Today is a very special day. I  felt so excited when I woke up this morning, maybe because I knew that I was I going to cuddle some pandas today! I’ve been in love with pandas for many years, and they’re also our national treasure. Many of my friends often call me a panda. I thought this was strange and became very curious so I asked them what they meant. They told me that they call me panda because I was like their national treasure. Ha ha ha. I’m nowhere near as cute or adorable as these lovely treasures; I’m no match for them ha ha.

Chengdu appointed me as the panda ambassador so I decided I’d like to adopt two pandas as well as being the ambassador. It just so happened that my application was granted. I decided on the names for my two pandas; I named one Cheng Cheng and the other Long Long. Afterwards, I felt a little regret for giving them these names. Why didn’t I name them Long Long and Feng Feng instead (Dragon and Phoenix)? *sigh* There are rules for adopting a panda, for example, you have the option of adopting a panda for several years or adopting one for life. As for me, I’m very special because the research base gave me a special adoption rate. Usually it costs an ordinary person RMB $1 million (USD $146,000) to adopt a panda for life but because my status is exceptional, they gave me a special adoption rate of RMB $100,000 (USD $14,600). But honestly, I truly think that I’m no different from any other ordinary person, especially as an artist, and I cannot be treated specially. So when I donated the check at the ceremony, I personally added an extra zero at the end of the amount on the check. 

When I arrived at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, wow, there were so many people; it was like a sea full of faces. It was a relatively special day. All the parks and reserves around Sichuan were open to the public, offering free admission to all tourists. When I saw my two pandas Cheng Cheng and Long Long, wow, I was so happy. I just can’t find the words to explain the emotions I felt at the time. From the first moment I saw them, I was smiling. Even now while I’m recording my diary, I’m still smiling. Whenever I think of them, I start smiling. Pandas are the kind of animal that will always make you happy no matter how hurt or upset you may be. In the past whenever I saw a panda, whether I saw a photo in the newspaper or a panda statue at the end of a street, it always made me smile. Whenever I think about cuddling Cheng Cheng and Long Long today, I can still feel the joy and happiness that I felt at the time.

Here are some photos from the Research Center:

Sichuan is the breeding place of pandas in our country. However, when I arrived in Chengdu and walked out of the airport, I didn’t see any sort of advertising with pandas on it. In overseas countries such as Taiwan, Japan, or others places, tens of thousands of people queue up every day to see the pandas and each person is only allowed to look at them for 5-10 seconds. Pandas are the treasures of our own country but we don’t seem to be as enthusiastic about it compared to other places. I know that it’s quite difficult to do the very best with everything but some things can still be achieved. Trying to revive all the businesses and industries in surrounding areas as a whole is extremely difficult. It’s a similar situation for people like us who make films. As an individual, each person is absolutely amazing because we’re all skilled in many areas and every one of us can multi-task. But as a whole group, our skills and abilities are incomparable to other people from overseas. Foreigners tend to specialized in one particular area; directors might only know how to direct movies, actors might only know how to act, screenwriters might only know how to write scripts, but the moment when they unite as whole body, they are a lot stronger compared to us. It’s the same thing with the pandas. The publicity for the pandas as a whole is not strong enough. Since I’ve already been appointed as the panda ambassador, I didn’t just want to be given the name and not live up to the reputation. I want to arrange and design a series of events for them, and I will try my best to get everything organized. Even though I might not be successful, I will still continue to try my best and get it done.

I’ve already asked a designer to design several cute and adorable cartoon panda figures, and I already have a few selections to choose from. I’d like to ask everybody to help me choose.

[Note: At the end of this diary you can see all the panda designs. They are each numbered, so if you would like to tell Jackie which is your favorite, post a comment and include the design number or send an email to webmaster@jackiechan.com and tell us which one you like best. Jackie really wants to hear your opinion about this!] 

Initially I had planned to go to Doujiangyan after visiting the Panda Research Base Center but someone a lot more important than me was already there and everybody was traveling towards that area. As a result, our roads became blocked. That very important person was the Chairman of our country, ha ha. When the local residents said that someone a lot more important than me was already in Doujianyang, everyone rushed off to go there so the roads became blocked. I said, “It doesn’t matter, I’ll just give him a phone call.” And everybody started laughing again, ha ha.

