Previously I was in Yunnan filming Big Little Soldier and it’s been a while since I last updated my diary. I recently returned to Beijing so now I’m going to write some "catch up" diaries to record some of the things that I’ve been doing lately.

Hong Kong March 23, 2009

After leaving the very busy Hong Kong Film Festival, a talented lady named Xu Jing Lei and Daniel Wu came to my house in the evening. We all worked together on the film Shinjuku Incident. I don’t think I need to give Daniel any further introduction; I think everyone who has been reading my diaries or has been aware of Southeast Asia’s entertainment industry will know who Daniel is. What about Xu Jing Lei then? Did everybody like her performance in Shinjuku Incident? Not only is she a celebrity in Mainland China, she is also a very talented lady; she is a writer and she has her own online magazine website; she’s very popular. Whenever I sit down and talk with Xu Jing Lei and Daniel, I feel as though we don’t have much to talk about, though. Besides talking about movies…… we talk about more movies! We hardly talk about anything else. I guess it’s a good thing since we’re movie lovers after all.


While they were visiting, the only thing I really wanted to do was ask them to leave a little earlier because my eyelids felt like they had closed already. I hadn’t been able to sleep on the plane over the last few days and before I arrived in Hong Kong, I was in Yunnan rushing to finish the film. I had to rush with the film and rush on the road. I felt like I was going to faint after rushing around for several days in a row. However, our visit continued on until midnight. When they left, I immediately went to sleep.

Taiwan March 24, 2009

In the morning of the following day, we set out for Taiwan. It was my second visit to Taiwan in five years. This time when I arrived in Taiwan, there was no one at the airport waiting to pour water over me or throw eggs at me, and I didn’t hear any negative or opposing comments. I believe that these kinds of comments will reduce over time because I believe that the views of the public are as bright and pure as the snow. I think that the troublemakers or the people who come to make a fuss have an agenda. However I don’t have an agenda. Honestly speaking, I don't dare to say that whatever I do is correct but I can certainly say that I’ve always done things according to my conscience and I can say that I have a clear conscience. I go to many different places and I never worry about what other people say about me, how they criticize me, or how they openly condemn me because I deeply believe that the innocent will be proven innocent.

After I arrived in Taiwan, I started my schedule of non-stop press conferences again. This is something I really don’t like doing. I spend the whole time doing interviews, interviews, and more interviews. The only thing I always feel most comfortable with doing is making movies. When I’m making movies, I do the same thing every day; I wear the same costume every day and I do similar things every day. Even though it gets very busy, I still feel very happy with it. But when I start doing press conferences, I have to wear different clothes at different occasions and I have to put a lot of thought into everything I say. In Taiwan, a lot of journalists and reporters wanted to do independent interviews with me and as a matter of fact, the questions they asked during each independent interview were about the same. There were a few that weren’t the same but they were about rumor related news. I don’t answer any of these questions anymore.


After the interviews were finished in the afternoon, we immediately went to eat my favorite Taiwanese snack called “luò bā bēng”, which is braised pork on rice. Later in the evening, after attending a red carpet event, a lot of friends invited me to go out for a drink but I had to say no to them because I was flying to Japan early the next morning. So I only went out to drink one of my favorite drinks, chicken soup. I even ended up being followed by the paparazzi. I actually don’t think that there’s a problem if the paparazzi just follow me, but they shouldn’t disturb other people while they’re eating. There was one reporter who asked me a very stupid question. He said, “Jackie, it looks like you’re going bald in the middle of your head.” And I said, “Really?” I was even silly enough to brush my hair aside so he could have a closer look. I didn’t know what his intentions were at the time. I just wondered why he would ask a question like that. Is there nothing else he could ask about? If he wanted to remind the viewers or remind me that I was getting old then that’s okay. Everyone gets old and I’m no exception. As long as I’m living happily and I’m living a meaningful life, who cares how old I am? Who cares if I go bald? Ha ha ha!

After returning to the hotel, I visited with Daniel and then went to sleep.

