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On May 8, the press was granted a visit to the set of Grand Master Yip Man on a Shanghai soundstage, where filming of Butterfly Lovers/Butterfly Swords, starring Wu Zun and Charlene Choi as the re-incarnations of the star-cross lovers, with choreography by Ching Siu Tung, is also going on nearby.

They were filming a scene whereby Yip Man (Donnie Yen) goes shopping with his wife Zhang Yong Cheng (Lynn Hung) and son Yip Chun (Li Ze) in the bustling streets of Foshan. However, owing to unexpected drizzle, filming was affected. At one end of a street is the congregation of all kind of martial arts schools. The set will be altered at a later stage to give a worn-down, grim and dismal look following Japanese invasion and occupation.

Gordon Lam plays constable Li Zhao and while enforcing his duty, he inevitably comes into conflicts with Yip Man. It's Li Zhao's duty as a constable to ensure law and order, but those martial arts practitioners are constantly taking on each other. Thus, they are a perennial threat to public security as well as a headache to the police force. In other words, Gordon Lam's character per se may be a wet blanket to the audience for potentially disrupting any matches.

More photos at: Sina. Here are the videos from the set visit at Sina: Shopping, Interviews with Donnie Yen, Wilson Yip, Lynn Hung, Gordon Lam

-- HK Filmart 2008 --

Have Perseverance, Will Succeed

李渊 Li Yuan was born on August 7, 1982 in Shangdong to an impecunious peasant family of over 10 members, at the time when Jet Li's Shaolin Temple took the nation by storm. Growing up being a fan of martial arts films, Li Yuan started formal training in martial arts at the age of 12. When he was in primary 4, he made a bold decision to quit school in order to learn wushu. He was subsequently punished by his parents. But on considering that he wasn't doing very well in his academic studies, Li Yuan's parents finally relented.

Li Yuan was raised mostly by his wushu champion brother 李炳雷 Li Bing Lei, who also teaches him martial arts. Li Bing Lei is 8 years his senior. Li Yuan was brought up under very strict upbringing, and he matured earlier than most people. In his youth, he got only one rest day on Lunar New Year; on other days, he would train for four to five hours daily. There were times when thoughts of skiving did occur to Li Yuan, but on thinking of how hard his parents were toiling in the fields in his hometown, even in bitter winters, Li Yuan cast aside all weariness.

An Empress and The Warriors Sina Chat

Sina, Feb 20, 2008

New Dragon Inn

Host: The Empress and the Warriors will be released in March. In our memories, this isn't Ching Siu Tung and Donnie Yen's first collaboration. They first collaborated on New Dragon Inn in 1992.

Donnie Yen: Yes.

Host: My most memorable scene is the finale in the desert with Donnie Yen fighting against Maggie Cheung et al. Do the two of you still remember it?

Director Du Xiao Shares His Visions and Goals

When China's multiple awarding director Du Xiao read the script of A Legend of Shaolin Kungfu, he approached it with reminiscence. As everyone is aware, Jet Li's version of Shaolin Temple is known throughout the world for its authentic portrayal of martial arts scenes, their elegance and practicality.

The kungfu culture developed rapidly following that, and films like Swordsman and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon brought about a different school of martial arts choreography, tending towards surrealism, etherealness and gracefulness.

-- An Empress and The Warriors --

Filming of a big-scale war scene: Sina

Xie Miao and Yaqi Talk about Legend of Shaolin Kungfu

《少林寺传奇》 A Legend of Shaolin Kungfu TV series, a trilogy directed by 都晓 Du Xiao, consists of  《乱世英雄》 Heroes in Troubled Times, 《十三棍僧救唐王》 Thirteen Warrior Monks and Prince Li Shimin, and  《十八小铜人》 Eighteen Arhats. A Legend of Shaolin Kung Fu I: Heroes in Troubled in Times is currently being aired in China to great success and high viewership ratings while the second part Thirteen Warrior Monks has begun production since January 2008.

It features an impressive cast consisting of veteran actors like 鲍国安 Bao Guo An, 午马 Wu Ma, 郭达 Guo Da, 王刚 Wang Gang, 吴京安 Wu Jing An, etc. and most importantly, large number of martial artists such as 计春华 Ji Chun Hua, 于承惠Yu Cheng Hui, 李渊 Li Yuan, 叶剑卫 Ye Jian Wei, 谢苗Xie Miao, 陈佳佳 Chen Jia Jia, 王雪 Wang Xue, 郭辉Guo Hui, 袁新东 Yuan Xin Dong, 阴海龙 Yin Hai Long, 刘子威 Liu Zi Wei etc. for the main leads and their opponents to deliver martial arts sequences that are jaw-droppingly realistic, beautiful, yet without being too violent, as choreographed by  程小东 Tony Ching Siu Tung. To add more colour to the series, 孙卉凝 Sun Hui Ning, 法提麦·雅琦 Yaqi Fatima, 乔乔 Qiao Qiao are invited to play the leading ladies.

-- 26th HK Film Awards --

Both Jet Li and Andy Lau are being nominated for Best Actor award for their roles in the same film Warlords. Warlords has also received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume & Makeup, Best Sound Effects and Best Original Film Score. Nicky Li (Invisible Target), Kong Tao Hoi (Twins Mission), Ching Siu Tung (Warlords), Chin Kar Lok (Protege) and Donnie Yen (Flash Point) are contending for Best Action Direction. The awards ceremony will be held on April 15.  HKFAA

A press conference, attended by Kelly Chen and Guo Xiao Dong, was held on February 1 for An Empress and the Warriors, which is heading for release in Asia on March 20. Ching Siu Tung directed this film and worked with Ma Yuk Sing choreograph the action, which tips on the more realistic side of the scale. Kelly Chen, who plays a princess of a fallen kingdom who seeks to restore it, says that the armours they wore was very heavy. It was made of metal and the film was made in summer when it was the hottest in Beijing. It was already tiring wearing armours, they were already sweating a lot, and had to do action scenes, resulting in loss of appetite. All they wanted was to finish filming quickly. Even then, Kelly Chen did not slack, not only was she praised by Leon Lai, but gave quite a bit of pressure on Guo Xiao Dong, "Seeing Kelly Chen's action scenes gave me a shock. It didn't occur to me that she could fight so well. I thought to myself, I mustn't lose out to her."