We decided to go to a hotel, eat some food, and wait until it was time for us to catch our flight back to Beijing in the evening. Halfway into eating our meal, the public memorial ceremony for the 5.12 anniversary just happened to start. When everyone became aware of the ceremony, they willingly stood up and paid a silent tribute. The scene was truly very heart-touching.

To the people who lost their lives during the devastating earthquake last year, we will always be with you! To the fortunate survivors who lived through the devastating earthquake last year, keep the faith. Let’s work hard together and reestablish our beautiful homeland. Believe in our country. Believe in our government. Believe in our family!

Here are the panda designs. Let Jackie know which one you like best! Design numbers are beneath each drawing.

Design #1

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You can learn much more about the Giant Pandas by visiting the research center's website here.

Text and photos © 2009 The JC Group

All Rights Reserved

May 12 （星期二）

          今天很特别，我不知道为什么一早上起来就这么兴奋，可能就是因为我要去抱熊猫吧！熊猫我喜欢它很多年，它也是我们的国宝，我身边的很多朋友，经常管我叫熊猫，我很奇怪，就问他们什么意思。他们告诉我：因为你就是我们的国宝。哈哈哈哈~我哪有那个宝贝，那么可爱，怎么能跟他们比呀，哈哈~

          成都授予我熊猫大使，我想不如我也领养两个，刚好也得到批准，我自己给两只熊猫起了名字，一个成成，一个龙龙。后来我有点后悔，怎么没起个龙龙、凤凤的名字呢，哎……领养熊猫也有规矩，分几年领养还有终生领养，我呢，就很特别，他们给我一个特别价格，普通人终生一百万认养费，给我是终生十万的认养费。因为我的身份特殊，但是我觉得其实我跟普通人没什么区别，尤其做艺人的更不能特别，所以在现场捐赠支票的时候，我就亲笔在支票上加了一个零。

          到了成都大熊猫繁育研究基地，哇，人山人海的，因为今天日子比较特殊，四川的公园全部都免费向游客开放。当我见到我的两个成成和龙龙的时候，哇，我好开心，那种心情真的是无法形容。从一看到他们我就在笑，直到现在写这个日记我还在笑，一想到它们就会笑。熊猫是一个让你不管在多悲伤的时候，看到它们都会开心的动物。我之前不管是从报纸上看到，还是看到街头的假的熊猫雕塑，只要是见到都会笑。今天想起来抱着成成和龙龙的情景，还是想乐。

          四川是我们国家出熊猫的地方，但是到了成都，出了机场，见不到任何有熊猫的宣传，但是在外国，台湾、日本等地，人家都排队在看熊猫，每天有几万人，每人只能看5到10秒钟，熊猫是我们自己国家的宝贝，我们反而没那么热情。我知道要想做到最好是很难的，可以做到某样成功，但是要把周边的产业都带动起来很困难，就像我们拍电影的人一样，独立每个人都很厉害，我们可以每个人都做到十项全能，但是整体实力比不过外国，外国人他可能是导演只会导戏，演员只会演戏，编剧只会写剧本……但是他们整合在一起现阶段就比我们强。同样的一个熊猫，整合在一起的宣传力度就不够。既然我已经做了熊猫大使，我不想只是浪得虚名，我要为它们计划做一系列的事情，我会尽量去做，虽然我不一定成功，但是我会尽力去做。

          我已经请设计师设计了几个可爱的熊猫卡通形象，我已经有了选择，也请大家帮我选选吧~

          本来之后计划从熊猫基地出来要去都江堰的，但是一个比我更大的人物去了那里，大家都往那去，结果就堵住了我们的路，这个人就是我们国家的主席，哈哈。当地人说比你大的人物去了那里，大家都追着过去，所以路堵住了，我说：没关系，我打个电话给他。大家都笑翻了，哈哈。

          我们一行人就到了一个酒店吃饭，等着乘坐傍晚的飞机回北京，饭吃到一半的时候，正好赶上公祭，所有的人都自觉的自立，默哀，真的很感动……

在去年地震中逝去的人们，我们永远和你们在一起！

在去年地震中幸存的人们，坚定信念，我们共同努力，一起重建我们美丽的家园，相信国家，相信政府，相信自己家！