January 4, 2009

My Busy Life in Beijing

Lately I’ve been busy in Beijing having meetings to discuss the script for my new movie. I also attended the premier for John Wu’s second installment of his new movie, Red Cliff, so I thought that I should go and support him because this movie took two years to complete and I’m also good friends with director John Wu and actor Tony Leung. Since I had some spare time, I went to support them and give them my best wishes for the movie Red Cliff.


After the premier event, I attended a press release conference for the television drama series version of The Myth, held in Beijing. In collaboration with SFG and EEG, hopefully we can make The Myth into a television series. I’ll be taking on the role as the executive producer and Stanley Tong will be the art director. This is my first time as a producer for a television series. In the future, I am going to bring in groups of people to film more television programs and encourage new TV drama scriptwriters, directors, and artists into the scene. Then my “Disciple” members will have more opportunities to participate in different productions and absorb the experiences at the same time.


I am very excited that The Myth is going to be made into a television drama series. When we filmed the motion picture, The Myth came out to be three hours long. We later edited it down to one and a half hours and lost a lot in the process. In a television series we can tell a very long story and it also means that we can include all the things that we want to say, which I think is very meaningful. Apart from that, I actually had a selfish thought; I can still let the audience hear one of my songs called A Beautiful Myth (Meili de Shenhua). I’m so happy because I finally have a song that has been downloaded by over ten million people. But I still haven’t decided on who will sing this theme song for the drama series yet.

At the press conference, I presented a suit of armor to the male lead of the TV drama version of The Myth, Wu Ge. He will play the two main characters in the story, General Meng Yi and Jack the archeologist. Last year, Wu Ge was involved in a serious car accident and suffered some severe injuries where he needed over a hundred stitches to his face and nose alone. He has recovered now and is staging a comeback with his career. I said to Wu Ge, “Before I started filming The Myth, I was in Hollywood the whole time making movies and as a result, I looked like a cowboy when riding the horse during the first half of the movie. It wasn’t until later that I slowly changed my riding style and rode with more elegance, like a general should.” I think that Wu Ge looks just like a younger version of Jackie Chan. I don’t know if he’s the best person to be me but at least I should give him the chance to try.


Afterwards, I went to the rehearsal for a Spring Festival Gala program. Once that was over I went back to get some rest.

January 5, 2009

Today I went to record a television program for Beijing TV called Volunteers Across China. This TV program is a large scale reality show that is based on the idea that “good people reap good rewards” and hopes to encourage the whole of society to be more aware and help the “good people” who are in difficult situations. Volunteers Across China combines philanthropy, public welfare, celebrities, volunteers, and many other elements to not only accomplish the original intention of helping good people, but also to make a reality show that people would enjoy watching. To ensure that the help and assistance available is put to practical use, financial support for the cause is essential so I allocated $1million from my Beijing Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation and donated it to the Volunteers Across China Foundation at the launching ceremony. And without a second thought, I took on the responsibility as the foundation’s honorary general director as well.

Preparations for this program actually began over a year ago; a lot of research had been done and many young volunteers were recruited to participate in the program. The majority of these young people were born in the 80’s and 90’s. I think they are extremely lucky because they were brought up in time that was economically stable and prosperous, and didn’t have to suffer too many difficulties, which is why they don’t really care about the major issues that concern their country or the needs of the weak and helpless in society. Their main concern is seeking extravagant yet unnecessary items, the latest fashions, and the hottest gossip about movie stars or artists. In order to draw the attention of young people to be more aware of society and have more concern for the people in need, this program needs to be made. After they saw me introducing the program, everybody participated enthusiastically. In the end, we selected a group of 20 people and split them into two teams; one team will go to Sichuan, the other team will go to Tianjin.

We heard about man in Tianjin who for the past 39 years has been caring for elderly people he saw on the streets. These people needed help but had no one to rely on, so he would take them home, feed them, and take good care of them. So far he has taken care of 17 elderly people and among this group, 9 of them have already passed away. But it was this Tianjin man who would personally make the funeral arrangements and see them off their final journey. After I heard the story about this kindhearted person, I sent one of the young teams to go to Tianjin so they could see for themselves how they could help needy people. If their performance at the job is more impressive than the team I sent to Sichuan, then they could win the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation’s prize of $100,000.


