June 11 - 24, 2009

My Time in America

As I mentioned to everyone before, I’m in Los Angeles rehearsing for my new movie. The child actor starring with me in this film is Will Smith’s son, Jaden. I truly admire and appreciate him very much. Jaden is very clever, hard working, and he practices every day. No matter how difficult or tiring it is, he still continues with the routine and endures to the end. I think many children nowadays can’t handle a bit of hardship because a lot of them have grown up in a well-off household or maybe they’re an only child in the family so their parents and relatives have pampered them with love; of course they wouldn’t let them suffer! I honestly think that Jaden has the potential to be an amazing artist – he’s intelligent, hard working, endures hardship, puts in the effort, and is willing to go that extra mile.

I remember once when he was tired and wanted to drink some water, he used a traditional Chinese hand gesture, wrapped the fist of one hand in the palm of the other, bowed slightly with hands placed in front of him, and politely asked if he could drink some water. Seeing this brought back memories of the times when I was at the Peking Opera School (China Drama School) learning martial arts as a young kid. In those days our lives were very disciplined. We had to listen to our teacher and respect our elders. I think that practicing martial arts is not only good for building health and strength; it’s also a form of discipline that allows us to improve our character and well-being. Still, Jaden is just a young kid. After he finished practicing his routines, he went back to being an active and lively kid, jumping around and having lots of fun. He’s so cute.



While rehearsing for the production in Los Angeles, I felt as though I were still learning new things despite having so many years of filmmaking experience. The feeling was very new and refreshing. Will was fully involved with the rehearsals and he treated every line of the script very seriously. If he noticed a problem or had an idea, he would immediately make a suggestion and share his thoughts about the film. After going through so many days of rehearsal sessions, I feel even more confident about this film.

I stay in touch with the people in charge at my offices in Hong Kong and China every day, finding out what the situation is. Because of the time difference between America and Hong Kong and China, I usually call them in the morning, which is usually early evening in Hong Kong before people finish work. Someone managed to take a photo of me sitting outside the residence making phone calls:


I mainly rehearsed for the film during the day and then worked on dubbing the voice over for The Spy Next Door in the evening. When I walked into the recording studio, I saw the young actors from the movie again. They’ve all grown taller since I last saw them. I was so happy to see them again. I think that being able to watch a child grow up and seeing the smiles on their faces is a very happy and joyful matter. I’m pretty sure that many parents out there would agree with my way of thinking.


Apart from doing work, my favorite activity while I stayed in Los Angeles was shopping. The things I like to buy are slightly different from the things other people like. I don’t buy things like clothes or shoes or those kinds of items. In fact, I don’t buy things for myself. I tend to buy things for my company, my staff, and my stunt team. Mostly I buy things that will make work easier and more convenient for them; there really isn’t anything that I need to buy. But while I was enjoying the pleasures of shopping and browsing around along the streets, I discovered that I was being followed by paparazzi. So I politely went up to them and said, “I find it very difficult to get a chance to stroll around on the streets. If you continue to follow me then my leisurely walk is over. However, if you stop what you’re doing and go no further, I’ll continue enjoying my stroll.” They immediately agreed to stop; took a few more photos, and then left. I have to say a heartfelt thank you to them for understanding.

While walked along the streets, I came across a very cute baby. I couldn’t help myself; I held the baby and took some pictures. Take a look; he’s just like a little angel. Isn’t he absolutely adorable?


Later, I walked past the entrance of a store and I noticed some fascinating items that were on display. The playful child inside my heart wanted to break out again so I went over and took some photos as a souvenir.


I started work again the next day. Actually, it was rather special since I didn’t have to rehearse for the movie. Instead, we discussed the details about the scenes and shooting locations for the film. Crew members made a model of the set according the requirements in the script. The director and I discussed the details of the script while examining the model of the set; how things should be done and how the action sequences should be shot etc. We exchanged many ideas and it was extremely constructive.


After work, I had to deal with some freight shipping matters because I purchased too many things during my trip in America, and now I have to ship it all back to Hong Kong and China. I made arrangements for a shipping container so after everything is securely packed, it’ll be placed inside the shipping container. After sorting out my things, I went out and started shopping again, this time buying some equipment and useful items for my stunt team. Every piece of equipment that I use is not cheap at all; it’s good quality equipment. For people like us who are always doing action scenes and sequences, safety is very important. As the saying goes, “To do a good job, an artist needs the best tools.” So to make sure that the action sequences are executed smoothly and my stunt team is safe, I won’t be stingy with my money and buy cheap equipment for them.


