Thanks Ayako!
In an interview for blogcity, Michael Tong talked about working in mainland China.During the interview he also talks a bit about working with Keanu Reeves on Man of Tai Chi. the article is in Chinese and there are some nice photos with it. Here is the gist of what was said about Keanu. Both google and bing translators were used to extract it.
The interview is primarily focuses on the television and film industry taking off in China and the many productions that are providing opportunities for actors. He goes on to mention that Hollywood stars are also moving film development projects to China. Keanu Reeves is a pioneer in this area bringing Man of Tai Chi to China as a co-production. Michael Tong admits that he grew up in America and is fluent in English. This fact favored his landing a role in Man of Tai Chi. As a result of being bilingual, he was able to communicate directly with Keanu about what his (Keanu’s) expectations were for a scene and what was required for every shot. In the film, he (Tong) plays an Intelligence Bureau supervisor who works with Karen Mok. As a group, Keanu wanted his actors to interpret the mindset of the various roles and was willing to spend the time (?3 minutes) to rehearse to tighten up the performances of the actors. When they transitioned over to Hong Kong for additional filming, the shooting style was different and he (Tong) learned a lot.
The article is here.