the end, the POTUS had his spotlight stolen by internet sensation Wang Zifei, the “beauty in black beside Obama."

2. Edison Chen

Edison made his first public appearance in Asia on the talk show Asia Uncut (also in town for his store opening) after hiding out in North America for more than a year, fielding some soft questions and discussing his future plans before vaguely discussing the picture scandal and dropping truth bombs like, “Some people think I’m the villain, others think I’m the victim. In my world, I’m Edison Chen.”

3. Tiger Woods

The best golfer in the world was taken down in this year’s HSBC Champions tournament by Phil Mickelson before getting taken down more recently (and much more literally) by wife Elin Nordegren. Tiger only fell out of contention in the Shanghai tournament Sunday morning, which seems a little curious for a “clutch” golfer. No chance he went out to Tongren Lu Saturday night, right?

4. KoBron (LeBron/Kobe)

Who’s top dog in the NBA? That’s not for us to figure out. But Kobe, owner of the best-selling NBA jersey in China, did come through town first on his five-day, five-city Asian tour. Not to be outdone, LeBron followed a month later in August, making Shanghai one of the three Chinese stops on his world tour. Both ballers showed their skills off at Luwan Stadium before unveiling limited-edition Shanghai-themed shoes.

5. Karl Lagerfeld

The world-renowned Chanel designer came to town in December to unveil his ‘Paris-Shanghai’ Metiers D’Art collection, hosting the show on a barge on the Huangpu River. Most notable, however, was Lagerfeld’s self-directed short, in which a Mao-suited Coco Chanel makes an incredible, anachronistic journey through space and time to arrive in present-day Shanghai.

6. Liu Xiang

Okay, so technically he was born in and lives here in Shanghai, but he’s been MIA for over a year while rehabbing his Achilles over in Texas. China’s biggest-ever (and fastest-ever) track star made his return at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, where he got a hero’s ovation even after losing to American Terrance Trammell in a photo-finish.

7. Linkin Park

China clamped down on musical acts in the last year, so the heavy-hitting international artists were conspicuously absent from the Shanghai concert circuit this year. In the end, American rock band Linkin Park ended up being the biggest name to come through town, wowing a sold-out crowd and making up for the performance they prematurely cancelled last year.

8. Barbara Millicent Roberts (aka Barbie)

She’s hot, she’s blonde, and she’s got the locals all atwitter. And to celebrate her 50th birthday last March, she moved into a completely new, completely pink RMB 225 million mansion-cum-megastore on Huaihai Lu. What’s next? Well, if Ken ever gets his act together Barbie might soon be seen wearing the store’s RMB 110,000 Vera Wang wedding dress.