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Li and Chan face-off

Jet Li and Jackie Chan are about to fight for the first time. Forbidden Kingdom (Gongfu Zhiwang), a co-production of China's Huayi Brothers, Liongate and Relativity Media from the United States, will have its international premiere on April 24.

In the film, costing $70 million, director Rob Minkoff tells of a kungfu-obsessed American boy's adventure to China, where he trains with martial arts masters to fulfill a secret mission. Characters from Chinese folk tales, including the Monkey King, will show up in the story too.

Senior action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping who has Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's to his credit, takes charge of stunts, while Academy Award-winning cinematographer Peter Pau is cinematographer. Huo Tingxiao who created the visually stunning Curse of the Golden Flower is responsible for art design. Li Bingbing and Liu Yifei co-star as two kungfu masters.

Bagging a beauty

Louis Vuitton has invited renowned Chinese contemporary artist Zhou Tiehai to design windows for the new store at the Seasons Place, its third in Beijing and 18th on the Chinese mainland.

The 41-year-old Shanghai-based artist plays with the iconic Vuitton Monogram, transforming the House's pattern into a whimsy of glittering gold and incorporating miniatures of his own works.

Zhou's two most recognized paintings titled My Painting Should Be Transported in Louis Vuitton Bag (1994) and And Then Again, Here Came Mr. Gurierec to China (1997) were inspired by Louis Vuitton advertising campaigns in the 1990s.

Louis Vuitton opened its first house in Beijing's Peninsula Hotel in 1992.

Watching the stars

Chinese A-list celebrities gathered at famous watch-maker's Jaeger-LeCoultre new flagship store at Beijing's luxury mall Seasons Place.

Jerome Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, cut the ribbon with Lin Yanjun, managing director of Jaeger-LeCoultre China and Chinese actress Kong Wei (pictured).

Kong performed in Jiang Wen's movie The Sun Also Rises, which debuted at the Venice International Film Festival last September.

The store displayed its eight lines of treasure watches including La Rose. Crafted for the 2007 Venice International Film Festival, La Rose, is adorned with a total of 3,100 stones.

Jay Chou on the ball

Taiwan pop singer Jay Chou's fourth feature film Kungfu Dunk (Da Guanlan) will hit theaters on Feb 7, the Chinese Spring Festival.

Set at a high school, Kungfu Dunk revolves around a basketball genius' puppy love and friendship with his co-players. Chou's Fang Shijie is an orphan adopted by a kungfu master, played by Taiwan anchor Jacky Wu. Combining kungfu style and basketball skills, Fang wins the girl of his dreams with some impressive performances on the baseball court.

Directed by Taiwan director Chu Yin-ping, this is Chou's first silver screen comedy. Having a crush on a girl but fearing to tell her is something Chou experienced at high school. The Asian pop idol also composed and sang the film's theme song.

The movie costs about $10 million, the biggest film budget for a Taiwan release in recent years.

China Daily

(China Daily 01/29/2008 page18)