Great, speaking of Crystallized, Wan Mei has given me permission to reproduce his perfect translation dated Oct 19 2008, 04:25 PM which was Liu Yi Fei's final message to Xianju[1]:
"Topic: To Beloved Xianju,[1] a final message
Finally have completed the hectic work at Suzhou [2] and came to Xianju, preparing to leave a message to you, as before. I never thought this would be a final message.
As I learned of news of your closing, my heart is broken. Within this place there were people among those who know and cherish me the most. It has been the driving force of my work. At past times when I was misunderstood and hurt it had been my warm haven. In the past five years when I grew up with Xianju, it has been brought me a lot of joy. Reading the messages posted by you all, the pictures forum and the discussion areas have all become part of my habit. This startling event taking place, I am really sadden by it.
Before Xianju closed completely, I have something I would like to say to you all. I saw the (pinned) messages left by the administrator. My heart is trembling, in them I saw so many terribly misunderstanding that I do not know how to begin, even what is appropriate to say. Perhaps many of you don’t know that I am the only artiste in my company. The company's staff loves Xianju as I do and we are both proud of Xianju. That is why I persisted not to have an official site for the past five years - the only reason. Whenever people asked me about this, I would told them with pride that I already have fans who helped me to setup a website - it is a great site called Yifei’s Xianju! [3]
A distinctive feature of Xianju is it original status - and this is why I like it so much – it is a fair and free venue, without taking the position of the company. So when the administrators of Xianju approach the company with a proposal to make Xianju the official site, everyone was startled. From a site started and run spontaneously by fans to become a company controlled website, the site’s original purpose and meaning would be gone. One of the reason Xianju has the support of such a large membership [4] is because we all prefer the freedom of expression in its forum discussions.
The several examples cited by Mao (Cat) [5] made my heart go out to him. But what even more saddened me is the fact that truthful telling and honest explanation to him had not been accepted and believed.
Let me give two examples:
During the Forbidden Kingdom premier [6], we are not the organizers. There were a lot of people attending and my mother and I had only two entrance tickets for our own use. Even my manager had to borrow a press badge to be admitted into the event. This was a new film for me, why would I not hope to see familiar faces, cheering for me, sharing in my joy? We did try very hard, but we are unable to do anything about it. In fact, none of the stars in the event that day had any entrance tickets for their fans.
During the event, mother saw two fans from [6b] fan-site and feel bad about it. She spent a lot of effort that day trying to get the two to be admitted but in the end it was unsuccessful too. As a mother (to me), she loves the fans, and try her best to fulfill their wishes but was misunderstood because of her actions. I wouldn’t say anything more on this.
Because the Harper Bazaar event was held during the Olympics event, security has been especially tight - furthermore Prime Minister Tony Blair was in attendance. Movement is restricted at the event and only organizers and dignitaries can get close to the red carpet area. As I saw you guys out there, with your pamphlets lifting high up, I was distressed too, but there wasn’t anything I could do. Whenever situations like these happened, my heart is very heavy, but there is little I or my company could do.
Eventually in a message [7] I expressed a little of my feelings on that day. But it seemed that our apologies and explanations carried little weight.
Sometimes I even have this guilty feeling - to the extent that unless I am very sure about an event, I dare not tell any of you to attend because if you are unable to see or meet me - I would feel even worse.
Perhaps some employees of my company have certain limits in their ability to do their work. But their passion and respect for Xianju is not less than mine. They have always tried to do their best in support of Xianju.
OK, this is all I have to say on the subject above. If it is not due to Xianju’s closure, I would probably never spoke about some of the things I just said. But I really hope that when all of you leave Xianju, it would not be with doubts and misapprehension. Otherwise it will be the regret of my life.
I am thankful of everything that Xianju has done for me. Thank you, administrators for your selfless contributions and services. Thank you for having created the warmest, friendliest environment for all the fans and myself to communicate and sharing our thoughts. Thank you for all your hard work!
I am very sorry for causing any misunderstanding or hurt to you. I will miss all of you, but I really can’t do anything about it. Saying goodbye to all of you here today is really unbelievable. Recalling when I wrote on the 5th anniversary of Xianju that I hope to walk with you for another 5 years or 10, my heart sobbed.
Saying goodbye to Xianju is really a hard thing, within here there are so many happy memories we all cherished together. Here is the hub of all your selfless love for me.
I will be forever grateful and remember you always.
Good bye, friends. Farewell, lovely Xianju!
Yifei
10-19-08
Attached three photos
Visitation at Hengdian (ed: TFK filming)
Hunan Charity Event
Shanghai Singing Concert
Translator's Notes:
[1] Xianju is the normal Chinese term for liuyifei.org. It means “Immortal Abode”
[2] Yifei is referring to the Suzhou tourism promotion event on Oct 18 the day before.
[3] The Chinese full name for liuyifei.org. It means “Yifei’s Immortal Abode”
[4] Before closing, liuyifei.org has over 300,000 member accounts.
[5] Shorten form of ID for the administrator who proclaimed the closure of liuyifei.org. The Chinese name “Mao” means “Cat” in English. His full ID is "Ai Fei Di Mao" or "Cat that loves (Yi)Fei".
[6] At Beijing in March 2008
[6b] These would be fans from the competing liuyifei.cc fansite (membership: over 87000 as of Oct 2008)
[7] Yifei’s birthday message to fans on Aug 25, 2008.
Translator: Wan Mei of Crystallized
Copyright: Wan Mei of Crystallized"
Please note the copyright above. To which I replied on Oct 19 2008, 05:15 PM:
"Thanks so very much Wan Mei for the effort translating (even after you lost everything earlier in a first attempt)
Again, I am very touched by Yifei's sincerity and love for her fans (for example, she kept thinking of her fans during the TFK premiere and the Harper's Bazaar Charity event) and "beloved Xianju" (her haven for 5 years)!
Frankly, I can't think of any other celeb that would stay up till 3:35 AM to lovingly and painstakingly type out such a long and sincere message to her fans especially after her very hectic and tiring schedule since 16 Oct*!!
(*16 Oct Garnier promo, 17 Oct Jimmy's concert, 18 Oct Suzhou promo)"
I also said in another post that "Yes indeed, Yifei's genuine LOVE and sincerity for her fans (Xianju) really shines through!!!!!"
Finally, thanks again Wan Mei for granting permission to post your perfect translation.
Here's the screenshot I uploaded to my flickr account:
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