Action star Jet Li is known for his martial arts movies such as Shaolin Temple (1982), the Once Upon A Time In China series (1991 to 1993) and Fearless (2006).

However, a photo of him looking frail in 2018 shocked fans as it was a far cry from his appearance in the movies, where he looked handsome and energetic.

The China-born actor, 56, was diagnosed in 2010 with hyperthyroidism, whose symptoms include muscle weakness and sleeping problems.

On Saturday (Feb 22), he posted a few old photos of himself on Instagram, as fans got to see him when he was about 17 or 18.

In three photos captioned "My training days", Li was seen smiling with his teammates with the Beijing Wushu Team, as the Chinese characters "Beijing" were seen on their shirts.

Many netizens said he looked cool and charming in the photos, with some noting that he was their childhood hero.

Li's health seems to have improved since 2019, when he posted photos of himself meeting National Basketball Association star Stephen Curry, Chinese business magnate Jack Ma and former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.

Li, who is now a Singapore citizen, will star as the Chinese emperor in the upcoming Disney live-action reboot of Mulan.

He is married to former actress Nina Li. They have two daughters. He has two other daughters from his previous marriage to former actress Huang Qiuyan.