A Chinese Odyssey
Hong Kong Blu-ray disc box set
Directed by	Jeffrey Lau
Screenplay by	Jeffrey Lau
Based on	Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en
Produced by	Yeung Kwok-fai
Starring	Stephen Chow Athena Chu Ng Man-tat Yammie Lam Karen Mok Law Kar-ying Jeffrey Lau Lu Shuming Ada Choi
Cinematography	Poon Hang-sang Ray Wong William Yim
Edited by	Hai Kit-wai
Music by	Zhao Jiping Lowell Lo
Production companies	Xi'an Film Studio Choi Sing Film Company
Distributed by	San Bo Mega Star Media Asia
Release dates	21 January 1995 (1995-01-21) (Part 1) 4 February 1995 (1995-02-04) (Part 2)
Running time	Part 1: 87 minutes Part 2: 95 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Box office	Part 1: HK$25,093,380 Part 2: HK$20,872,117; CN¥189.202 million (mainland China)[1]

A Chinese Odyssey is a two-part 1995 Hong Kong fantasy-comedy film directed by Jeffrey Lau, starring Stephen Chow, Athena Chu, Ng Man-tat, Yammie Lam, Karen Mok, Law Kar-ying, Lu Shuming and Ada Choi. It is a spin-off of the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, following the adventures of Sun Wukong when he gets sidetracked while escorting Tang Sanzang on his quest to fetch the Buddhist scriptures. The first part is titled A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box (西遊記第壹佰零壹回之月光寶盒), while the second part is titled A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella (西遊記大結局之仙履奇緣).

A third film, A Chinese Odyssey Part Three, was released in China on 14 September 2016.^[2]

The line "10,000 years" in the film became one of the most popular buzzwords for Chinese-language films, with a Google search count of 21.9 million.^[3]

500 years ago, Monkey got annoyed with Longevity Monk while escorting him on his quest to fetch the Buddhist scriptures, and betrayed him. He was subdued by Guanyin, who gave him a second chance after Longevity Monk pleaded for leniency and sacrificed himself.

In the present, Monkey has been reincarnated as Joker, an outlaw chief, and has no memory of his past life. He and his gang are attacked by two demonesses, Spider Woman and Bai Jingjing. Joker's second-in-command, who is actually Pigsy, overhears the demonesses' plan to capture and eat Longevity Monk, and gets forced into servitude by Spider Woman. Joker later falls in love with Bai Jingjing. Grandpa Buddha shows up to warn Joker about danger and gives him a magic mirror that can reveal a being's true form.

The group is attacked by Bull King; Joker and Pigsy flee with Bai Jingjing and Spider Woman to a cave, where the demonesses start fighting over Joker. Bai Jingjing and Joker escape, while Spider Woman is accidentally impregnated with Pigsy's child. As Bai Jingjing has been poisoned, Joker goes back to ask for the antidote and gets imprisoned by Spider Woman. Meanwhile, Bai Jingjing is captured by Bull King, who heals her in exchange for her helping him take revenge against Monkey.

In the cave, Joker finds Pandora's Box, which can open a time portal under moonlight when "Prajñāpāramitā" is chanted. He also overhears Guanyin's voice, telling him about his destiny to accompany Longevity Monk to complete his quest. Meanwhile, Bull King and Bai Jingjing enter the cave and fight with Spider Woman. Bai Jingjing commits suicide after mistakenly believing that Joker has betrayed her and now has a child with Spider Woman.

Joker uses the Pandora's box to travel back in time to stop Bai Jingjing from committing suicide. He fails on the first three attempts. The fourth time, he ends up going back to 500 years ago, where he encounters the fairy Zixia, who confiscates the box and sears three dots on the sole of his foot to mark him as her servant.

Joker learns more about his past life and reunites with Longevity Monk, Pigsy and Sandy. However, he only wants to get back the Pandora's box and return to 500 years later to save Bai Jingjing. Zixia falls in love with him after he unsheathes her sword as she has promised to marry whoever manages to do that.

When Zixia and Longevity Monk are captured by Bull King, Joker and his companions fight to save her but Joker falls off a cliff and ends up in the same cave. He is killed by Spider Woman, and only realises moments before his death that his true love is Zixia. As a ghost, he hears Guanyin's voice reminding him about his destiny. Finally deciding to accept his fate, he puts on the golden headband, transforms into Monkey, and returns to fight Bull King. Now that he has reclaimed his true identity, he must relinquish all worldly desires, including love, so he cannot be together with Zixia anymore. Monkey defeats Bull King and saves everyone, but Zixia sacrifices herself to save him. As she dies, Monkey confesses his love for her and feels the headband tightening, giving him an extreme headache. He beats up Bull King before using the Pandora's Box to escape with his master and two juniors.

Monkey awakes and sees the incarnations of Joker and Zixia in a standoff on a city wall. He uses his powers to possess Joker and give Zixia a long and passionate kiss before walking away. The embracing couple continue their romantic relationship, while Monkey races off to join his companions on their journey to the west.

The first part grossed HK$25,093,380 and the second HK$20,872,117 in Hong Kong.^[6][7] The second part has grossed CN¥189.202 million on its 2017 release in mainland China.^[1]

The Austin Chronicle gave Part Two a positive review saying that "if you missed the original film — forget it, you'll never understand what's happening in this picture, but if you saw and enjoyed the first part, you'll no doubt have a great time with this terrific follow-up".^[8]

• Other films directed by Jeffrey Lau based on Journey to the West:
  • A Chinese Tall Story (大話西遊之情癲大聖)
  • Just Another Pandora's Box (大話西遊之越光寶盒)
  • A Chinese Odyssey Part Three (大話西遊之終極篇)
• List of media adaptations of Journey to the West
• Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, a 2013 action comedy film loosely based on Journey to the West, directed by Stephen Chow.

• A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box at IMDb
• A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella at IMDb
• A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
• A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase