June 8-10, 2009

When I woke up this morning, I was happy to see that it was raining in Beijing. A large city needs a lot of rain so that the air can be fresh and clean. With continuous rain and sunshine, the city will also have more greenery, which is a good thing for our planet and us.

I worked out for an hour and then took a quick shower. I had a busy day ahead of me. I had a meeting scheduled, and I had to attend a press conference with Chou Huei at an old theater. Her new album was just released, and we performed a duet. I came to show my support and to congratulate her on the finished album.

We had many meetings about our collaboration together. After months of discussions on how we would record the song and promote the album, we finally achieved our goal. I fulfilled my promise to be completely supportive in every way. I know her album will be a success because so much hard work and love was put into it.

After we were done, I had to rush off to the airport to fly to Los Angeles for rehearsals for my next film, “The Kung Fu Kid,” starring Jaden Smith, Will’s son. My assistant, Osumi, had warned me not to sleep too much because it would be evening when we arrived in Los Angeles. I told her, “Okay, okay, I won’t sleep.” I read some newspapers and magazines, and saw a couple of films.

If you ask me what films I saw, I have to say that I have totally forgotten. By the time I started my second film, I had already forgotten the first one! Finally, I couldn’t stand being awake anymore and boom! I fell asleep like a sack of rice. The next thing I remember was the pilot announcing that we had arrived in Los Angeles.

I was so happy to see that it was also raining in Los Angeles. Like Beijing, L.A. could also use more rain. All land, especially deserts, like Mongolia or Las Vegas, need a lot of rain. Heavy rains make me feel so happy.

It’s unfair that places that don’t need the rain get it the most. Too much rain leads to floods, which kill people and animals, and destroy homes. It’s too bad that Mother Nature has not thought of a way to send all that excess rain to places that really could use it!

My friend picked me up from the airport, and we went straight to the hotel. It was about 11:00 PM and I really shouldn’t eat so late, but I was hungry and needed something in my tummy. The chef made me some pizza, salad, and soup. I was really craving fried rice, and surprisingly, he made some. It didn’t have all the ingredients that you might find in a plate of fried rice from China, but it looked like it. I wasn’t too picky because I was so hungry. I just ate whatever was in front of me, shoveling the food into my mouth. When you’re hungry, it’s hard not to eat. Just like when you are tired, it’s hard not to sleep. When I was done, I went upstairs to my room and quickly went to bed. I really shouldn’t sleep on a full stomach, but I had an early rehearsal and needed my rest.

The reason I’m in L.A. is to rehearse for my next film, Kung Fu Kid. In case you don’t know, it’s a remake of the old film, The Karate Kid. The star of our film will be Jaden, the ten year old son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

To get to their home, we had to drive for an hour. As usual, there was a lot of traffic in L.A. You always have to leave early so that you don’t have to rush on the freeway to get to your destination. Since we had a GPS, we were confident that we would not get lost. As we drove there, many memories came flooding back. I have not been in L.A. for half a year. The last time I was here was after I finished filming The Spy Next Door in New Mexico.

On our way, there were a lot of mountains and trees on a winding road. I really had to concentrate because the road was narrow, and there were so many sharp turns.

When we got to the home, I saw Will and met his three children, Trey, Jaden, and Willow. I hadn’t seen Will in almost two years. The last time we saw each other was in a Japanese restaurant in Japan. At that time, he mentioned that he had a role for me in a film. I told him, “OK, just contact my agent.” It’s hard to believe but 2-3 years later, we were now sitting down and getting ready to rehearse this very film he talked to me about.

For the last two months, my stunt coordinator, Wu Gang, has been training Jaden. He will have to do a lot of action in the film so it’s important that he is mentally, psychologically, and physically prepared. Wu Gang wanted to show us everything Jaden had learned. Wu Gang told me that Jaden was really talented and a natural athlete. I was doubtful. How good could his martial arts be when he’s only trained for a short period of time? Training in martial arts is hard work. It takes years to perfect even one punch or kick. Jaden’s father is a famous celebrity, and Jaden probably knows he could get away without having to work very hard. If I couldn’t get my own son to train in martial arts, how could anybody else succeed?


Honestly, what Jaden demonstrated in the next hour truly surprised me. I have seen many young children learn martial arts, but I have never met anyone like him. He learned many Chinese phrases for the different movements of kung fu. When Wu Gang asked Jaden to show me, he barked out his orders in Mandarin. Jaden immediately understood what was asked of him and performed it. When he was thirsty, he gave the traditional hand gesture, putting one fist into the palm of the other, bowed and asked permission to drink some water.

