Li Bingbing plays the lead role as a scientist in the film. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Recently, Li Bingbing placed a spider on her hand, skillfully guiding the creature onto her arm. The stunt sparked gasps from the audience at a recent event in Beijing to promote her new movie, Guardians of the Tomb, one of the largest ever Sino-Australian coproductions.

In the film, which hit screens on the mainland on Jan 19, Li — one of China's

most renowned actresses — plays a scientist specializing in research on venomous creatures. 

The actress with a showbiz career spanning around 20 years, first hit the big time with Zhang Yuan's 1999 movie Seventeen Years.