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If we really want to reduce the human impact on the environment, the simplest and cheapest thing anyone can do is to eat less meat. Behind most of the joints of beef or chicken on our plates is a phenomenally wasteful, land- and energy-hungry system of farming that devastates forests, pollutes oceans, rivers, seas and air, depends on oil and coal, and is significantly responsible for climate change. The way we breed animals is now recognised by the UN, scientists, economists and politicians as giving rise to many interlinked human and ecological problems, but with 1 billion people already not having enough to eat and 3 billion more mouths to feed within 50 years, the urgency to rethink our relationship with animals is extreme. Continue reading "10 Ways Vegetarianism Can Help Save the Planet"

From Wu Jing's February 26, 2010 blog entry:

To experience life in Shaolin
To be better immersed in character
With the intention of paying respect to Shaolin
Staying for seven days in Shaolin Temple to practise Zen

Whether it is practising martial arts, meditating, filming, calligraphy
Tea appreciation, discussing Tao, doing business, or falling in love
They are but a voyage of self-discovery, the process of illuminating, perfecting oneself
To boost one's own confidence, calmly facing trials and tribulations in life

Buddha - an enlightened being

 

Lensing ceremony for 《西游记》 Journey to the West TV series, produced by Zhang Ji Zhong, directed Zhang Jian Ya, with Zhao Jian serving as the action director, was held in Gansu on September 12. Filming will wrap up in around May 2010, with a release sometime in 2011, after months of post-production.

Continue reading "Producer Zhang Ji Zhong Embarks on Journey to the West"

Wu Yue has just finished filming an espionage series 《出生入死》 (Going Through Life and Death Together), where he and his colleagues are dispatched to Chongqing on a covert operation, and after countless battles, they completely neutralise the enemies.

Wu Yue says his Sept 7, 2009 blog entry that filming in Chongqing was like being in a furnace, to the extent that he hadn't the slightest inkling of how to write cooling. He started to pay attention to healthcare, and has been on a vegetarian diet for quite sometime.

After turning vegetarian, Wu Yue feels that he's getting healthier, fresher and more compassionate, energetic and youthful. He has no problems keeping up with daily martial arts training routine, and he remains as fit as when he was in wushu competition back in those years.

While dining out with some members of production, Wu Yue bought all the tortoises from the restaurant to prevent them from being slaughtered for meal and set them free in a river on the way back to the set, in turn influencing the production to minimise taking lives.

 

Recently, there's been some rumours on Wu Yue being cast as Sun Wu Kong in Zhang Ji Zhong's TV remake of Journey to the West, which is beginning production soon. However, both Zhang Ji Zhong and Wu Yue are keeping mum on this matter.

In May this year, Paco Wong was appointed the chairman of Gold Typhoon, Hong Kong division, and be put mainly in charge of filmmaking, switching from a music producer to a fulltime movie producer. Paco Wing says that it has been his dream to make movies, and with the blooming film industry in Mainland, it's too good a chance to be missed.

"Basically, I'm eying three film genres, first is teen romance, we can produce 2 to 3 films each year; next is traditional Hong Kong comedy, this would depend on whether we have suitable director and script; and finally, martial arts film, but this will be more time consuming, so I intend to produce at least one film per year. These are the areas I'm more comfortable with. My ultimate goal is to produce big-budget films, and hope to achieve that within three years." says Paco Wong.

Paco Wong's first two works as a full-fledged movie producer are the release of teen action film Martial Spirit directed by Kou Zhan Wen and filming of Love Expert by director Patrick Kong, that Shaw Brothers is co-producing, starring Kay Tse, Raymond Lam, Sammy Leung, later this year.   Southern Metropolis Daily

-- On His Majesty's Secret Service --

Trailer for On His Majesty's Secret Service is now up on MTime.

The zany comedy directed by Wong Jing stars Louis Koo, Big S Barbie Hsu, Fan Siu Wong, Leung Kar Yan, Liu Yi Wei, Sandra Ng, Law Kar Ying, Chen Jia Jia, Sang Wei Lin, etc.

To play the ambitious eunuch who has been hiding his true abilities all the time and is planning to overthrow the throne, Fan Siu Wong has to act effeminate and also study other films like New Dragon Inn. And here's a video of him on the set he posted to his blog.

Having finished filming Plum Blossom Heroes TV series, Fan Siu Wong met up with Wilson Yip to discuss Yip Man 2. In order to look for his granny, his character Jin Shan Zhao heads for Hong Kong, and he and Yip Man would...

As shown in the trailer, imperial guard Louis Koo, despite being a poor fighter, would be using his cranky contraptions to stop the martial arts exponent Fan Siu Wong, often with surprising results.
 

Barbie Hsu, who was recently voted PETA's Sexiest Asian Vegetarian Woman for 2009, plays a swordswoman engaged to Louis Koo. Many, many years ago, when her dog fell sick and nearly died, Barbie Hsu switched to vegetarian diet to pray for its recovery, and has never looked back since then, “I think we should respect the life of all species, a dog, a person. Lives are equal, eating meat is like eating corpses to me, and it makes me feel sick and sad.”

