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A Trip to China 

Author :  Jing-Er, in Chinese

Date :  22 August 2001

Translation :  Martial Arts Movies and TV Series - Wu Jing

Original Compilation :  Jing Wu Men

Day 5, Part 2 - Further Dinner Discussion

Wu Jing especially liked Liu-Xing from Whipped Horse Roaring Amid West Wind. I took the opportunity to inform him that the hottest debate in the web was whether Liu-Xing is in love with Ming Yue-Xing or Gao Yu-Han. When asked whom he liked most when acting in the drama serial, Wu Jing rambled on, seeming to say that he got to know something new through Ming-Yue Xing. However, the person he most wished to be with was Gao Yu-Han. Hearing Wu Jing's reply, Yun-Qi and I were particularly delighted. Wu Jing also told Ninnie to reveal to Da-Wan that he could act as Jin Shi-Yi, "The type who expresses anger at the world and jealousy of secular affairs." Yet another of his apt description.

Wu Jing's beautiful pair of eyes, which glimmers with intelligence, expresses sincerity and truthfulness as he speaks. He doesn't hide or try to evade anything. He is always so candid and never endeavours to be punctilious. You should be able to empathise with him, just by looking at his mien. Looking at him talking about how he did each drama, the sorrows, happiness, and angers, and his views on how to do things better, our heart ached as much as we were touched. We were felt proud being a frand of Wu Jing and  also experienced lots of other complicated emotions. We would usually just be looking at him, listening to him, being affected by his smile and despairing silence.

Wu Jing stressed that he would always give his works full play and do his very best, "because this is the only thing I can promise, and the only thing I can do."

We lapsed into gloomy silence. My heart ached painfully and I wished to tell him, "Wu Jing, you've already been working extremely hard. In our heart, you are always the best!"

For the whole night, Wu Jing spoke virtually non-stop - partly being compelled by us, who were holding our tongue most of time. Whenever we mentioned a point or two where he got a chance to express himself, he could ramble on yet again. He said he wasn't especially capable of crying, as he has never cried since young when I was reminded of a scene from Young Hero of the Marshes between Jin-Ge and Ruo-Nan where he was about to be beheaded in. I thought it was excellent. Just a line and Wu Jing was immediately filled with pride, and praised me for my great foresight. And he went into details on the scene, on how he was shocked by others. We also touched on the different types of martial arts dramas; When someone asked what about Legend of Zu, Wu Jing paused and finally said it belongs to the fantasy genre.

All of sudden, a waitress barged in, "Wu Jing, we love you very much. We wish very much to take some photographs with you."

"But I am having dinner with my frands right now. Shall we talk about it after dinner?" Wu Jing hesitated.

So the waitress left. However, we were spending an inordinate amount of time on this dinner and after a while the waitress came in again, "Sorry, my younger sister has been waiting to take pictures with you and she refuses to eat anything. Please, shall we do it now? Sorry..."

We had no ideas what we should do - we couldn't chase her out, could we? Wu Jing unwillingly put down the chopsticks, stood up and took a picture with her sister. After taking a picture with her happy sister, before Wu Jing could sit, the waitress said she liked Wu Jing too, and wished to take a picture with him. Wu Jing smiled with resignation, took a photograph with her, and gleefully, the two gratified sisters glided away.

And now back to our conversation. Wu Jing enquired about our activities on the web and what had we been discussing about of late. We were tongue-tied, not being prepared for such a question. Tina told Wu Jing to see it himself.

"I am busy. Can't visit the web pages daily. I'll browse the web when I get back to Beijing. The last time I was Beijing, I even downloaded those I didn't finish reading. I have my computer with me. However, I couldn't access the web in this region, do not know why." Retorted Wu Jing. (Actually, I figured it could be due to the way he dialled the numbers. To connect to a line not within the hotel premises, one has to press 0 or 9 first. But we didn't get the chance to tell him to let us check his computer.)

We were somewhat taken aback,  for we didn't expect him to actually read our discussions on the web. But we told him we often complimented him on the web. We also mentioned that he could not have personally typed those messages left by him. It could take forever for Wu Jing to finish even those few lines. 

 "Those lines were indeed not typed by me," Wu Jing grinned sheepishly.

Anyway, we told him that there weren't anything particularly new on the web. Everyone was more into leisurely chat ... " because your shows have not been aired in Taiwan for more than year."

Wu Jing was immobilised, " More than a year? Such a long time?" 

After which he said apologetically, "I am so sorry."

Even when we told him he was not to blame, he still apologised effusively. We regretted informing him about this matter. Ninnie gave him an analysis of drama buying "habits" of Taiwan broadcasting corporations.

Wu Jing said that there was once when he went to Sina website and discovered a fan club dedicated to him and it had over 2000 members. Browsing around, he saw a discussion on the best martial arts stars and he was in the top 10. Seeing how fiercely they argued against each other, he had intended to leave a message  imploring them not to argue any more. But on looking back, he mumbled, "Hmmm. Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Zhao Wen-Zhuo ... Who's next?"

What's more, besides asking about our views on him, he also enquired about our views on other actors. However, we weren't particularly receptive. (We even complained to him Li Ya-Peng couldn't do his swordplay well.) Lastly, Wu Jing asked about Kiss of the Dragon and his fellow senior brother, Jet Li, (Wu Jing is rather respectful towards his senior). We grinned foolishly, staring at each other blankly. Wu Jing sighed, "How could it be. You should be concerned about others too!"

As Wu Jing understood that Tina and Carry had to leave on the next day, he suggested, on his own accord, to keep our talk longer. It was very late into the night before we finished our dinner. When we stepped out of the restaurant, it was pitch dark outside - the street lights had been turn off. We departed and headed back to our hotel which was nearby. We had no idea where Wu Jing stayed. He said he could walk back as it wasn't very far and he had to view the cuts and editing. It was already past eleven and he had to start work very early in the next day. And thus we waved our hands at him, bidding him farewell.

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