Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai in front of a poster promoting his romantic film "My Blueberry Nights," in Beijing on Wednesday, November 21, 2007. Wong was in Beijing to inaugurate an activity inspired by his film.
Some Chinese girls are so attracted to the romantic journey depicted in Wong Kar-wai's film "My Blueberry Nights," that they want to go on a road of similar exploration in their own life.
On Wednesday, Wong Kar-wai was in Beijing to inaugurate a month-long domestic journey for ten girls, who stood out from a bulk of more than 10,000 applications.
Their trips will be jointly sponsored by Wong and the social networking website Ipart.cn.
In "My Blueberry Nights," the protagonist, played by Grammy award winner Norah Jones, takes a soul-searching journey across the United States. She meets a series of offbeat people who answer her questions about love and life.
In real life, the ten Chinese girls will embark on a 10-city tour taking what has been dubbed the "blueberry bus."
Each girl, who has been given a laptop, will chronicle their experiences on the road with a daily diary and photos posted online. When their trips end, readers will vote for the girl whom they think is the Norah Jones of real life.
Ten Chinese girls, selected to participate in a travel plan inspired by Wong Kar-wai's film "My Blueberry Nights," pose for a group photo at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday, November 21, 2007.
Although the holding of such an activity is partly to promote the film's upcoming Chinese release, director Wong said he hopes participants will enjoy the sweetness of finding answers to their love and life questions.
"My Blueberry Nights" is Wong's first English-language film. It has been selected to be the opener of this year's Cannes Film Festival.
The film is slated to rank high in China's New Year holiday box-office stakes when it opens next month.
(CRI November 22, 2007)