Cannes opens without FBB; Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi are stunning on red carpet

The 67th Cannes Film Festival got underway with the premier screening of "Grace of Monaco" and Fan Bingbing never looked better. But she was half a world away at the Beijing opening of "X-Men: Days of Future Past", appearing with Hugh Jackman and Peter Dinklage at the Chinese capital before scooting off to Singapore for for another red carpet rendezvous:

The distaff side of the Chinese film industry was well represented by Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi. Zhang Ziyi flew in from London (and yes, her arms were really tired) and made it from the airport with the help of a bodyguard and a Mandarin speaking minder:

Gong Li got from the Nice airport to the Cap d Antibes without assistance--she knows her way around, having come to Cannes since 2004. One expected to see Yves Carcelle since he has been her permanent escort at the film festival but he has moved on from running Louis Vuitton to helping give away some of Bernard Arnault's billions.

They made it to the red carpet for the opening, a showing of "Grace of Monaco". Both actresses were (as usual) devastatingly gorgeous, Gong Li in Roberto Cavalli and dripping with diamonds and pearls from Piaget, for whom she is a major brand ambassador and Zhang Ziyi in a gown by Stéphane Rolland that was a hint of art deco and a prince's ransom in diamonds from Chopard.