by Katharine Schroeder
In eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, in what appears to be the middle of nowhere, you’d never expect to find one of the biggest film production bases in the world. The Hengdian Film Studio is spread out over nearly 10 square miles and has generated so much interest that it is now a popular tourist destination.
This is the Hengdian Studio complex as viewed from near the soundstage where The Forbidden Kingdom is filming. Click for a larger view.
If you’ve been reading Jackie’s diaries, you might have heard him talk about Hengdian Studio’s founder, businessman Xu Wenrong. Xu’s is a rags-to-riches story - much like Jackie’s own - involving hard work, foresight, and the willingness to take risks. In 1996, with an initial outlay of about US $250, the studio was born from a director’s desire to have a set that recreated old Canton, and Mr. Xu’s willingness to build it. Soon, Xu was building sets for many different productions and he ended up with a collection of filming sites that includes a full sized replica of Forbidden City, Ming and Qing dynasty palaces, a Grand Hall of Dazhi Temple with a 98-foot-tall Buddha inside, a Hong Kong street, a Shanghai waterfront, a full-sized teahouse, and China’s largest soundstage. These are just a few of the sets that you will find in Hengdian. It’s an amazing place and an even more amazing story. Most local people – formerly poor farmers – now either work directly for the film productions, or make a living because of them. The city has literally grown up around the studio.
Jackie’s latest movie project, The Forbidden Kingdom, is filming at Hengdian Studios and in the surrounding countryside. I am here to tell you about Jackie's life on and off the film set. Of course Jackie writes his diary almost daily, so the Scrapbooks will be from a different perspective. It's easy to write these stories because Jackie is completely forthcoming with regard to sharing his life and there is literally no place or situation that is off limits. Certainly you know this if you keep up with his diaries. Case in point: One evening Jackie was showing us his new air purifier and wanted me to take some photos for the website.
“Jackie, you’re wearing your pajamas,” I observed. “Are you sure you want me to post photos on the website of you dressed like that?”
The others in the room just chuckled because they knew what his response would be.
“Why not? You don’t like my pajamas?” he asked merrily.
And so it went.
The only limitations I had on what I could post on our website came from the film’s producers: No photos showing Jackie or the other characters in costume. No sets or props. Sounds simple enough, but it’s been frustrating because I have so many pictures I’d like to show you, but can not. I promise to show them to you as soon as it’s allowed, but for now you won’t see any photos of Jackie or the others in costume. If you do, the costumes will be blotted out or blurred.
A Segway Tour of Hengdian Studios
One quiet afternoon in June, as we sat at our little camp in the studio’s massive soundstage working on our computers, Jackie approached me with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Can you ride a Segway?”
“Of course I can ride a Segway,” I replied truthfully. Jackie is, after all, a Segway distributor and there are Segway PTs all around our Hong Kong office.
He looked doubtful. “How can you know how to ride the Segway?”
“Because I ride on the roof of the office. Matt (Jackie’s Segway partner) showed me how.”
He continued to scan my face for any signs that I was making this all up.
“Okay, show me,” he said as he led me to the Segway. “And don’t go fast.”
He held the Segway as I got on and after he checked everything and made sure I was steady, I took off around the outer room of the massive soundstage, happy that I’d previously learned how to ride the thing. It’s really not very difficult and you don’t have to be particularly well-coordinated or endure lots of training to use it. It’s fun to ride and it’s really fun to go fast.
Once I was back at Jackie’s side, he told me to go get my camera. He handed his own camera to my colleague Fibe, then told the two of us to take the Segways and have a look around at the nearby filming lots.
“Take lots of pictures to show the fans,” he said.
As Fibe and I scooted away, I heard Jackie bellow, “And go slow! Don’t run anyone over.”
“I’ll try,” I promised as Fibe and I happily began our Segway adventure.
The soundstage where we were filming was a stone’s throw away from several of the studio lots that I mentioned earlier. As Fibe and I rode along, we attracted lots of smiles and waves from the workers and from some studio visitors as well. Although many people in America and Europe have seen the Segway, most of the people in this part of China hadn’t and they were very intrigued.
The first thing we encountered on our tour was a security officer who gestured for us to stop. We stopped and stood there as he looked quizzically at the Segways, having no clue what they were or whether they should be permitted on the studio lot. After a moment, he made up his mind.
“You are not allowed to bring those things in here,” he announced.
“It’s okay,” Fibe told him. “We’re with the film production over there.”
“Doesn’t matter. You are not permitted,” he answered.
Since he was speaking Mandarin and since my command of the language is seriously lacking, I decided to let Fibe handle the exchange.
She said a few words to him and then waved at me to follow her as the security guy, confusion written all over his face, watched us ride away.
“What did you tell him?” I asked.
“I told him that we would only take a look,” she said.
“Oh, that’s too bad. I really wanted to spend some time here.”
“No worries,” she said. “We can stay as long as we like.”
“But I thought you said….”
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, and headed on down the path.
You see that there’s more to learning how to get along in China besides the language.
The best way to show you the Hengdian Studio is with photographs (which is why Jackie suggested that we take the cameras). Here are photos of the grounds of the studio. It resembles Disneyworld in some ways because as you walk (or as in our case, ride) around, you have to keep reminding yourself that none of this is actually real.
Here's the security officer approaching us. Behind him you can see the little vehicles that tourists use to get around the studio.
This is a Hong Kong street. In the distance you can see St. John's Cathedral.
Another street scene.
A courtyard surrounded by old houses.
A village viewed from above.
St. John's Cathedral
Street market selling souveniers.
I can't remember what this is supposed to be.
This woman was dressed in a period costume. You can rent costumes and have your photo taken while wearing them.
The riverfront set.
This woman actually chased us for a while screaming "I want a ride! I want a ride!"
I think this is the Governor's headquarters set.
It's anyone's guess what set this is. Things aren't really labeled very clearly.
This sign says "Slow Down" and "Take Care"
Fibe and I rode around for about 45 minutes and then headed back to the studio. When we arrived Jackie asked us how our trip was and he smiled when we told him about all the attention we'd attracted. It was a great way to tour the studio, even if we were not exactly supposed to bring the Segways onto the property.
So if you're ever in Hengdian, take a tour of the studio lot. The public is welcome and there are even daily shows for visitors. Bring your camera and your imagination because as you tour through the sets, you can pretend that you are in old Hong Kong or in a small China village. It's great fun.
At the soundstage, Jackie shows how he loves the idea of filming while riding his Segway PT. You can see our little "base camp" behind him.
Text and photos ©2007 The JC Group. All Rights Reserved.