While I was in Taiwan, many friends gave me lots of lǎu pò bǐng (wife biscuits), tài yang bǐng (suncakes), and many other local snacks. I had these things with me for quite a long time. I brought them along with me from Taiwan to Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and then back to Beijing. When I took these tài yang bǐng back to Beijing, everyone on my team loved eating them. It practically became our breakfast every morning. Afterwards, these tài yang bǐngs became an encouragement award for our director. Every time we gave him a tài yang bǐng, he always became very nervous. Thank you to my friend who gave me the tai yang bing. Everybody loves eating it.

Japan March 26, 2009

The following day, I got up really early again and then flew to Japan. I went to Japan by myself this time so it was even more exhausting. While I did the interviews in Hong Kong, the entire cast was there. In Taiwan, it was only me and Daniel. But in Tokyo, I was all alone. Even the Japanese actors in the movie only attended the premier ceremony; they didn’t do any interviews. I had to do the interviews by myself.


As soon as I got off the plane in Japan, I felt really happy even though I hadn’t done anything yet because every time I visit Japan, I go to the same restaurant and eat freshwater crabs. Just the thought of being able to eat freshwater crabs again makes me happy. But this time when I arrived in Japan, I was just too tired. I didn’t even want to go eat the crabs. No one could believe that I didn’t want to go to the restaurant and that I went straight to the hotel. Later I found out that they had already booked a table for me at the restaurant. But that day, I was honestly too tired. I told them that it would be better if we went back to the hotel because at the time, that’s all I felt I could do. I arrived at the hotel, drank a bowl of clear soup, watched a little TV, took a shower, and then went straight to sleep.

I got out of bed at 8 o’clock the next morning to start work. I really don’t have much to talk about except interviews, interviews, and more interviews……and then the premier ceremony in the evening.

When everyone started watching the premiere, I had dinner with a few friends, then went back to the hotel.

Early in the morning of the following day, we arranged to catch a train to Osaka. When I arrived in Osaka, I was so happy because I had to do interviews, interviews, and more interviews.Ha ha! Afterwards, my friend took me to eat Osaka’s freshwater crabs. I wasn’t able to eat them in Tokyo, but I was able to eat them in Osaka. I was invited to eat puffer fish but I didn’t want to eat it. However, I did take a photo with the puffer fish.


While I was taking the photo, I noticed something. Why are the piers for cargo ships in Japan are so beautiful? All the ships, cargo containers, and vehicles are very neatly arranged in rows. I think this is something that China and Hong Kong need to learn. We don’t need to learn the bad things, but good things like these are worth learning. Every family has their own rules and every country has their own regulations; it doesn’t matter what we’re talking about, rules and regulations are very important. There are a lot of people at the moment who don’t abide by the rules and they don’t follow the laws of the country. This is something I really dislike. If everybody abides by the law, I believe that having legislation would be equivalent to not having any legislation because no one would actually break the law. Everyone would be living and working in peace and happiness.


Singapore March 30, 2009

I had to wake up very early the next morning. I feel as though I’m always flying in the sky so I took some photos of the sky and the clouds. They're so beautiful.

All of a sudden, I’d arrived in Singapore. The skies were dark and gloomy, and I heard sounds of thunder coming from both sides of me. It was my first time seeing Singapore like this. Previously when I visited Singapore, I always saw the beautiful, bright, and sunny side of the country. This was my first time seeing the other side of Singapore. But no matter what the weather's like, I always think that Singapore is very beautiful. The trees are very green, the plans for the city are very good, and the preservation of their cultural heritage is also very good. As soon as I checked into the hotel, I looked out the window and took a lot of photos. It doesn’t matter from what view point I looked, it was just so beautiful.

This is a panorama I took from my window.
Click to enlarge.

I also saw the casino that was open 24 hours a day. I think that from the influence of the financial crisis, they would have come across some big problems. But no matter what, establishing the casino was an enormous project. The night scenery is also very attractive.

