Once Upon a Time in China

Once Upon a Time in China

Wong Fei Hung

Aunt Yee

Buck Teeth So

Porky Lang

Kai

Iron Robe Yim (as Yee Kwan Yan)

Naval Commander Lau

Grand-Uncle Cheung

Shaho Gang Leader

Yim's Opponent

Commander Man

Honorable Manchu Soldier

Shaho Gang Member

Jackson

British General Wickens

Tiger

Jesuit Priest

Opera Troupe Boss

Lion Dance Drummer

Shaho Gang Member

Shaho Gang Member

Local Militia (as Ling Chi-Hung)

Local Militia

Local Militia

Thug

Thug

Thug

Thug

Hawker

Policeman

(as Yuen Kam Fai)

Western Restaurant Guest (uncredited)

Wong Fei-hung was a famous practitioner of hung gar kung fu, although the techniques Jet Li uses are mostly of the long fist method and tai chi.

Jet Li's voice is dubbed in post-production because he is not a Cantonese speaker. In fact, he spoke in Mandarin entirely during filming.

Jet Li badly damaged his knee when Wong Fei Hung jumps out of the tea shop using his umbrella. For this reason a lot of the final fight was performed while Li was in plaster, meaning he had to be doubled for some of the moves. A lot of the shots are from the waist and above, to hide his plaster.

When Aunt Yee is fitting Fei-hung for a suit, she sees his shadow on the wall. Standing a few inches behind him, she traces his silhouette with her finger, obviously without touching him. However, when she touches his shadow ear, it flickers, meaning she actually touched his real ear.

When Master Yim And Wong Fei-Hung fights on top of the latter's, they hit their feet together. When Master Yim does the back-flip, a wire is clearly seen holding him up.

A 31-star US flag is seen shortly after an adult Wong Fei Hung attempts to defend the Po Chi Lam clinic from a fiery attack. The 31-star flag was used from July 4, 1851 to July 3, 1858. Wong Fei Hung was born on July 9, 1847, and so could not have been older than a few days shy of his eleventh birthday when this flag was still in use. Also, the rows of stars shown on the 31-star flag are inverted. The flag shown has rows of 7, 6, 6, 5, and 7 stars respectively (from top to bottom). The actual flag has rows of 7, 5, 6, 6, and 7 stars top to bottom.

Yim: No matter how good our kung-fu is, it will never defeat guns.

Wong Fei Hung: Why so many swords and daggers on the table?