TAIWANESE actress and singer Barbie Hsu Hsi-yuan, considered "old" and "left over" in China at age 34, is a lightning rod for gossip about her many younger handsome boyfriends - and recently her marriage to a prodigiously wealthy young man.

Two months ago her registered marriage to the 29-year-old heir of the Chinese mainland South Beauty restaurant empire set off a fire storm of controversy, some quite vicious and revealing about celebrity and media in China.

Far from being an inspiration to other Chinese old maids and left-overs, she has been reviled as a scheming witch and it's heating up as the wedding bash in March draws near. There's even talk of a cabal to pave the way for her husband's family business in Taiwan.

But Hsu is accustomed to wagging tongues.

For years she has been known as a "gossip queen" for all her high-profile dating. She has always been more famous for her private life than her not-too-distinguished TV work or film, due to her outspoken personality and up-front attitudes about romance. Unlike many other celebrities, she didn't conceal her affairs.

The "gossip queen" once famously said she only dates handsome men.

"The foremost and only important thing is that he has to be handsome. Even if he is a bad guy, as long as he is handsome, I can change his personality," she once told a TV interviewer.

And she is also called a "beauty queen," not because of her looks (which are pleasing) but because of her dedication to beauty, wellness and a vegetarian diet.

Hsu, who was recently in Shanghai to promote a Taiwan soy milk brand, is an example of frenzied gossip about a minor celebrity and scrutiny of an unmarried woman. For years she was considered a "left-over woman" and "loser dog" because she hadn't tied the knot.

Cinderella

As an entertainer, Hsu is best known for her early portrayal of a cliched modern Cinderella falling in love with and marrying a rich and handsome guy in the Taiwan TV series "Meteor Garden" (2001), the adaptation of teeny bopper Japanese manga.

When she starred in "Meteor Garden" she was 25 and then began to make a name for herself as a "gossip queen" for dating handsome screen stars. All the romances ended in failure and as the years went by and she pushed 30. The media loved to portray Hsu as a desperate "left-over woman" - dying marry but so pushy that she scares off prospective husbands.

In China women who don't marry by around 28 are typically and cruelly branded "left overs" even "loser dogs." The pressure to marry is extreme - wedlock and bearing an heir are traditionally considered a woman's greatest obligations in life.

So for years, despite all her dating, Hsu has been a celebrity old maid.

But just last November, the 34-year-old star became a real Cinderella when she married (got a marriage certificate) 29-year-old Wang Xiaofei, one of the most famous and eligible "second generation" playboys in Beijing. The media calls him one of "Four Beijing Princes," referring to wealthy guys making headlines with female stars. Second generation refers to the sons and daughters of China's new rich.

The wedding celebration is to be in March.

It was a 20-day whirlwind courtship and rumors swirled about the couple and their past romances.

Her husband is restaurateur Wang Xiaofei, the only son of Zhang Lan, powerful founder of the South Beauty Group, a luxury restaurant empire. He is an executive in the business.

Instead of being congratulated for inspiring other "left-over women," Hsu was showered with bitter and vicious criticism. Possibly because of envy, possibly because she had been so frank about her liaisons with younger men over the years.

Hsu's past relationships and Wang's flings were scrutinized.

Their relationship was first spotted by netizens who scoured the celebrities' personal pages on weibo, the popular Chinese equivalent of Twitter. The surprise engagement created a media frenzy, though Hsu was hardly the first pretty star marrying into a rich family. The Internet was ablaze. The first tweet on the engagement by Hsu was re-tweeted more than a million times and drew more than 100,000 comments.

Wang was commonly called a useless second-generation, notorious for his passion for female stars.

Hsu was called a self-proclaimed beauty queen, a failed, over-the-hill actress desperate for a husband. She was called a show off and a hussy and accused of stealing Wang from his ex-girlfriend, actress Kitty Zhang, a much younger, up-and-coming actress.

Everyone predicted break up.

Even after the formal marriage was announced in November, the public reaction was scathing and skeptical. Hsu must be pregnant, some said; Wang and his mother must be using the high-profile couple to facilitate entry of the South Beauty restaurants in Taiwan.

Tired of replying and fighting off endless criticism, even vulgarity, the two closed their personal pages and disappeared from public sight for two months.

Two weeks ago, Hsu resurfaced in Shanghai for the annual fair for Yonghe Soy Milk, a product that she, as a vegetarian, endorses.

"I really don't understand why my marriage has drawn so much attention, or rather, so many doubts," Hsu told reporters. "People used to keep asking when I would shed my label as a 'left-over woman.' Now that I have found a man, why are they unhappy about my finding Mr Right?"

Hsu, wearing a girlish pink dress, maintained her typical poise, smiled graciously and answered most reporters' questions. Was she pregnant? Did she intend to invite ex-boyfriends to the wedding?

"I only want to share my joy with everyone, not show off. I don't need to explain my private life," she said.

Hsu denied rumors that her new family would halt her career.

"I will definitely keep working because I love my job. He is a very confident man and doesn't want me to change for him. We are individuals who appreciate, respect and support each other. He has brought out the best side of me," she explains.

Apart from her tabloid fame, Hsu has established herself as a "beauty queen," the title of her two-volume book about skin care. She insists that however late she gets off work, she doesn't go to bed without spending at least two hours putting creams and lotions on her body, from head to toe.

"There are no ugly women in the world, only lazy women," she says. "Anyone can become a beauty queen as long as she spends enough time on herself."