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Dreamworks did a great job in turning the lazy panda into a fast-moving kung-fu fighter.

The film was following a trend, and if you're a regular movie-goer, you must have noticed it. "Kung Fu Panda" is not the only recent Hollywood film with a strong Oriental influence or that in particular portrays Chinese arts on the screen.

Even the superhero film "Hell Boy II: The Golden Army" - now in theatres - features choreographed scenes that look much like kung fu fighting.

The latest Batman film, "The Dark Knight", could not avoid the trend. It features Hong Kong as the city from which the Dark Knight must return one of the villains back to Gotham City.

Coming to theatres next month will be "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". A sneak preview confirms it is definitely about China. The follow-up to "The Mummy" (1999) and "The Mummy Returns" (2001) features a quest to stop the resurrected tyrant Han, the Dragon Emperor - a mummy woken from a 2,000-year curse.

The Dragon Emperor can be nobody but Emperor Qin Shi Huang, considering that the movie's tomb is identical to the mausoleum, complete with terracotta army, constructed by the real-life emperor 2,200 years ago.

Despite this recent trend, the fondness of Hollywood film studios for Chinese martial arts is decades old.

Last year, there was "Kumite", in which Jean-Claude Van Damme's character returned to the fight game to defend his world Kumite title after years of battling alcoholism.

Before that, we saw Jackie Chan in "Shanghai Knights" (2003) and "Shanghai Noon" (2000), both of which used kung fu as a common tool to tame villains in London and America's Wild West.

Back then, it seemed that only one or two films a year contained a Chinese theme. Now, from the look of the first four movies mentioned above, Chinese is the flavour of 2008 - the year that China is hosting the Olympics.

It confirms an overwhelming fascination for China. Since it opened its doors in 1990s, the country has been like a raw diamond that cutters across the world have been eager to reveal to the world, with all of its charm.

The entertainment craze is unbelievable. Over the years, the Discovery Channel has run several documentaries about Thailand. But from my rough calculations, at least 70 per cent of its "Hour Asia" programme is dedicated to stuff from China. You cannot get away from it even if you want to. If you're not a film-goer, it will come to you in your own living room.