After shopping, we drove past a museum and I noticed that the lights outside the museum were very unique, very beautiful. I quickly pulled out my camera and took some photos of the lights to show you:


Today I attended several meetings. What kind of meetings? At one meeting we discussed the plans for an Operation Smile Train, at another meeting we discussed plans for opening a Japanese restaurant in China. At the moment, everything is still in the early stages of discussion. Later if there is some good news, I will tell you all about it. After attending the meetings, I went to check out some new technology, the latest 3D special effects currently used.


In the evening, I met with Brett Ratner, the director of the Rush Hour series, and Rob Minkoff, the director of Forbidden Kingdom, and we had dinner together. We haven’t seen each other in such a long time. It’s not very often that I come to America so since I was here, of course I had to meet up with my friends and have dinner together.


On the next day, I went to a place that made t-shirts. On the way I saw a car that was loaded with hot chili-peppers. I thought it was quite fascinating so naturally I pulled out my camera and took some photos to share with you.


I saw this pattern making machine. After observing the process of how the shirts were made, I thought that this machine was very useful so I decided to buy one. I also bought many other useful things that we’ll need for work. These things might look as though that they’re not very important, but having these things in hand will make work a lot easier, everything will be in order and become very systematic.


As you already know, whenever I’m back in Hong Kong I always take out some time to play with my cats and dogs at home. When I saw other people’s pets in America, I also took some time to play with them as well. Take a look at this pet:


Don’t be frightened by its appearance; it’s very obedient, has absolutely no means of attacking anyone, and definitely isn’t aggressive. It just wandered around me and then left. So well behaved!

While I was on the way to do more shopping, I saw a truck on the road and I immediately had to take a photo of it. Why? I really admire this truck because its owner had his things arranged very neatly inside.


Today I visited a stage prop warehouse. There were over 90,000 prop items stored inside. When I walked into the warehouse, I felt as though I had just walked into a large market place that sold second-hand things. If you wanted to buy any household items such as furniture, miscellaneous bits and pieces, or a whole mixture of things, you would definitely find something suitable here.

I took these photos at the warehouse:


Afterwards, I went to visit a submarine. No, it wasn’t a real submarine. It was a prop submarine used especially for filmmaking. A real submarine isn’t so spacious and roomy. The environment inside this submarine was specially enlarged so that it would be easier to place camera equipment inside and also be more convenient for filming.


I saw the desk where one of my friends worked at . I truly admire the way she works because she’s always organized and very systematic with everything she does. She’s Ridley Scott and Tony Scott’s employee. She’s very responsible and always keeps things in good order; from important matters such as dealing with a large business transaction worth 10 million dollars, down to the smallest things such as purchasing one screw; she keeps a record of everything:


My disciples, the New Seven Little Fortunes, and artist Steve Yoo Seung-Jun, who is signed under my company, flew in from Beijing and arrived in America today. They’re going to join me and participate in an event that will be held locally in Chinatown. As soon as they arrived in Los Angeles, we went out and had a meal together:


In the evening I had dinner with an American friend, and it just happened by coincidence that it was Lionel Richie’s birthday. So I sang happy birthday and gave him a small birthday cake. We all spent a very enjoyable evening together.


The next day, I went shopping again, ha ha ha!


Time has gone by so quickly. It’s hard to believe that half a month was gone already. Today is my last day in America. I had to attend an event today but before the event started, I had to meet with two artists. One artist spent three months to make this gift for me - an erhu made of jade. The other artist spent even more time with making the gift that was presented to me – a drawing of 1,000 dragons. Seeing these two invaluable pieces of artwork touched my heart. I really envy the talent of these artists.


Afterwards, I met with Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and we talked about some issues related to orphaned children. One of the goals that I wanted to achieve during my trip to Los Angeles was to pay more attention to the problems surrounding local orphaned children. I said to Supervisor Antonovich, “A lot of people have told me that America has a problem with the large number of homeless people, people living on the streets, and orphaned children. I was shocked when I heard news because America is such a big and strong country; how is it that you have problems like these? In my mind I always thought that these issues would only appear in third world countries or in poor and impoverished countries. If America had problems like these then I don’t think other places would be spared!” I told Supervisor Antonovich that I hope we’ll have even more opportunities to cooperate in the future. I found out that he liked Chinese culture very much; his wife is also Chinese. Their two children can speak fluent Mandarin.


