When the curtain fell and the music stopped, Zhang Ziyi, in an elegant white silk evening dress, suddenly appeared on the stage.
Her appearance aroused an immediate furore among reporters, who jostled for better shooting angles.
It is the first time that Zhang has appeared in Beijing since she moved to Hollywood to further her career. The super star has been invited to replace Maggie Cheung as the new image ambassador of platinum jewelry and from April, an advertisement of Zhang, wearing the jeweler's latest designs, will be broadcast by most TV stations.
Being out of view from the Chinese public for three months, Zhang looked a little slimmer in the long thin skirt, but much more mature with her gracefully ironed long hair and sweet soft voice.
But Zhang surprised everyone when she gave the welcome address in fluent English, instead of Chinese, which won warm applause from the audience.
"English has been the big barrier for my development in Hollywood, " Zhang admitted. She told reporters that she had insisted on learning English for one or two hours every day, despite how exhausted she was after finishing the work.
As the first time to addressing the media in English, the super star seemed a little shy and even blushed when she found herself making some grammatical errors.
"How strange! Zhang is as uneasy as a new star giving the debut show," some reporters grumbled.
It took around 20 minutes or so for Zhang to resume her usual naturalness and calmness. She told media that she had just celebrated her 28-year-old birthday. "I don't think my age should be a secret to defend," she said with a smile. "I enjoy the unique experience at my different age and like to share them with my fans."
As the new image ambassador of platinum jewelry, Zhang told reporters that she also hoped to attain the characteristics of such special metals keeping purity and tenacity under all conditions.
When talking about her new ads for the International Platinum Association, Zhang became quite excited: "You would not imagine that the ad was shot under the eight-grade gale! The photographers were quite worried whether I would be blown to the sky with the wind."
In the new ads taken in Hawaii, Zhang, in white gauze skirt, is dancing airily like an angel along the seaside and before water falls.
"But the fact is that there was so much mud before the water falls and it was quite slippery there. I had to try my best to avoid falling over and keep my dancing as elegant as possible."
Though most reporters are more interested in Zhang's latest films in Hollywood and her new foreign boyfriend, the organizer of the press conference did not leave much chance for reporters to ask questions.
During the ten-minute interview in the press conference Zhang said that she would shoot an art film this April with Hong Kong star Daniel Wu. She has also finished her first English dubbing for the cartoon movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Regarding the rumors that she will star in Hollywood movies Hua Mulan and Knight, Zhang said that it was not certain yet.
(China Daily 03/28/2007 page18)
