Jackie Chan and co-author Zhu Mo. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"What's important is that I've turned from a hot-blooded youngster to a man witnessing the bittersweetness of life, peacefully."

Besides revealing the stories behind the many death-defying stunts he carried out in his movies, Chan recounts many of his early romances. The ambiguous relationship with the late Taiwan pop singer Teresa Teng around 1980 is probably one of the bittersweet memories that Chan savors the most.

It was during the shooting of The Big Brawl in the United States in 1979, that Chan first met Teng. At the time, Teng was experiencing a career low and had moved to California. Chan, though popular in Asia, was also lesser-known in Hollywood.

They got to know each other by chance, and later went out together frequently. "It was the happiest time that I spent during my first stay in the US. We studied English together, went for walks on the beach and dined in Chinese restaurants in China Town," recalls Chan in the book. "Those days were a lot of fun, but I don't known if that could be called a relationship."