And here is the screen capture of the gallery section:

According to The chinaneast.xinhuanet.com website, Bingbing Li was in New York in February 2008, for a UNICEF charity event to help African children suffering from HIV. Our translation below:

New movie queen Li Bingbing was in New York on the first day of Spring at a charity event. On the evening of February 6th (Beijing standard time, February 7th), Chinese star Li Bingbing received an invitation to an exclusive GUCCI event. Mis Li attended the global charity banquet which was held at the United Nations building. As a VIP guest she received the same privileges and treatment as US superstars such as Madonna and Tom Cruise. Miss Li met the superstars… As the only Chinese star in attendance Li Bingbing also received the royal treatment with a lengthened luxurious Lincoln sedan escort and special high fashioned European clothing for the event. In the evening she wore a graceful evening gown on the red carpent which was a big draw with the entire audience, which shows how Li Bingbing’s star quality shines along with her Hollywood counterparts. It is repored that the charity evening banquet was for the benefit of the UNICEF and the African Malawi’s philantropy efforts to help African children infected with HIV.

Chinese Article:

新晋华表影后李冰冰，2008年新春第一天便是在美国纽约工作中度过。2月6日晚（北京时间7日），作为获得GUCCI 中国唯一邀请的华语女星，李冰冰出席了在联合国大楼举行的全球慈善晚宴。作为VIP嘉宾的她更是出尽风头，与歌坛天后麦当娜、汤姆·克鲁斯、黛咪·摩尔、 詹妮弗·洛佩兹等美国本土巨星享受同级别待遇。

李冰冰纽约行遇阿汤哥

在联合国总部举办的全球明星慈善晚宴巨星云集：麦当娜、汤姆·克鲁斯、黛咪·摩尔、詹妮弗·洛佩兹等悉数盛装出场，麦当娜除了主持当晚晚宴外，还有压轴表演。

作为唯一一位受邀出席的中国女星，李冰冰也受到品牌高层重视，出行有加长豪华林肯车护驾，该品牌又特意从欧洲调来最新高级订制礼服。当晚，身着一袭鹅蛋黄曳地晚礼服的李冰冰，华丽优雅亮相红地毯时艳惊全场，巨星驾势十足，风头丝毫不输给好莱坞的女星们。

据悉，当晚慈善晚宴筹集的资金将捐助给联合国儿童基金会和非洲马拉维的慈善事业，用于孤儿和非洲感染艾滋病毒的儿童。活动现场，国民偶像汤姆·克鲁斯更是大方与冰冰合影，共同支持慈善事业。

Photo shoot of cast of The Forbidden Kingdom. Source: stars-ecentral.com and silentmonkey.wordpress.com.

Bingbing Li’s star continues to shine in North America, as Forbidden Kingdom continues to generate revenue both in the United States and internationally. According to Hollywood-stats website, The-Numbers.com, the movie has now soared past $88 million. According to China.org.cn, there is a rumor the producers would make a sequel only if the revenue broke $50 million. The existence of a sequel is also mentioned on Miss Li’s official website, LiBingbing.net (you will need to read Chinese to translate it).

To quote China.org.cn:

The overwhelming box-office success of the action-adventure flick “The Forbidden Kingdom” has prompted its producers to shoot a sequel.

Sources from the film’s Chinese investor and distributor, Huayi Brothers, said Tuesday they will once again collaborate with Hollywood for part two of the Jackie Chan-Jet Li film, the Beijing Times reported.

The two action heroes will appear in the follow-up film, together with actress Li Bingbing, who made her major Hollywood debut with “Forbidden Kingdom.”

The sequel is likely to feature a romance between Jet Li and Li Bingbing’s characters, the Beijing Times report says.

According to earlier rumors, Huayi Brothers president Wang Zhongjun said a sequel would be made if global revenue of “The Forbidden Kingdom” hit US$50 million.

The film raked in almost half that amount in its opening weekend in North America two weeks ago, topping the local box office with US$20.9 million. According to the Beijing Times, the US$70-million film has already broken even.

Pondering the Sequel’s Storyline:

Of interest in this article is the fact that there will be a romance between Bingbing Li’s characters — PLURAL! This begs a few questions: Is this a sequel or a prequel? Does this mean that the Monkey King is in love with the white witch? Or will Miss Li be coming back as another character?

But if this is a prequel, then does this explain the origins of the White Witch (Ni Chang) and why she wants immortality? Could she have been in love with the Monkey King? And could she have been in love with him and wanted immortality to be with him?

Or are we talking about an entirely different angle? If the story takes place after the current movie then it would be an interesting tale about the Monkey King’s journey as an immortal, falling in love with one woman only to see her die of old age, then living on to meet another woman that is a spitting image of the first love. Since both the Monkey King and the Drunken Immortal are, well, immortal, that would explain why both of them are in the same movie together again.

Well, we can all be rather happy whichever way the filmmakers craft the story. After all we get another chance to see Li Bingbing’s great acting and beauty on the screen again along with those two powerhouses, Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Congratulations and good luck to everyone involved!

What does that mean?

One may argue The Forbidden Kingdom is still doing reasonably well with strong word-of-mouth. This may be exactly what is happening when you consider how The Forbidden Kingdom is competing for the same box office demographics as the Tony Stark battle suit comic book movie. All together Forbidden Kingdom has reportedly made $45 million dollars to date in the United States and Canada. Let’s hope this movie continues to do well.

Three sizes of wallpaper of Li Bingbing:

• Li Bingbing – Forbidden Kingdom wallpaper – 800×600
• Li Bingbing – Forbidden Kingdom wallpaper – 1024×768
• Li Bingbing – Forbidden Kingdom wallpaper – 1280×1024