Chao, the Chinese version of Brad Pitt, who co-starred in Assembly, China's biggest boxoffice hit last year, found himself mobbed in Arrowtown on Wednesday, by a bus load of Chinese tourists.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times through an interpreter yesterday, Chao said the tourists jumped off their bus screaming, posing for photos and asking for autographs.
In the resort with Zhungjun Wang - the Rupert Murdoch of the Chinese media industry - the founder and president of Huayi Brothers and Taihe Film Investment Co Ltd, Chao said he hoped more Chinese films would be made in New Zealand ‘‘so he can become more famous''.
The pair were also joined by Zong Shuai, Huayi Bros vice-general manager, and while the primary aim of the trip was a ‘‘holiday'', it was also an opportunity to meet representatives of the New Zealand film industry.
Mr Wang said the experience would be ‘‘very rewarding'', given the reputation the country had earned through movies like Lord of the Rings and Narnia.
‘‘It's known throughout the world that the post production of New Zealand and also the film locations here are top, top, top.
‘‘I definitely will recommend New Zealand (as a filming destination) - with the right story, this will be great for filming,'' Mr Wang said.
The 48-year-old is one of China's rising media moguls, with Huayi Bros the largest media company in China.
Mr Wang has previously lived in the United States, working as a cartoonist and photographer in Michigan and New York, returning to China in 1994, where he and his brother Zhonglei established the company in 2000
Huayi Bros Media Group began as an advertising agency, but now controls film, television, music advertising and talent agencies and as a company, is expected to go public later this year.
Mr Wang specifically uses a commercial model for the company to challenge the traditional Chinese business beliefs, but is not ‘‘anti-government''.
While he aims for the company to become the ‘‘Time-Warner'' of China, it's already well on the way, with Huayi accounting for more than 30% of China's total box-office every year since 2003.
Since 2004 it has become the biggest film producing company with an annual production of three or four blockbusters and 100 episodes of television dramas. Four films in 2006 totalled $NZ53 million at the boxoffice, while Assembly took $NZ36 million in 2007.