Born in 1955 on the island of Lamma , near Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, Chow's family moved to Hong Kong in 1965 and in early 1973 Chow attended a casting call for TVB, a division of Shaw Bros. productions. With his good looks & easy going style, Chow was originally a heart throb actor in non demanding TV & film roles, however his popularity increased with his appearance as the white suited crime boss, Hui Man-Keung, in the highly popular HK film Shang Hai tan xu ji (1983).
In 1985, Chow started receiving noted acclaim for his work, and scored the Golden Horse (Best Actor) Award in Taiwan, and another Best Actor Award from the Asian Pacific Film Festival for his performance in Dang doi lai ming (1983). With these accolades, Chow came to the attention of John Woo, who cast Chow in the fast paced gangster film Ying huang boon sik (1986) (aka "A Better Tomorrow").