Not only was he hard working, he was respectful, focused and really good! I couldn’t believe it. He showed me every exercise Wu Gang had taught him and finished the demonstration with the “drunken kung fu routine” from one of my own films, Drunken Master. He put my son to shame! I provided my son with the best martial artists in the world, and he could not be persuaded to try it. In just two months, Jaden had learned so much. He is truly a talented boy. He could sing, break dance, play ping pong, and now he can do stunts!

He enjoys learning, which is important. When a person is not interested in a subject, no matter how hard you push them, they will not pick it up. Even if they do, it will be with disinterest and lack of passion. His intelligence, maturity and great physical prowess impressed me. I now have confidence that when we start working on the action sequences with Jaden, he will do great.


I told Will that he should send Jaden off to China for a few years. When he returns, his martial arts will be truly incredible. I also told him that he probably shouldn’t visit, or he would distract him in his training. I don’t think Jaden liked that idea very much and said his mother and father would not allow that.

When I was growing up in my school, my parents rarely visited me. Although it forced me to focus on my training, I have to admit it was not easy to be separated from my parents. However, all the hardships I endured in my past have helped me become who I am today.

What also impressed me about Jaden is that he comes from an affluent and famous family, and you would never guess that when you interact with him. I went to Will and shook his hands, telling him how proud I was that he had raised such a good boy. I know that Jaden is going to be a big movie star some day. He has all the qualities to become successful in whatever he does in the future. I wish I had a son like this.

I showed Jaden a few moves, and we practiced on some scenes in the film that will have action. Wu Gang and I showed Jaden some stunts we were expecting him to do in different scenes. He was enthusiastic and willing to try anything I showed him. I think Jaden may just end up doing all his stunts. He’s definitely prepared.


After Jaden’s demonstration, we worked on my least favorite part of filmmaking, the dialogue. Although the script is already written, the director, Harald Zwart, our executive producer, Will, our actor, Jaden and one of our writers, Mike Soccicio, continued to make changes to the script.


Sometimes I wonder, “Why bother to rehearse? Just shoot it!” On most films, I only rehearse on the set right before filming.

Most production companies do not have money in the budget for rehearsals. It is expensive to fly everybody to Los Angeles from different cities, and in my case, a different country, to work on the script. They probably spent half a million on flying us all out here. But after we rehearsed, I realized that we really, really needed these rehearsals. They listened and incorporated my ideas for action scenes, and I was even able to add a few appropriate lines to my dialogue. The more we rehearsed, the more I enjoyed the process. When it comes time to film, we will be ready and happy with what is on the page

I was impressed with how Will worked. He thinks like a writer, director, actor and editor, just like me. He is enthusiastic and constantly thinking of more ideas for the film. He even has ideas on how he wants the trailer to look. I think when you are this passionate about what you do, you can only be a success. Now I know where Jaden gets his hard work ethic from. Will has put his acting career on hold to produce this film with his son. I really respect him and his family. I know this film is going to be great, and I really, really like this little boy, Jaden.

The time we all spent together was also a good way to get to know each other and to bond. Our rehearsals gave me time to think of more ideas to contribute to the film. We have two weeks of rehearsals ahead so I know we will make many changes.


Will had his chefs prepare a healthy lunch for us after we rehearsed. Everything that was on the table was a healthy and tasty dish. It is important to eat well because you need to be healthy, have energy and to look good in front of and behind the camera.

I also met with our costume designer today. Her name is Han Feng, and she’s from China. She took out some clothes she thought my character should wear. I gave her some feedback, and then she made a few adjustments for my comfort.

When we were done with rehearsals, I went shopping. Since I was in the United States for a short time, I wanted to buy everything I couldn’t find in China, some equipment for stunts, supplies and tools for my staff, and some items for my own household. As usual, I was recognized by a few people and had to give autographs and take pictures. Unlike being in Asia, where I am recognized by all, here in the United States, not everybody recognizes me, and most people keep a respectful distance.

I’m running out of things to share with you so I’m going to finish my diary for today. Although I have been really busy doing many different things, I only want to share the more interesting part of my days with you. If I told you everything I did in a day, I think I would bore you with all the details and you wouldn’t want to visit my website again.

On Saturday, we didn’t have to work. In America, we often don’t work on weekends. If we did, everybody gets paid more money. Can you guess how I spent my day off? I went to my favorite shopping stores. I bought a lot of equipment for my stunt work, my garden, my studio, and for my home. I have to admit I really enjoy shopping for things I know that my staff or I need.


My weekend won’t be too interesting to you because I’ll probably be shopping a lot. When I’m not working, I always feel a bit bored. It’s okay; I will entertain myself finding new things to buy.

While I’m in the US, I will be speaking English more. Diana, my dialogue coach, will be writing my diary. If I say anything wrong, it’s not my fault. You can blame her. Between my broken English and her broken Chinese, hopefully my fans will get an idea of what I’m thinking and what I’ve been doing here in Los Angeles.

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