BEIJING - If at first you don't succeed, try again.

That seems to be the mantra of Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, who has fallen in love with wakesurfing recently.

On Wednesday (March 2), the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) actress posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, a 33-second video of herself learning the water sport.

In the first half of the video, she was seen squatting on the surfboard while holding on to the tow rope.

Although her instructor told her repeatedly to stabilise her centre of gravity, she could not balance herself when she stood up and ended up falling into the water.

The second half of the video shows the 43-year-old actress finally succeeding, and looking pleased with herself.

She wrote in the caption: "The beautiful moments you have seen come after I have fallen N times. Nothing in the world is difficult if you are willing to fall."

The last sentence is a play on the Chinese saying: "Nothing in the world is difficult if you put your mind to it."

The video has received more than 162,000 likes by Friday afternoon, with several netizens admiring her perseverance and willingness to show the less glamorous side of herself.

Zhang, who is married to Chinese rocker Wang Feng, is not the only one in her family to have shown such determination.

In late November, the actress posted on Weibo photos of her six-year-old daughter learning to ski for the first time.

She also wrote that she was amazed by her daughter's courage and ability to learn new things.

Zhang also has a two-year-old son with Wang. The 50-year-old rocker has two more daughters from a previous marriage and relationship.