While I was in Singapore, I was able to eat my favorite Hainanese chicken rice and meat bone tea (bak kut teh) again. And then it was interviews, interviews, and more interviews. Afterwards, I went to visit two shopping malls. There were a lot of people in the shopping malls. It was so crowded that no one could move. It was very full. The only thing that I’m worried about in these kinds of situations is the safety of the people. I was afraid that there might be an accident because there were just so many people. I was really scared; it was very dangerous.

Here are some photos I took of the crowds:


Afterwards, I attended the premier ceremony and then after the premier ceremony, I went back to the hotel, drank some coconut juice and ate more Hainanese chicken rice.




Malaysia Part 1

I woke up at 6:30 the following morning and the first thing I did when I got out of bed was drink some local tea called Bak Kut Teh (meat bone tea). It’s a combination of pork bone soup and two cups of tea – even breakfast was so sumptuous.

We didn’t take a plane today; instead we decided to take the car. If we were going to fly on the plane, we would have to arrive at the airport an hour before departure, wait half an hour, and then catch a one hour flight to Malaysia. After arriving in Malaysia, we would still have to drive another half an hour to our destination. I thought that if this was the case, I’d rather get out of bed a little earlier and drive directly to the location. For someone like me who is always flying on planes, traveling in a car every now and then also makes me happy.

The trees that line both sides of the road in Singapore are just so beautiful. My mood became very cheerful while traveling along the road. There are many cities in China that also have beautiful roads and trees. In fact, I think it can be compared with Singapore now, and it makes me very pleased.


One thing I noticed while driving is that when you drive in Singapore and you indicate to change lanes, other drivers will let you in. But in China, if you indicate that you want to change lanes, no one lets you into the lanes. I don’t know why. A lot of things should become more standard now. Beijing and Shanghai have already become cosmopolitan cities; they are cities people should visit if they travel to China. We must strive to pay more attention to these kinds of behaviors. For example, the way we fly, the way we drive, the way we drink tea, and the way we speak are all very important matters that we should pay attention to. On the flight back I noticed that as soon as the plane landed, people immediately began getting out of their seats. The air hostesses continuously asked them to please sit down, please sit down. In my mind I thought, oh, it’s most probably Chinese people again. I turned my head to look and, as expected, it was Chinese people standing up. Why do they have to give other people the opportunity to say things about them? We need to learn to improve our culture for flying and our culture for driving because whenever we go out, we’re representing China. Whenever I see that the beauty of our country can be compared with other countries, I always feel very happy. But whenever I see that other countries are better than our own, I don’t feel very happy. I know that change requires time. I have a lot of faith and I believe that Chinese people will slowly make good changes and China will be even better.

Malaysia Part 2

After we arrived in Malaysia, there were interviews, interviews, and interviews. We talked about the same things and did things for the same result. But one thing that was different today is that they suddenly surprised me with an early birthday celebration and they gave me a birthday cake.


In the evening, the heavens weren’t very nice and it started pouring down with rain. We held the event outdoors that day and it rained quite heavily. But no one actually left and they all stood out in the rain. Although we were on the stage and had a canopy covering us, someone still gave us umbrellas which I immediately gave to a couple of reporters.

I had more Bak Kut Teh and some other snacks in the evening. I think the cultures of Malaysia and Singapore are very similar and the foods that they eat are also very similar.


Doing an interview at a broadcasting station. There were many people of different nationalities at the broadcasting station including Malaysian, Indian, and Fujian. They all wrote greetings for me in their own language and I was very happy. They told me that my movies at theaters in Malaysia and Singapore drew in large numbers of viewers. Why? Because not only do I have fans in Asia, I have fans in Malaysia, India, and many other countries as well.

An End to Promotions in Southeast Asia

Early the next day, I arrived back at my favorite place, Beijing. This marked the end of my promotional work around Southeast Asia for Shinjuku Incident. I’m very pleased to have made my very first image-changing movie. To me, making a movie like this particular one created many ups and downs in my mood. I don’t know if the audience will accept this kind of change from me.

