by Katharine Schroeder

Nanjing, China

I dreamed I was bowling. Pins flying and striking; the rumbling sound of the ball as it rolled down the alley. I came wide awake with a start. "Oh no," I thought. "Not again." I ran to the window and looked outside, realizing that of course no one was bowling. It was pouring rain and the sky was alive with lightning and thunder.

We were in Nanjing for the 2006 Jackie and His Friends Charity Concert, and the weather wasn't cooperating. You might remember there was a constant threat of rain when Jackie was in Shanghai last year for the Jackie Chan Charity Cup and concert. As that turned out, the rain stopped long enough to allow the performances, but would it be asking too much to hope for the same miracle twice?

Jackie didn't have anything scheduled for the early morning, so as he slept the rest of us ventured out to find breakfast. We ended up at a restaurant about a block from the hotel and as usual, my presence was a bit of a curiosity to the local people. But I found that their interest was friendly and the thing they wanted to do most was to talk to me in order to try out their English. I would find this happening time and time again throughout my entire trip - complete strangers walking up to me saying "Hello! How are you! I am happy to see you!" It was great fun, and not something that ever happens to me in Hong Kong.

It was still raining as we made our way back to the hotel and we all tried to ignore the buckets of water pouring from the sky. If we didn't talk about it, maybe it would just go away, right? By the time we got back, Jackie was awake and preparing for an interview he was giving right after lunchtime, so we sat around in the hotel suite and talked. Conversation turned to the news and the recent announcement that Bill Gates was stepping down as the head of Microsoft and devoting his full attention to charity work. This made Jackie very happy and he expressed his admiration for Gates while adding that he wished he could get more people involved in charity work.

"If they could just go and see some of the people, the children. Some have no place to go to school. Others have no food. It's seems so unfair," said Jackie. "People shouldn't look the other way and pretend that there is no problem."

Of course there is no adequate response to a statement like this. I reminded Jackie that he was doing a big part and that a lot of people looked up to him as a role model, so he should get some satisfaction from that.

"I will never be satisfied," he said. "Unless I can help them all."

Before long it was time for the interview. Jackie would be talking to Russ Wasendorf, an American who was writing an article for a financial magazine. Russ had heard about Jackie's charity work and was so impressed that he wanted to help. In addition to donating US$10,000 to the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation, he had arranged for SFO Magazine to run an ad for JCCF for one year in order to encourage the readership to become involved as well. Russ, his wife Connie, and their friend Mark had spent the day before traveling with us to the elderly hospital and to the Operation Smile hospital so they could experience everything firsthand.

Russ asked Jackie many questions about his work and during the course of the interview tears came to Jackie's eyes as he talked about a little girl in China who didn't want to burden her family with her deteriorating eyesight. Jackie's strong emotions and his compassion for the pain of others lie right below the surface and time and time again during the course of our trip I saw them emerge. These were not the tears of a trained actor; they were those of a man who has experienced hardship himself and is very empathetic to the pain of others. I've seen actors working themselves into a mood for filming, and this is not what I was seeing with Jackie. These were spontaneous reactions and they came from his heart.

Once the interview was finished I heard the telltale sound of a bottle being crushed; Jackie was at it again. Time and time again I have heard this sound while sitting at a press conference or a gathering where water in plastic bottles is provided. Normally Jackie will hold the bottle under the table and try (unsuccessfully) to crush it quietly. It never fails to make me laugh as the people nearby look around the room trying to locate the source of the noise. Whenever he performs this little routine, Jackie looks over and flashes a mischievous grin and a wink; part of his fun comes from watching everyone try to figure out what the incredible racket is that's coming from his direction. [Jackie believes in crushing garbage up as small as possible; it's his attempt to participate in the global war against rubbish.]

As we prepared to leave the interview room, Jackie handed me the check from Russ. Holding a check for $10,000 was a new experience for me - so much money! I took a moment to imagine some of the things that this money would soon buy: education, training, school supplies, food, housing. It was thrilling to think about. Oh, and just so you know, I handed the check over to Dorothy immediately, before I had a chance to lose it!

Once the interview was over we said goodbye to the Wasendorfs and their friend Mark and headed out to the van and over to rehearsal. The rain had mostly stopped, although it was still overcast and the sky was dripping here and there. On the ride over we got stuck in some traffic which led Jackie to announce that he had just the solution for traffic jams.