On His Majesty's Secret Service opens in China and Hong Kong on August 6, 2009.

Wu Jing hurt his back a while back while doing a dangerous fall in City Under Siege, but he only brought this up after having recovered, as he didn't want alarm anyone, according to his June 26, 2009 blog entry.

He took the break to call his family as he was recuperating in hospital, but he kept his injury from them to prevent them from worrying. And to him hearing your parents/family's voices as well as letting them hear your voice when you couldn't be with them all the time due to work, is a kind of consolation to each other.

Continue reading "Wu Jing Recovers From Back Injury"

-- Karma Kula: Mystic Warriors --

"While the body can be cut into pieces, the soul is never slain," says Karma Kula as he effortlessly slices through a group of ninjas in the opening episode of this independent 10-part live action martial arts adventure created independently the Ninjai Gang that features high production values, magnificent landscapes, smashing, if a bit gory action, as well as spiritual messages.

While appreciating Karma Kula's world-class martial arts action, the audience will also be captivated by the series' deep spiritual aspect as it touches upon timeless philosophical ideas such as karma and ancient yogic teachings both profound and insightful.

With a deep appreciation for the spiritual aspects of martial arts and the ancient Eastern teachings of yoga, Hinduism, and Buddhism, Satya, Subhadra, and Siddha Bellord, the three siblings behind the web series, are on lifelong vegetarian diet, a healthy, cruelty free, eco-friendly, almost karmaless way of living that ends the spread of factory farming related diseases, and have been practicing yoga and meditation since childhood.

 

They continue to hone their skills daily with a vigorous training schedule under the guidance of their long-time friend and wushu instructor, master Liang Chang Xing, one of the most well known and respected wushu instructors in the world.

The first three episodes may be viewed online on IGN, with one new episode to be released each month.

Having devoting his cause to One Foundation since wrapping up Mummy 3 in late 2007, Jet Li remains tepid about filmmaking, preferring to talk about charity to films.

Jet Li continues that he's been receiving several offers, especially towards the end of 2008, when he kept getting calls hurrying him. He has several film offers awaiting him in US, and one in China, "But I still lay down one condition, I'll consider cameos before actual roles, for I need only spend a few weeks at most, and I can spend the rest of my time on charity."

Since its inception til September 30, 2008, One Foundation had received 98m yuan in donations. It contributed 22.75m yuan in between July to September 2008.

Possible upcoming projects for Jet Li this year include Expendables in March and A Kung Fu Western Love Story, a joint venture between China and New Zealand later this year.

Expendables, which begins production next month in Brazil and Louisiana, is a about a group of "expendable" mercenaries sent to a South American country to overthrow its merciless dictator to free the populace. Sylvester Stallone directs and stars in the film. The main cast also includes Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Forest Whitaker and Ben Kingsley, as well as a possible cameo by Arnold Schwazenegger.  XKB

--Legendary Assassin --
 Here are some excerpts from what Celina Jade says concerning shooting her first MV:
 
Wow, was that an experience or what! You know Music videos are not like films, there is no rolling credit at the end that do justice for the effort and time put in. So even though, these ppl may not ever read my blog, in fact, some don't even know it exists. I thought the public and my friends should know the team behind the scenes that made it happen. Continue reading "Celina Jade on Shooting Legendary Assassin MV"

After five years of studies at Professional Children's School, Shi Xiao Long (Ashton Chen), 20, has graduated from the New York college in June and returned to China. He has made many close friends during the past few years, has grown up quite a bit and undergone various changes.

 

Shi Xiao Long plans to enroll at a local university, as this will allow him to do some filming in between.

Soon Shi Xiao Long will be doing an action thriller 《火线追踪》 (Huo Xian Zhui Zong) for CCTV movie channel. The project is set in 1930s Shanghai, and Shi Xiao Long will play a trainee cop. Ultimately, Shi Xiao Long aspires to break into Hollywood, and hopes to work with Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and learn from them.  Ashton Chen Blog

-- More More More --

Music video from More More More, part of Elva Hsiao's album 3-Faced, has just made its debut recently. Wu Jing was specially invited to choreograph the action as well as training Elva Hsiao for 7 days prior to filming.

 

The dance queen says it was very tough doing the action, "I trained till I sweat profusely, martial arts scenes really aren't suitable for girls. Even when doing difficult stunts like flying, I still had to wear a relaxed look on my face. However, after seeing the fantastic results, it was worth the effort."

Even after such a hectic experience, she still develops an interest in becoming a female action star, "If any action movie director finds me fitting, please come look me up. If the script is good, and the director is good, I don't mind going through the pains again for the sake of art."

The music video may be viewed at Youtube.

Continue reading "More More More Music Video"