“Country ● Love” Themed Event:

“A patriotic song about Country; connecting soul, spirit and martial arts with one pulse.” The Country ● Love Event has finally arrived. I was accompanied by Steve Yoo Seung-Jun and the New Seven Little Fortunes, and went to do some promotional activities in Chinatown. The main purpose of this event was to unite all Chinese people and to encourage everyone to learn about Chinese culture. Through singing a patriotic song, performing traditional martial arts, dance, and many other colorful and artistic activities, we hoped to express the wonderful feelings that Chinese people residing overseas have towards their increasingly powerful homeland, and also convey the wonderful well wishes that they have towards the 60th anniversary of the founding of China.

This particular “Country ● Love” Patriotism themed event held in Chinatown, Los Angeles was the fourth stop for the “Country ● Love” themed series of events. The previous three stops were at Beichuan Middle School on the 11th of May, the revolutionary sacred land of Xibaipo on the 25th of May, and the Beijing Qi Yi Primary School on the 31st of May. I am the executive planner for these events and also the initiator. Even though I’ve successfully made my mark in Hollywood and I’ve built myself a good reputation on the international scene, my heart still remains with China; my heart is Chinese. I am passionate about my country and I hope to call upon everyone in the world to love your country and love your family. By doing this, family and country will be harmonious, and then the world will be at peace.

The initial idea of holding these “Country ● Love” Patriotism themed events came about sometime at the beginning of this year. I knew that this year was the 60th anniversary of the establishment of New China and I had a budding idea for offering a celebratory gift for China’s 60th anniversary. Coincidentally, the chief of the Beijing Olympics Cultural Events Department, Wang Pingjiu, happened to have the same idea as me. Hence, we started making plans for a song called “Country” to be presented as a gift for the 60th anniversary of the establishment of New China. I then developed on that concept and had an idea of holding a series of “Country ● Love” Patriotism events. I hope that through taking these events to various places such as deep into earthquake struck disaster zone, the old areas of the Cultural Revolution, primary and middle schools, and a Chinese community in America, we could unfold the teachings of patriotism and express the passion we have towards our country and our well wishes towards the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China.

In the afternoon on the day of the event, a performing stage was built at Central Plaza in Chinatown in Los Angeles. Several hundred local Chinese, Asians, and people of other nationalities came to watch us under the scorching sun. I guided all the Asians in the audience and taught them how to sing "Country." I explained the meaning of the lyrics to them word by word, and my New Seven Little Fortunes were behind me doing sign language actions to the song. The melody echoed in the air above Chinatown. Apart from singing a song at the event, other acts were performed as well such as martial arts and dancing. “People say a country is very big; in fact we’re just one family”, “A country in this world; a family on this land”. The lyrics to this song, "Country," narrate the incisive relationship between country and family. The words perfectly present the strength of our country coexisting with the peace and harmony of a family, explaining the close connection between country and family. Particularly for Chinese people living overseas, “Country” has extra special meaning on an emotional level. Because of my work, I travel all over the world throughout the year. I think that when a Chinese person sings “Country” in a foreign land, images of unforgettable memories constantly appear and flash through the mind. When I sang Country, I thought about my struggles in Hollywood, I thought about the Beijing Olympic Games, the devastating earthquake that struck Wenchuan, and I also thought about my country – China. No matter if it’s happy times or sad times, our country will always stand by our side. A country is connected with family. Families are connected with me. I am connected with the world. I’ve seen nearly all of my friends reciting the lyrics of “Country” to the people around them. I want to share my feelings with everyone and tell you how proud and honored I feel to be Chinese. Each time I share my thoughts, I gain a different kind of understanding about it. I think my friends know what I’m talking about and feel similarly.

In fact, I think that “Country” carries a global significance. This song is not only for the people in China, this song is suitable for every nation on the globe. I hope that through singing this song and spreading it all over the world, I can make an appeal to every one to love and cherish your own country, and believe in your own country. People can live a better life only if your country is strong. If every small household lived in harmony, everybody will be living in harmony. When everybody is living in harmony, the world will become peaceful. I hope that all the young Chinese audiences at the event today will work hard and try their best to learn Chinese, inherit our mother nation’s outstanding culture and traditions, and make Chinese culture highly respectable overseas.


