Renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou will soon begin shooting his second big-budget Kungfu movie.

After his first martial arts blockbuster Hero, there were many rumours about the cast of his new film. However the speculation has come to an end after the director's assistant said the cast will includes Hong Kong actors Andy Lau, Jin Chengwu , Anita Mei, and mainland actress Zhang Ziyi. The movie will feature a love story set in the Ming Dynasty between two ancient Chinese policemen and a blind singer.

Hero was once criticized for not telling a good story. So this time, Zhang Yimou says he will focus more on the narrative.

Reports say the director selected the Ukraine as the shooting location and has bought tens of thousand of dollars worth of flower seeds, turning a whole mountain into a colorful garden full of flowers.

(China Radio International September 5, 2003)