One year has already passed since the devastating earthquake struck Sichuan Province in May, 2008. During the past year, I’ve been thinking about the disaster victims in the area; wondering how they are coping, whether they have enough to eat and a place to live, whether the children are back to school. There are a lot of things that I’m concerned about that are really out of my hands because after all, the abilities of a single person are very limited and some things simply can’t be done by one person alone. Some problems can only be solved with the help of the country, its military forces, large numbers of people and materials, and heavy machinery. I am always thinking about these problems. The only thing I can do is to attend to the things that I am able to help with, like donating winter clothes for them or raising money. If there is something I can do, I will do it. 

I visited Sichuan after the earthquake devastated the area last year, and at the time I wasn’t allowed to enter the severely affected disaster zone, though I constantly heard about it through news reports. This time during my revisit to Sichuan, I saw some very beautiful roads with lovely green grass lining both sides and I saw a lot of buildings being reconstructed. The progress was steady, with both new construction and replacement or repairs being carried out at a steady pace. The thing that pleased me the most was seeing workers on the side of the road picking up trash. In the past, you usually don’t see people in China voluntarily picking up garbage off the street but this time I saw more than just a couple of people doing it. It gave me a sense of the kind of spirit that was within the people of Sichuan and I think that they’re so strong that not even an earthquake could topple them over. This is the kind of spirit that has directly affected and influenced our compatriots throughout the country, and I truly admire them for that.

When I arrived at Beichuan Middle School, I unfolded a giant national flag together with the students. This very unique national flag measures 88.88 meters (291.6 feet) in length which implies the meaning of remembrance that our country has towards the Olympic Games, and the width measures 59.6 meters (195.5 feet) which symbolizes 9.6 million square kilometers (3.7 million square miles) of land that covers China. The total surface area of the flag is over 5,000 square meters (53,800 square feet) and the total weight is over 800 catties (1,000 pounds). This is my first time raising such a large national flag and I believe that many more people in the future will be able to watch this remarkable and amazing scene. The flag represents our country and there aren’t many other things that are more important or significant than the national flag. Every time the five starred red flag was raised during the Olympic Games, I had tears rolling down my cheeks. Wow. The emotions I felt while watching the flag of my country being raised were incredible. Even though it’s just a very ordinary piece of material, it actually represents the heart of every person in China, so we have to take good care of our national flag and cherish our country.

During the short period of time that I spent at Beichuan Middle School, I noticed how every student in the school, including the students with amputated limbs, appeared with a kind of smile that made me feel delighted for them. From the smiles of self-confidence that I saw on their faces, I saw the future of our country, I saw a future filled with hope, and it made me very proud of them. Of course, some students still haven’t been able to entirely detach themselves from the shadows of fear and the emotional effects that the disaster brought to them. We can’t just give them one day or one year to fully recover their confidence, we need to give them psychological guidance and constant support. It’s just like what happened to me. I’ve also been through some miserable times. I didn’t start off being the Jackie Chan that I am today; I also experienced many, many setbacks. It was the people around me, the government, and my friends who gave me confidence. Because of what I’ve been though, I wanted to share my experiences with the earthquake survivors. People helped me in the beginning of my career and I will do the same thing for others and help them in the same way. I believe that in the next few years, friends from all over the world will try their best to help these victims and give them confidence. Within the next ten years, I believe that we will be able to fulfill the promise we made. But the most important thing is that they have confidence in themselves. While I was there, I made another promise and said that I’d allocate a portion of the box office earnings from my new movie, Big Little Soldier, and donate it to the children at Beichuan’s Middle School.

While revisiting Sichuan after the earthquake that devastated the area one year ago, I looked at the residents and I couldn’t help but say from the bottom of my heart “Residents of Sichuan, you all amaze me. You’ve suffered from such a terrible disaster but what I saw today was that you all had smiles on your faces. Your unceasing spirit of strength and courage is very admirable. It’s actually a lot like mine, ha ha. If I break my leg in the morning, I can still continue work in the afternoon. If I break my hand on the set, I’ll just put it back in place and then continue working. I’m always standing together with you.

Go Sichuan! The powers of Sichuan unite!”