Xu Ke, a famous director of martial arts films in Hong Kong, once commented on Ann Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, "The most conspicuous thing about this traditional martial arts film lies in its achievements in successfully portraying the vivid and perfect image of a woman."

When the film was screened in America in 2001, Zhang Ziyi became the focus of a promotion campaign carried out by the American Columbia Pictures Corporation. In the same year, Zhang Ziyi received the "Award for Future Star" conferred by Hong-Kong Asia Screenings.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragonreceived four big awards, including the "2001 Golden Globe Award" and the 73rd Oscar Award for the Best Foreign Language Film, and Zhang Ziyi has since been a rising star in the international film circles.

 Rush Hour 2: Heading for the International

Zhang Ziyi inRush Hour 2

The great success of Crouching Tiger Hiddern Dragon provided a good opportunity for the inexperienced actress to enter international film circles. The director ofRush Hour 2, with an eye on the freshness Zhang Ziyi brought to the English world, invited her to join in the shooting. So after her appearance at the 2001Spring FestivalEvening Party (a television program celebrating the Chinese New Year in China), Zhang flew to America to shoot her first Hollywood film --Rush Hour 2as the leading actress, in cooperation with Jackie Chan, a Hong Kong and Hollywood star known for hisKungfufilms.

In the film, Zhang portrayed a merciless and taciturn female killer and Kungfu master named Kelly Hu. Dressed in black clothes and wearing long straight hair, Zhang vividly portrayed the cruelty and evilness of the killer while showing graceful demeanor in Kungfu fighting. Though Zhang spoke Chinese throughout the film, this does not lessen her attraction to the foreigners, with her performance being acclaimed as the most outstanding in the film. Hence almost overnight, Zhang became one the most popular actresses in the West.