It's may only be July but it's apparently not too early to get started on which-celeb-earned-the -most lists that actually only seek to remind you how little you make compared to those stars. Apple Daily Taiwan recently released their list of highest-earning Taiwanese actors for the first half of 2021, and it appears that most of them made the bulk of their money from Chinese productions. Can't say we're surprised. Janine Chang.

Sitting pretty on top of the list is the very pretty Janine , who shuttles between China and Taiwan for work. She appeared in two movies this year, including suspense thriller The Soul, and the two films reportedly bagged the 38-year-old a neat NT$5mil (S$242,192).

Janine also starred in a Chinese variety show (and we know what a goldmine those are) and is currently the face of of nine different products. According to reports, she is estimated to have made NT$45mil (S$2.1mil) from those side hustles.

Next up is Janine's rumoured ex-squeeze Taiwanese actor Roy Chiu. The 39-year-old brought home NT$1mil (S$48,438) for his performance in the 2021 film Man In Love, and NT$9mil (S$436,007) for starring in the Taiwanese drama The Arc Of Life. But his most lucrative project is Chinese web drama, My Treasure, for which he took home about NT$35mil (S$1.69mil). Treasure, indeed.

She lives in Singapore (her hubby is Singapore-based Indonesian businessman Sean Lee) but 46-year-old singer-actress Vivian Hsu is still very much in demand in Taiwan. She's the face of eight different products, which no doubt contributed greatly to her NT$40mil (S$1.93mil) payday.

38-year-old Michelle's participation in the second season of the wildly popular reality competition show, Sisters Who Make Waves, reportedly netted her a gorgeous NT$28mil (S$S$1.3 mil) for the seven episodes she was in. Fine, she got eliminated but you know what we mean. Apart from that, Michelle also starred in the Taiwanese drama, A Trip With Your Wife, which brought up her total earning to NT$30mil (S$1.42mil).

Taiwanese actor-model Chris Wu upcoming drama series was shelved because of the pandemic, but he’s still doing really well for himself. The 38-year-old is the King of Endorsement and was 10 different products from glasses to oatmeal and even online English classes, chose him to their ambassador last year. In June this year, he picked up another three new endorsements, pushing his total earnings for the first half of this year to NT$25mil (S$1.21mil).

Sixth on the list is 30-year-old Greg Hsu aka Hsu Kuang Han who shot to fame after his 2020 time-travel drama Someday or One Day became a hit in Taiwan and overseas. This year, his Chinese romance hit movie, My Love, earned him a Best New Actor nomination at the 30th Huading Awards.

He has picked up multiple endorsements, including lucrative deals with beauty brand Bobbi Brown. He was also endorsing Puma and Calvin Klein Jeans, but he dropped both partnerships after the brands announced their intentions to boycott Xinjiang cotton.

Nevertheless, his earning power did not take a hit, with Greg earning NT$15mil (S$726,853) in just half a year.

And rounding up the list is Taiwanese actress Ivy Chen. The 38-year-old took a step back from the spotlight after giving birth to her son in 2019, but she’s still majorly popular. Earlier this year, Ivy starred in the Taiwanese drama, The Arc Of Life alongside Roy Chiu, and also picked up a video game endorsement, netting a cool NT13mil (S$629,387).

Photos: Ivy Chen/Instagram, Roy Chiu/Instagram, Greg Hsu/Instagram, Chris Wu/Facebook, Vivian Hsu/Instagram