Madame Tussaud's wax museum opens in Hong Kong

British Royal Family

By From Mike Chinoy
CNN Hong Kong Bureau Chief

HONG KONG (CNN) -- It's the closest most people here will come to the rich, the powerful and the famous.

The first Madame Tussaud's wax museum in Asia opened this month in Hong Kong, and it's already attracting big crowds.

"When you look at the population -- not only residents but the number of tourists that come to Hong Kong -- Hong Kong is an ideal gateway," said Michael Jolly, chairman and chief executive of the Tussaud's Group.

Action star Bruce Lee

It joins three other Madame Tussaud's worldwide, including the original in London and others in Amsterdam and Las Vegas. Another is scheduled to open soon in New York.

Most of the familiar features from London's Madame Tussaud's are here, including historic and current British royal families, with a separate spot set aside for Princess Diana.

There's a chamber of horrors, a gallery of sports heroes, rock stars like Madonna and Elvis, and a movie star lineup that includes Pierce Brosnan as James Bond and Kong Kong's own kung fu legend, Bruce Lee. Action star Jackie Chan became the first Hong Kong celeb to sit for a Tussaud's wax portrait.

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev

Madame Tussaud's also dabbles in politics, with wax recreations of U.S. President Bill Clinton, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and historical figures such as Queen Victoria and Mahatma Gandhi.

There are some notable omissions from its collection of more than 100 figures. China's late leader Deng Xiaoping occupies a spot, along with current President Jiang Zemin, who posed for Madame Tussaud's on a recent state visit to London.

But there's no sign of Britain's last colonial governor here, Chris Patten. And the biography of Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt makes no mention of his film "Seven Years in Tibet," which Beijing denounced.

U.S. President Bill Clinton

"We have to be sensitive, of course," Jolly said. "We are not in the business of trying to offend anybody."

That approach has upset some visitors, though.

"I'm disappointed Chris Patten isn't here," one visitor said. "He was our last governor. Not to have him is unrepresentative of Hong Kong."

And there's another notable absence -- Hong Kong's current chief executive Tung Chee Hwa. He was asked, but unlike his boss, Jiang Zemin, he said he was too busy to pose.

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Madame Tussaud's
U.S. Consular Information sheets: Hong Kong
CDC Travelers' Health: East Asia

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