Retired Hongkong actress Idy Chan will always be known to her fans as The Little Dragon Girl after playing the iconic character in the 1983 TVB adaptation of Jin Yong’s wuxia novel Return of the Condor Heroes.

Her turn as the ethereal beauty (and object of Andy Lau’s Yang Guo’s eternal affection) is so loved, even Jin Yong himself praised her for embodying the character perfectly. P/S: Andy was also rumoured to have harboured a major crush on the actress.

But even though Idy hasn’t acted since 2012 and has more or less faded out of the spotlight, every time she makes a rare appearance at an event or on someone’s social media, it becomes news.

Over the CNY holidays, Hongkong actress Meg Lam posted a photo she had taken with Idy at a gathering at her house. The pic quickly got the attention of Idy’s fans, many of whom were awestruck by how “ethereal” and “fairy-like’ the now 61-year-old still looks.

Interestingly, when Idy first showed up for the gathering, Meg didn’t recognise her because her beanie and mask had covered most of her face.

“When she said to me, ‘I’m Miss Idy Chan’, I still asked everyone around me, ‘Who is this woman?’” laughed Meg.

Idy was only 17 when she enrolled in TVB’s artiste training class, and because of her classic beauty, was often cast in period dramas.

Other than her career-defining turn as the Little Dragon Girl, Idy is also known for her five year relationship with Chow Yun Fat, who was rumoured to have been so heartbroken by their breakup in 1982 that he reportedly attempted suicide.

Idy, who quit showbiz in 1990, later married casino tycoon Peter Chan, though they divorced in 1992 after eight years of marriage. In 2007, she made her comeback in TVB drama Catch Me Now, which was followed by the 2012 drama Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles.

After that, she turned her attention to doing charity work and travelled across China to care for impoverished children. Idy also revealed that when she was volunteering in the region after the devastating 2010 Yushu earthquake, she ended up adopting a 13-year-old girl who had lost her family in the tragedy. The girl moved to live with Idy in Guangzhou and is now involved with her charity work as well.

Photos: Weibo