Some of the domestic films being screened at the Beijing event include Apart Together, No Man's Land and Black Coal, Thin Ice. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"But the organizers were more generous than I expected, and it (the jury) seemingly wanted to give me more than just a ticket," he says.

On Feb 14, 2014, the day after his 40th birthday, Liao won the Silver Bear for Best Actor, the first such honor for a Chinese.

Black Coal, Thin Ice, a movie about a mysterious series of killings, was another Chinese-language movie to win the Golden Bear for Best Film after Wang Quan'an's Tuya's Marriage, which won the same prize in 2007.

Before Black Coal, Liao had starred in many movies and television series over 15 years. But in the commercial hits－such as Jackie Chan's CZ12 and Jiang Wen's Let The Bullets Fly－Liao played only a supporting role.

Berlin, a lucky city for many Chinese filmmakers since the 1980s, was a turning point for Liao.

He has played lead roles in the few films he has since appeared in.

His 2015 film The Master, which won best action choreography at the 52nd Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, is currently one of the most highly acclaimed martial-arts films on China's major review sites.

Liao's role of an aspiring Wing Chun master is much appreciated.