"Remove all the traffic lights and road signs. Then everything will flow smoothly," he declared. 

Interesting idea. It turns out that he'd seen a television show about a town in Holland that had no traffic lights or signs. He said that the number of accidents was greatly reduced and that people just accepted that there were no lights; they gave each other the right-of-way and traffic flowed much better. When we came home from China I did a little research into this and it seems as though Jackie was right, although there were stories online from people who would beg to differ.

Jackie also talked about the charity concert, expressing his hope that the weather would improve. He talked about how much it meant to him to do this charity work and how he hoped that others would follow in his footsteps. "I can't do enough - I'm only one person!" Jackie has expressed this many times; he wishes he could clone himself or at the very least, have the powers of Superman. It all comes from his desire to do as much as possible and reach as many people as he can. He told funny stories about his private collection campaign for charity. It involves helping himself to any money he sees lying around - on desks, in cars, on tables. He said that in three years of collecting stray coins, he managed to accumulate HK$10,000 (about US$1,300), which he promptly donated to the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, astonished. "You take money from people's desks?"

"Of course I do! You can't believe how many people leave money sitting on a desk, a table, in the cup holders of their cars. So I just take it. They never miss it."

"Aren't you afraid that you'll get a reputation for...well...stealing?"

"I don't care!" he replied with force. "It doesn't matter what they think of me. What matters is the children."

He really feels that there is no sum too small and that even a coin is helpful. Jackie went on to describe another of his personal collection campaigns. It seems that if Jackie sees that you have too many pencils and pens at your workstation, he will nab several and put them in a box, collecting them until he has a good number and then sending them to schools in China. He said that he saw so many children trying to write with a tiny nub of pencil and it made him angry to see so many wasted pens and pencils just sitting on desks. All of these revelations from Jackie made me wonder what else he does to help people; things we might never hear about. Jackie sure was turning out to be quite an interesting guy.

As we continued on our way to the stadium, Jackie leaned back in his seat and promptly fell asleep. Once again I marveled at this ability to sleep anywhere, in any position, for any length of time. I hoped that someday I would also acquire this skill. I turned around to comment about this to Fibe, but of course she had also nodded off. So I put my head back and relaxed for the remainder of the ride, wide awake as usual.

Once at the stadium, we all gathered in the dressing room to wait for the stage hands to clean up as many puddles as possible before rehearsal. Jackie, still sleepy from his nap in the car, went straight to the dressing table, put his head on a tissue box, and was asleep within minutes. The rest of us spent the next half hour talking in whispers and waiting for the crew to be ready for us. Eventually we got the signal that everything was cleaned up. Time to wake Jackie.

As usual, he woke up in a cheerful mood. Come to think of it, most of the members of the JC Group team wake up happy. Why was this? What happened to being grumpy and crabby when someone wakes you up? Was this a skill that could be acquired, like the ability to sleep standing up?

Rehearsals were great, and I was introduced to some wonderful musicians: "VC Girls." One plays violin and one plays cello and they are terrific! Their instruments are electric and look like sculptures, but the sound that comes out of them is magic. Jackie met Zhang Lei (cello) and Li Yue Ying (violin) at the gala celebration in Beijing for the premier of The Myth last year and invited them to take part in the charity concerts this year. While they were waiting for their turn onstage, Jackie played around a bit with the cello and for a moment he even looked as though he knew what he was doing. Of course, there was no sound coming out of the instrument, and that was most likely a blessing.

Rehearsals continued late into the afternoon and although the rain stopped, the sky remained threatening and grey. Jackie went through the entire program of songs, occasionally joking around and trying out some Mariah Carey-like vocal gymnastics. Over and over again Jackie has told people that he is not a professional singer and that he knows he will make mistakes; forgetting lyrics and singing off-key. Although Jackie has a beautiful voice, singing in a large stadium or concert hall is much more difficult than singing in a studio or in the living room. I found this out firsthand when I was wandering around the stage taking photos while Jackie sang. The feedback is incredible! No sooner are the words out of your mouth than you hear them echoing right back at you. I wondered how anyone could stay on key with that kind of noise blasting back at them while they were singing. Despite all of these issues - the feedback, the bright lights, the bugs, the rain - Jackie managed to keep an upbeat attitude. His sense of humor is surely the thing that has gotten him through many tough situations and it serves to put everyone around him at ease. He believes that if you spend a good portion of your life at work, you should at least have fun. And he does have fun!