After teaching the audience how to sing “Country”, I gave them some CDs with the song Country on it. In return, they presented me with a gift made from black jade - a lovely tablet with the words Guo Jia (Country) written on it. This piece of jade is extremely heavy. Take a look at this photo - three people were needed to hold onto the tablet:


Flying Back to Hong Kong

After the event finished, I had a very quick meal with everybody and then rushed to the airport to catch a flight back to Hong Kong.

At Los Angeles airport, I saw police officers carrying out their duties riding around on Segways. I think that airports in many places in the world – not just in America - should use Segways as well. Why? First, if police officers use Segways, they’ll definitely be able to move around faster and they don’t have to exert much effort or energy so they’ll be able to do more rounds within the airport. Second, with the help of the Segway, police officers don’t have to worry as much about their physical strength so they’ll definitely have more energy to concentrate with work. Third, the Segway is an environmentally friendly form of transportation and it won’t create anything that will harm the environment.

After I boarded the plane, I did my usual things and started reading magazines and newspapers. I slept for a short while and then I arrived in Hong Kong.

Just as we arrived in Hong Kong, I received an unfortunate piece of news: Someone on the plane had a fever, so all the passengers on the plane were not allowed to disembark. Our plane just stopped on one side of the runway. Police cars and an ambulance quickly rushed over. Medical staff came onto the plane to examine the passenger who had a fever. The atmosphere was very intense.

While I was waiting on the plane, I started to think, “Do we need to be quarantined?” Because of the H1N1 (swine flu) epidemic, the Hong Kong government has been well prepared for a possible outbreak, and if they discover someone that could be diagnosed with the virus, not only does that person have to be isolated, people who have been in contact or were in close proximity to the infected person will also need to be isolated. Actually, I wish that I could be isolated for seven days so I wouldn’t have to do anything and then everyone will forgive me for being absent because I had no other choice. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have to catch a flight to Hong Kong in the afternoon followed by another flight to Beijing in the evening. I’d come into contact with scriptwriters from my company, Edward Tang and Fibe, which means that they’ll have to come with me and be isolated in the hospital as well, ha ha ha!


Seven Little Fortunes 50th Anniversary Reunion

As soon as I arrived back to Hong Kong from America, I quickly went home, took a shower, changed my clothes, and then rushed to a restaurant to meet with my brothers and sisters from the China Drama School. Today is the celebratory event for the Seven Little Fortunes 50th Anniversary Reunion.

Because I was delayed at the airport for several hours, by the time I arrived at the restaurant, everyone had pretty much finished eating. I was extremely happy to see a few brothers and sisters that I hadn’t seen in a very long time. We chatted and talked about our recent developments. I found out that some of our fellow classmates had already passed away, some had immigrated overseas and couldn’t attend the reunion, and some have just disappeared without a trace. We’ve already placed a missing person’s notice in many newspaper and magazine publications. Hopefully we’ll be able to find everyone before the end of this year in November. Honestly speaking, how many 50-years does each person have? I never imagined that at a blink of an eye, 50 years had gone by so quickly. When we all sat down and chatted together, I noticed that everyone was already over 50 years old! Remembering the times when we were back at drama school, making loud noises, hee hee ha ha, playing around; now one of our fellow classmates has seven grandchildren!


We had especially designed a commemorative T-shirt for the Seven Little Fortunes 50th Anniversary Reunion event. On the front of the shirt, you can see three large characters that say “Qi Xiao Fu” (Seven Little Fortunes). On the back of the shirt is a picture of our master, Yu Zhanyuan, and words that say “Hong Kong China Drama School 50th Anniversary”. One thing that was particularly special about these shirts was that our names that were given to us when we were at the drama school were stuck on the sleeves with crystals. For example, Sammo Hung was also called Yuen Long so the sleeve of his shirt had the character “long” on it; I was also known as Yuen Lau so the sleeve of my shirt had the character “lau” on it. I think that this design is very unique and especially meaningful. I’m going to treasure this shirt.