The other team went to a primary school in Gulu Village, Yunzhong, Sichuan province. Gulu Village is a not so well known mountainous village of the Yi ethnic minority. It is situated on an overhanging cliff in the valleys of the Dadu River Gorge National Geological Park and belongs to the administrative jurisdiction of the Han County ethnic Yi community in Ya’an, Sichuan.


After traveling by car for 36 hours, with almost 5 hours of the journey climbing on an incline, the small team finally made it to Yunzhong primary school, also known as the cliff-hanging primary school.

The thing that touched me the most actually wasn’t the students who were there, but a substitute teacher named Shen Qijun. It didn’t matter what age anyone in the village was, every one of the 500 residents respectfully call him “Teacher Shen”. Teacher Shen arrived at Gulu village primary school when he was 18 years old. In those days, classrooms were made out of dirt, the roof leaked water, and wind penetrated the walls as if there were no walls. The school didn’t have a bathroom and students would fall over when running elsewhere to go to the toilet, injuring themselves in the tumble. When he saw this, Teacher Shen clenched his teeth, gathered all the people in the village, used whatever means he could to repair the classrooms, and built a simple basic toilet for the school. Just like that, he decided to stay at the school to teach and to this day – 26 years later – he’s still there. He’s such a good person; I admire and respect him very much.

One interesting side note: the students play basketball very cautiously and they are afraid to shoot at the basketball hoop; when they play ping pong, they only hit the ball softly and don’t dare to hit it with too much force. Why? Because they’re worried that if the basketball or ping pong ball was hit off the mountain, they’ll need to wait at least half a day to recover it.

The team returned from Tianjin and they reported back to me about everything they did and their experiences on the journey. They talked for about an hour and a half. One of the girls talked and cried at the same time. Actually, she cried for an hour and a half! I think for them, seeing me made them very nervous. Furthermore, this young girl was feeling very emotional and the things that she said weren’t very well prepared, making her appear disorganized. So I told them that no matter what they did, they should always follow a systematic method because they were rushing with the things that you really want to achieve.


In the end, it was evident that the defeated team was the one who went to Tianjin, so the team who went to Sichuan won the $100,000 I set aside from my Charitable Foundation. Although the team who went to Tianjin didn’t win the prize money, I was deeply moved by their actions and enthusiasm so I gave them $100,000 out of my pocket to present to the elderly man in Tianjin.

In the evening, director Feng Xiaogang held a celebratory event for his new movie, If You Are the One, and I went to support the occasion accompanied by my Disciple members. Not only is director Feng one of my good friends, he is also a director that I’d like to cooperate with. I especially attended the event to congratulate him and also express my intentions of wanting to work together. Originally I was going to cooperate with director Feng on a project but unfortunately he was busy filming If You Are the One, so my dream of us working together had to be delayed. I was very happy when I found out that director Feng’s new movie broke the 300 million mark in the box office after screening in the theatres for 19 days. I believe that box office sales for Chinese cinema will improve by the day, and the market for Chinese film will also get bigger and bigger.


January 6, 2009

I’m very pleased to announce that my Jackie Chan automobile website is set up and officially operating! China will soon be an enormous marketplace for automotive vehicles. In Hong Kong, roughly 120,000 second hand cars are sold each year; whereas in China, the number of second hand cars sold each year can reach up to 12 million. I hope that through this automotive website, I can link up more people who want to buy cars and don’t want to be cheated by frauds.



January 7, 2009

Today, I went to record a song called Zhongguo Nian (The Chinese Year). This song was composed by Chang Shilei, Wang Pingjiu wrote the lyrics, and I sing this song together with Tan Jing. Chang Shilei is a naturally talented musician; he also has an interesting habit. His piano is placed next to his bed. When he wakes up, he plays the piano until he’s tired, then he lies down on his bed to sleep. This routine is repeated over and over again, and this is how he lives every day. He may sound like a strange person but when you hear him sing, wow! He’s really awesome!

