Global lens: Kung fu icon

Some pay their respects with a simple bow or a moment of silence while others perform their own martial arts routines in front of the statue, channeling their inner Bruce Lee.

Shin Yong-woo from South Korea is one such fan who had traveled more than 1,600 km to pay homage to his hero. He stood before the statue, dressed in black pants and sporting his bare chest, just like Lee frozen in frame by the monument. With a nunchaku in his hands, Shin began his performance, twirling the weapon with fluid precision. A fan since he was 9, Shin credited Lee with inspiring him to learn Chinese martial arts.

Born in San Francisco in 1940, Lee spent much of his childhood and formative years in Hong Kong, where his father was a well-known Cantonese opera singer.

It was in Hong Kong that Lee began to study martial arts. As one of Hollywood's most influential Chinese-American actors, Lee presented Chinese martial arts and its underlying culture and philosophy to the world through his films, and even introduced the term kung fu into the English language. His confident portrayal of Chinese culture in martial arts movies continues to inspire people.

Xinhua