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Outfits from Gucci. Cissy also wears Black Onyx and Diamond Fan Bracelet in Platinum and Round Diamond Ring with Sapphire, both from Tiffany & Co.

Cover StarsDonnie Yen and Cissy Wang What most people don’t realize about Donnie Yen is that behind the kicks, punches and flips, he is first and foremost a family man, next, a humanitarian and he loves to relax in the spa.

“Marrying my wife and having kids was the best thing that ever happened to me. They’re my biggest motivation each day,” said Yen as he happily flicked through photos of his children on his phone.

Yen and his wife of eight years, former model and beauty queen Cissy Wang, travel with their children as often as possible in order to broaden their horizons. A true world citizen who speaks six languages fluently, Wang grew up in Peru and Canada and traveled the world with her family as a child. Like Wang, Yen also traversed cultures during his childhood, moving to Boston from Hong Kong when he was eleven.

Before their two children started school, the family would visit Yen on-set whenever possible so that they could see and understand why he would disappear for long periods of time and learn more about his job.

“Quite often when Donnie is doing an action film, the locations aren’t particularly glamorous or suitable for small children so we’d visit him on-site for half an hour and then go and explore the city,” said Wang.

Their worldly ways have definitely translated to the children who, at only seven and four years of age, have already expressed that they’re rather Yen film in places they’ve never been to before - like Paris, Taiwan or Singapore - instead of Shanghai where he filmed three movies back-to-back.

The couple also believe in merging their love for travel with their love for voluntary work. “Donnie and I both visited the victims of the Sichuan earthquake to bring awareness – he went right after it happened and I went a year later. It really motivated me to do something – sometimes in Hong Kong, you get so caught up with things that don’t really matter in life. It cleared up a lot of things for me, especially when I saw how happy the children were that we made the effort to visit them, to know that people actually cared,” said Wang.

So, she along with some associates, came up with the idea of creating a website which matches volunteers with charities around Asia in need of help. Like a ‘Yellow Pages’ for volunteerism, people would be able to check whether any charities needed volunteers in Asia during a specific time.

“That way, you can go somewhere you’ve never been and help a worthy cause at the same time. We’re not asking people for money, we simply want their time. We’re currently working on getting sponsorship for this project,” explained Wang.

Apart from the website, the couple are heavily involved in charity work. Yen is currently in discussion with Conservation International to become their Asian spokesperson.

“We’re an environmentally-friendly family, and the kids know how to recycle. In Asia, there’s not as much awareness as overseas when it comes to the environment. I think a lot of people are concerned about the environment in Hong Kong but they simply don’t know all the different ways they can help. In a city where there is so much wealth, we could really do a lot to help the environment,” he said.

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Yen is also the face for The Red Cross Society of China and an honorable director for Radiant Children's Eye Hospital, a non-profit private medical institute on the mainland that treats disadvantaged children who suffer from lazy eye.

“I got involved because a lazy eye is a simple thing to correct, but if untreated, can really affect a person’s life,” he explained.

“We’re not saying we’re perfect but we think it’s important to help society, particularly because a lot of people respect Donnie for his work,” added Wang.

Yen added, “Self-achievement is important for actors which is why I look for different roles but at the same time, I realize I am also an influential public figure and a role model for children so when I choose my roles, I always try to make sure I choose characters with similar beliefs to myself to make sure I am giving out the right message to people and bring some positivity to society at the same time.”

With Yen spending so much time in both China and the US where the family spend half their time, Yen says he’s noticed that things are changing as Chinese culture – not only martial arts – but everything Chinese is becoming more interesting to the outside world.

“I feel the future can only get better for Chinese actors on the international stage. When I first started working in the industry 30 years ago, you rarely saw Chinese faces but now it’s becoming more and more common to see Asians on-screen, even in the lead roles. At the same time, Chinese films are also reaching an international stage,” he said.

“Because we’re such a huge population, it’s natural that there are a lot of very good Chinese films which are reaching out to people, even on an international level. After all, language isn’t a barrier as long as the message touches people,” said Yen.

Although Yen’s fame has been a long time coming, he feels fortunate to be where he is today.

“For the longest time, I had to really work on changing the conception that an action man couldn’t be an actor too. I chose a lot of different roles and also used my films to educate people that an action man can also do other genres of film and I feel very fortunate that audience expectations are changing and people are happy to see me play other roles as well,” he said.

When it comes to taking time out from his hectic schedule, Yen and his family love to spend time in The Landmark Mandarin Oriental.

“It’s contemporary, smaller and extremely service-oriented. The location is perfect for meeting friends, shopping and eating,” said Wang.

Yen agreed. “As it’s more intimate, the staff know exactly what we need and we also get the privacy we want,” added Yen.

As members of The Oriental Spa, they often take time out to relax together in the Spa’s Sanctuary Suite. “When we first met, Donnie never got massages as he found it too ticklish but now he’s addicted!” laughed Wang.

“It’s true, I could spend hours in the spa,” said Yen. “After all, who doesn’t like to be pampered?”

Cover: Outfits from Gucci. Cissy also wears Garden Floral Diamond Bracelet in Platinum and Diamond Fringe Earrings in Platinum, both from Tiffany & Co.

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