I really wanted to record this particular single, Zhongguo Nian. Why is that? Well, in 2008 I actually recorded a lot of songs and whenever I sing these songs, I naturally feel pain and sorrow. What I need are some happy and inspirational songs, and I want everyone to celebrate the Lunar New Year feeling happy and joyful. Because of this reason, after I listened to this song, I immediately wanted to sing it and even volunteered to achieve the difficult task of singing the song myself. I’m going to write the lyrics in my diary so I can share it with you as well:

Zhongguo Nian (The Chinese Year)
Lyricist: Wang Pingjiu
Composer: Chang Shilei
Singers: Jackie Chan, Tan Jing

(Jackie)
Love is sunlight, with unbreakable rays, accumulating past memories, treasuring days of Spring
Deep lasting affections, lingering romance, a never ending story, the Chinese year

(Tan Jing)
Love is sunlight, the sweetness of drip stone, after the storm passes, thoughts become warmed
Linked together heart to heart, not knowing tiredness, inseparable reunions, the Chinese Year

(Duet)
Year after year, love will reunite, year after year, love is the origin
(Rap)
Sunlight shines through every person’s heart, the Chinese Year, time for dreams to start
Hand in hand, connecting with the horizon, passing along from cloud to moon, satisfaction often hangs on the mountain peak

(Jackie)
Banquet of the world, love with no boundaries, warming every happy experience
(Tan Jing)
Love is the door, antithetical couplets with blessings, mother’s prayers, are all written inside
Love is a smiling face, year after year, endless well wishes and blessings, the Chinese year

Year after year, love will reunite, year after year, love is the origin
Love is a smiling face, year after year, endless well wishes and blessings, the Chinese year

(Duet)
Year after year, love will reunite, year after year, love is the origin

(Rap)
Sunlight shines through every person’s heart, the Chinese Year, time for dreams to start
Hand in hand, connecting with the horizon, passing along from cloud to moon, satisfaction often hangs on the mountain peak



I admire Chang Shilei very much. I’ve even signed a contract with him and asked him to teach the singers in my company how to sing. Then I can sign up some more new budding artists and train them as well.


While I’m on the topic of artists signed under my company, some of my Disciple members gave me a very pleasant surprise. While I was away from Beijing, they invited Wang Pingjiu, the composer of Shengsi Buli, to write them a song called Shifu (Master), and they sang it to me.

Afterwards, I rushed off to do an interview for a Korean program. I’ve honestly been extremely busy during my recent trip in Beijing. I’ve been going non-stop, singing, recording, doing interviews, or attending celebrations. I rarely have time to rest. I had to attend a string of events and not only did I have to appear looking appropriate for the occasion, I couldn’t look miserable or shabby, and I had to socialize or meet with media reporters. Compared to the work I do when making movies, the difference is like heaven and hell. All I need to do when I’m shooting a movie is to put on a couple of costumes, concentrate on making the film, and I don’t need to worry about anything else. To me, the activities I’ve done recently have just been too tiring.


After the interview, I did some things that I really enjoy doing. I had a meeting with director Ding Cheng; he talked to me about the script for Dabing Xiaojiang but he couldn’t finish telling me what he wanted to say because we didn’t have enough time. Ding Cheng is a very hard working director and he wanted to explain the whole story to me, including all the details like how he wants to shoot the different scenes.

In the evening, I went to meet with the head coach of badminton team and he gave me a bag as a gift. The coach told me that he’d already trained over 60 gold-medalists so far and when that number reaches 100, he will retire. I think that it’s really good if each person has their own goal and dreams. Life will become more meaningful if you set out to achieve your own dreams by following your own path.


January 9, 2009

Today I met with the producer and director of Longwei Xiaozi (The Karate Kid), and I also brought along my friend’s daughter for a screen test. Although my friend’s daughter grew up in China, her English is very good and it just happened by chance that this movie needs a young actress for a part, so I took her along to audition.



January 11, 2009

Things weren’t too busy today. I only tried on a few outfits for my new movie, Dabing Xiaojiang. Filming for this new movie starts in February somewhere in China and when the time comes, I’ll be able to live the lifestyle I enjoy again; concentrate on film making and not socializing. I really can’t wait and I hope we can start making the film soon!

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