After rehearsal ended we went back to the hotel to rest for a while and have some dinner. Before long, it was time to go to the concert. Jackie got dressed - he wore a beautiful Chinese suit - and we all went downstairs and into the van for our drive over to the stadium. On the way, Jackie was giving Fibe lessons in Mandarin. He would point out signs, ask her to read them, and then correct any mistakes she made. Jackie loves to teach and Fibe loves to learn, so they make a great team. As we approached the stadium, we began to see more and more people on the roadside. Some were selling tickets to the concert, others were just walking to the stadium. Every so often, Jackie rolled down the window to wave and say hello to the people outside. He loved watching the reaction when someone realized who it was that was waving at them. All along the route, people were smiling and waving at Jackie and he was getting quite a kick out of it.

When we arrived at the venue, we went to the dressing room to wait for the concert to begin. Jackie was the picture of calm; the idea of appearing in front of 50,000 people didn't make him nervous at all. He made a few phone calls, had a snack, and got dressed. When it was time to leave, Fibe and I had to go around to the main entrance (Jackie went to the backstage area). For this concert we had actual seats in the audience; Jackie wanted us to see how everything looked and to observe the audience reaction. As we approached the entranceway, we were treated to the uniquely Chinese custom of rushing toward entrances without regard to lines or order. What an experience! Although there were six turnstiles clearly marked, everyone charged forward with abandon trying to get through first. The only choice we had was to hang on to our possessions and go with the crowd. No use trying to fight it. If you have seen Drunken Master 2 and remember the scene early in the movie where Jackie and a massive crowd run to board a train, you will understand what it was like to enter the stadium!

We finally got through the entrance and I was stunned when I walked out into the stadium. So many people! When the stadium is empty during rehearsals, it looks enormous, but when it's filled with thousands of screaming fans, it takes your breath away. The lights and the energy made the entire stadium feel like it was pulsating. Fibe and I took our seats and the concert began.

You've heard Jackie say time and time again that he is not a professional singer, that he forgets lines and messes up tunes. While all that may be true, his showmanship makes up for all of his shortcomings as a live singer. Jackie is a masterful entertainer. For all that he lacks in the technical skill of live singing, he makes up for it in his ability to engage and entertain his audience. Onstage he is electric, energetic, passionate; the audience loves him, mistakes and all. Fibe and I joined the audience in clapping and singing along and we had a really great time. Of course, our participation was all in the name of research; we would have to report back to Jackie on our experience!

When the concert was over, Jackie asked us about the audience reaction. He wanted to know if they were enjoying themselves, whether they were happy. Fibe and I assured him that the crowd was very satisfied and this pleased Jackie enormously. We sat and talked about the concert, and as I looked over at Jackie sitting cross-legged on the couch in his jeans and t-shirt, it was hard to imagine that this was the same man who was thrilling an audience of nearly 50,000 people just an hour ago. He was very relaxed, talking and joking and feeling content that things had gone well. When all was said and done, this concert earned over $10 million RMB (US$1,250,000) for charity.

It was quite late, but the day was not yet over. We left Jackie's room and headed down the hall to another suite at the hotel to witness an amazing performance by two young girls. They were here to watch the charity concert, but as it turned out they would give an impressive concert of their own. One girl, the daughter of Jackie's friend, played an elaborate electric piano while her friend played an unusual looking Chinese instrument called a shang. They started up and the room seemed to transform into a concert hall and it was as though an entire orchestra was playing. It was remarkable and Jackie was very impressed. After enjoying their music for a while, we headed downstairs to the ballroom for the after-concert wrap party.

It was now two o'clock in the morning, but you'd never know it from the activity in the room. People were eating and drinking and congratulating each other on their efforts. Jackie thanked everyone for helping, posed for photos, and after having some dinner we all headed back upstairs to Jackie's suite to talk a little bit and look through some books of antiques. Before long it was nearly 3:30 in the morning and since we had to get up at 5:30, we figured it would be a good idea to call it a night. We left Jackie, still chattering away, and went to our room. In the morning we would head off to Harbin, a city in Northern China, for the next concert.

Photos ©2006 The JC Group. All Rights Reserved.

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