ZHANG Ziyi (章子怡; pinyin: Zhāng Zǐyí, pronounced like "Jahng Dzih-ee") (born February 9, 1979) is a Chinese actress and dancer. The characters of her name can be literally translated as Zhāng (a surname, not to be confused with the more common Zhāng 张), Zǐ (child), and Yí (happiness).

Born in Beijing, People's Republic of China, Zhang joined the Beijing Dancing College at the age of 11, and at 15 she joined the Beijing Dancing Academy. However by the age of 16 she decided to practice acting. Her first film was a low-budget made-for television movie called Touching Starlight. Her second film was The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear award in the 2000 Berlin Film Festival.

She further rose to fame due to her role in the internationally successful film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In 2001 she co-starred alongside Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 2. Both of these as well as the Chinese-language Hero were highly successful in the English speaking world.

She is set to again appear with Michelle Yeoh in the adaptation of Memoirs Of A Geisha, produced by Steven Spielberg.

Filmography

• Good Cook, Likes Music (2005)
• Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
• Operetta Tanukigoten (2005)
• Jasmine Women (2004)
• House of Flying Daggers (2004)
• 2046 (2004)
• Purple Butterfly (2003)
• My Wife Is A Gangster 2 (2003)
• Hero (2002)
• Musa (2001)
• The Legend Of Zu (2001)
• Rush Hour 2 (2001)
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
• The Road Home (1999)
• Starlight (1996)

Related topics

• Cinema of China

External links

• HelloZiyi http://www.helloziyi.com/ - The Official Zhang Ziyi Website (Chinese only)
• Zhang Ziyi CSC http://csc.ziyi.org/ - regularly updated news, extensive filmography and picture gallery and active discussion forum
• HelloZiyi.us - Zhang Ziyi http://www.helloziyi.us/ - US Zhang Ziyi fansite, the most pictures and videos, plus filmography,news and articles, active forums.
• Zhang Ziyi http://chinese-school.netfirms.com/Zhang-Ziyi.html - introduction, biography, filmography, facts, interviews, etc.
• Zhang Ziyi http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0955471/ at the Internet Movie Database