When the event officially started, fellow senior classmates talked first and they shared their stories and experiences from their time at the drama school. Everyone talked about their childhoods, and big brother Sammo Hung, younger brother Yuen Biao, and I sat below the stage and couldn’t help but reveal a knowing grin. Thinking back to our childhood years, the burden that our master had while taking his group of students to perform around different places wasn’t light at all! We didn’t have a lot of food to eat and our meals weren’t very plentiful - sometimes there wasn’t enough food to go round – so every day at dinnertime, all of us fellow brothers and sisters would fight over the dishes of food that accompanied our rice. Anyone with a slow reaction would miss out and end up eating just a bowl of white rice. Hearing those stories now might make us sound very pitiful and pathetic, but I actually think that growing up in an environment like that allowed us to learn how to appreciate our food and not waste it. Looking at children nowadays who live in well-developed societies where the financial situation of many families have improved, they don’t seem to be worried that they might not have anything to eat. On the contrary, they have become very picky with their food; they don’t like to eat this or they don’t like to drink that; they’ve never thought about appreciating or valuing their food. I hope that all the parents and children who are reading my diary will understand; you are all very fortunate and blessed at the moment. I’d like to ask parents to educate their children about not being picky with their food and don’t spoil them too much so that children will be able to learn to appreciate and value things. Not just food, they need to appreciate drinking water, toys, and all the resources on this planet.

When fellow senior brother Sammo Hung, younger brother Yuen Biao and I went up onto the stage, the master of ceremonies asked me what my thoughts were towards corporal punishment because Master Yu was known to be very strict and there were punishments in place at the school. I replied and said, “I don’t approve of using violence to solve a problem, but I still think that using an appropriate kind of corporal punishment is useful. Why? I think that children nowadays are being pampered and spoiled too much. If they do something wrong and are smacked, they’ll immediately argue back and say that they’re going to sue their parents for physical abuse or family violence, or say something even more extreme in retaliation. Moreover, children these days aren’t able to withstand as much pressure compared to children in the past. When they encounter a problem, they trap themselves in a corner very easily and they don’t know how to resolve it, or else they think to one side and their thoughts become crooked. When we, the Seven Little Fortunes, were still young kids, we were very capable of enduring the pressures. When I was punished by our master, I knew to correct my mistakes right away so that next time I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I understood that when I did something wrong I would be punished for it, but I also knew how to reflect on my own mistakes and I always thought on the positive side of things. I never let a negative mood have any influence on me.” To all the young people out there, I hope that no matter what kind of difficulties that you might encounter, you won’t be discouraged or feel disheartened. Just as long as you have the courage to work hard and face the obstacles in front of you, and have a “never give up” spirit, I believe that any difficultly can be resolved. The most important key is to have the determination to do it.


I guess you can say that the Seven Little Fortunes grew up with Hong Kong and are also the pride of Hong Kong people because we are genuine products made in Hong Kong. Many of our fellow classmates have either become directors or martial arts directors, and have contributed a lot to the film industry.

Apart from celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Seven Little Fortunes, the other important activity we had to do during this event was to fundraise for charity. All the funds collected from this event will be donated to The Foundation for Advanced Education.

As soon as the event ended, I quickly went to the Hermes store. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not going there to buy things. I had to go there and pick up something. What did I pick up? Money of course, ha ha ha! Let me explain. Several years ago, Hermes produced a limited edition silk scarf for me that had the character “Dragon” printed on it, and they kindly agreed to donate all proceeds from the sales of these scarves to my Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation. I’m so happy because all the “Dragon” printed silk scarves have already sold out, totaling over HKD $1.5 million (~USD $194,000). Many children, students, elderly, impoverished, and disabled people are going to benefit from this donation very soon. Hopefully in the not too distant future, I’ll be able to cooperate with many other well known brands and do charity work together. I’d like to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to every person who participated in designing process and manufacturing of this silk scarf. Also, thanks to all the people who bought one of these silk scarves and to everyone who supported this meaningful charity activity!


After I left the Hermes store, I went back to my office and had a meeting with the people who were waiting for me. They included the management team in my office, and staff members from Tidemark. Afterwards, I had a look at some important documents. But no matter how busy I might be, I will always take some time out to play with my cats and dogs, and give them something to eat.

I’ve only been back in Hong Kong for less than 12 hours and now I have to fly to Beijing again. I truly think it’s so amazing; the invention of the airplane seemed to have made this world a lot smaller. When it was daylight, I was still in America. Now I’m in Hong Kong. This evening I’m going to fly to Beijing. Okay, I’ll record more of my diary when I arrive in Beijing. Bye bye!

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