Many Canberrans know Jackie Chan has several links to Australia’s capital, but others who are newer to the city, may not.

The martial artist, actor and director, was born in Hong Kong, China but moved to Canberra in the early-1970s with his family when he was six, according to Britannica.

“The following year his parents sent him back to Hong Kong to attend a strict boarding school that trained students for jingxi (a Chinese theatrical art form),” the Britannica website said.

“From age 7 to 17 he studied acrobatics, singing, martial arts, and mime—skills that launched him into a position with a professional tumbling troupe and landed him bit roles as a child actor and, later, as a stuntman.”

He is rumoured to have “briefly” attended Dickson College.

In 2008, Chan opened the Jackie Chan Science Centre, part of the John Curtin School of Medical Research building, at the Australian National University, according to the university’s website. Then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was also in attendance.

In a tribute to his parents and to his Australian roots, Chan is said to have funded the science education centre.

“My father passed away last week. So, it is about time I did something for Canberra to remember my parents. I really thank you Australia and Canberra for taking care of my parents for 46 years,” Chan told reporters at the time.

When Chan’s parents settled in Canberra, his father took a job as the head chef at the United States Embassy before becoming a successful local restaurant owner, an article on the ABC website said.

“Before his career in film, a young Chan lived in Canberra for a couple of years – attending college and working as a builder’s labourer, where he was given his now famous name Jackie as a nickname by fellow workers who struggled with his Chinese name,” the article further stated.

His birth name is Chan Kong-sang, and he is also known as Fang Shilong.

The media also reported that Chan’s father was hiding out at the US Embassy in Canberra because he was a Chinese nationalist agent who originally fled China to Hong Kong to avoid being captured by rival Communists.

In 2016, Canberra graffiti artist David Chavez (DSee) and his Sydney-based colleague Ian Ballesteros (Swaze), painted a mural of Chan near a car park in Challis Street, Dickson. The mural stands there to this day.

Weeks after the mural went up, Chan is said to have praised the work via a post on social media, according to The Canberra Times.

In December 2024, Chavez published a post on his Instagram page, @theofficialdavidchavez, the mural was one of his proudest achievements in collaboration with Swaze.

Chan will have a long-lasting physical connection to Canberra as his mother, Lee-Lee, who died in 2002, and father, Charles, who died six years later, are both buried at Gungahlin Cemetery, in Mitchell.

Chan’s acting career continues to this day, with his latest movie, Karate Kid: Legends, to be released later this year.

What memories do you have of the Chan’s living in Canberra? Have you got any moments or connections of their lives in the country’s capital we have missed?

Canberra Daily would love to hear from you about a story idea in the Canberra and surrounding region. Click here to submit a news tip.