But overall, approximately 85% of viewers have said that they accept my change in style. Although the movie didn’t have any action, after watching it the viewers still thought that it was very interesting. But one day when I was taking a walk in Japan, I met two female fans who started hugging me on the street and crying. They said that they didn’t like the ending of the movie, they didn’t like certain actions I did, and they said they couldn’t take it. I told them that this was my first time changing my image. They said that they knew but they just couldn’t handle seeing it for the first time. I’m actually not used to it either.

I had just promoted Shinjuku Incident in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan, and this was the first time that I’ve ever had to say something that has made me feel so bad. I will tell you what I felt bad about. Previously when people knew I was in town to promote my movie, they would tell me that they were taking their whole family to see my film. This time, I had to ask them how old their son or daughter was and if the children were only seven or eight years old, I told them not to go. It was the first time I’d ever said something like that and I actually feel very uncomfortable about it. But no matter what, everybody will have numerous first times in their lives. I had very many first times in Shinjuku Incident. For example, it was my first time acting in a role as a villain, my first time killing someone in a film, my first time acting a scene in bed, my first time dying in a movie, and my first time making a film classified with a 2B rating. However, as an actor, I want to try a variety of things so I was willing to do anything.

There were actually a lot of things that I wasn’t used to either, but I hope that the audience will give me the chance to change my image, and I also hope that the audience will support my change in image, support my change of style. Otherwise, I’ll only be able to make Police Story part 1, 2, 3, 4, and make sequels all the way through to one hundred, or just make Rush Hour 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Back in Beijing

After completing promotional work in Southeast Asia, I was returning to Beijing and feeling very happy. There were two reasons why I was feeling cheerful. First, Beijing is one of my favorite cities; second, I’ve finally finished promotional work and I don’t have to say the same things over and over again.

On my last night in Southeast Asia, I drank some Bak Kut Teh and then went straight to the airport. The evening flight departed at 1:30 in the morning and by the time it arrived in Beijing, it was already 6:00 a.m. When I arrived in Beijing, I went to the hotel, changed my clothes, shaved, and then went straight to The Great Hall of the People. Although I was feeling very tired, I don’t know where it came from but I suddenly felt fully energized.

In the morning at 8 o’clock sharp, we started filming the MV for the song, Country. This song is currently one of my favorites and I filmed this MV with my disciples, the New Seven Little Fortunes. When I found out that this was the first time The Great Hall of the People was opened for people to make an MV, I truly felt extremely honored, especially while I was standing in front of main entrance to The Great Hall with the national emblem above my head and the national flag in Tiananmen Square facing me. At that moment in time, I truly felt honor and glory. I felt proud to be a Chinese person. Being able to do something for the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China makes me very happy.


We finished filming the MV very quickly. I changed my clothes and rushed to the Bird’s Nest Stadium - I hadn’t been there in quite a while - and attended the press announcement for the Bird’s Nest concert. While I was in the parking lot, I felt very happy because I saw how our cars were all neatly arranged and parked in rows. According to what staff workers have told me, there are still over ten thousand people visiting the Bird’s Nest Stadium every day. I never imagined that apart from our significant historical features such as the Great Wall and The Forbidden City, we now also have new internationally recognized architectural structures like the Bird’s Nest.

My son wants to participate in this concert and I told him that if there weren't enough performers, then I would put him onstage and if there were too many, I wouldn’t. I said this because this is the “Jackie Chan and Friends” concert, not “Jackie Chan and his family.” If everything was just me, me, me, it would become too selfish. I think that even if we don’t have him perform, he won’t blame me for it.

After rushing back to the hotel in the evening, I immediately met up with the owner of the French balloon lighting company. I hope to bring this type of technology into China for everyone to see. If everything goes well, this balloon light will make its first appearance in the air at the Bird’s Nest Stadium on May 1st.

At the end of a busy day, there were a lot of things in my head that I couldn’t clear up. The night before I was talking about Shinjuku Incident, this morning was about Country, in the afternoon I talked about the concert, and then I discussed the balloon lights in the evening. I just felt so confused.

Afterwards, it was time for my happiest moment of all, and that was sleep……

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