SHANGHAI - HONG Kong film-maker Peter Chan unveiled his huge, HK$50-million (S$9.4-million) set - a recreation of 1905 downtown Hong Kong - for his upcoming film, Bodyguards And Assassins, on Tuesday.

At a press viewing outside Shanghai were stars of the HK$180-million film, such as Donnie Yen, Fan Bingbing, Li Yuchun, Hu Jun and Eric Tsang.

Leon Lai, Nicholas Tse, Simon Yam and China's Wang Xueqi (Forever Enthralled) also star in the movie, directed by Hong Kong's Teddy Chan, about an assassination attempt on the founder of modern China, Dr Sun Yat-sen.

The elaborate set is built to scale and is as big as 10 football fields.

Depicting Hong Kong's Central district, it took a year to design and build.

Historic sites such as Hong Kong's Pottinger 'Stone Slab' Street, including 500 homes, 200 shops and 4,000 pieces of signboards, were created.

Peter Chan, the movie's producer, said it was the realisation of Teddy Chan's 10-year dream to build the set. Nine years ago, they dropped the idea of making the Hong Kong-China movie because of the high cost needed.

The movie is the debut production of Cinema Popular, a film company set up by Peter Chan and China director Huang Jianxin.