LONG time ago in a galaxy far, far away" - with this familiar opening the movie saga "Star Wars" will end after its last episode, "Revenge of the Sith", is released worldwide on May 19.

Almost every cinema in Shanghai will carry promotions similar to those used to hype movie hits such as "The Interpreter". Unlike previous campaigns, however, this time people who enter the cinemas already know what will happen. China's Star Wars fans have been waiting for more than 20 years for the final episode.

Ignited by VHS

Liao Huainan is a 29 years old man who works for Vanity Fair magazine. He has confirmed that he will go to the UME International Cineplex in Shanghai with his friends for the premiere of the last episode of Star Wars.

"We have already booked the tickets for the premiere. We also promised to each other that we will bring Jedi or Sith signature lightsabers with us that night," Liao said.

Liao is a hardcore Star Wars fan whose ardour was first ignited by a VHS video when he was still a primary school student. "I watched the first episode of "Star Wars" when I was still a child. The movie was badly recorded but I was stunned when I finished it. Everything in the movie, such as the space shuttles, the robots and the lightsabres was new to my imagination. I was hooked by the movie," Liao said. After watching the movie, he began collecting everything related to Star Wars, especially toys and models.

Career influence

Now Liao has filled a room in his house with every model he can find that is authorized by Lucas Arts. He said that his family supports his collecting hobby.

"My parents think this is not a bad habit. Maybe occupying too much space in my house is the only problem I have to consider," he added.

Liao's zeal for Star Wars movies is not restricted to collecting toys. After he finished primary school, he went to the US to continue his studies. When he entered college there, he chose computer graphics and animation as his major. He said his choice was deeply influenced by the movies.

"I was amazed by the technologies employed in these movies. I knew that to use these technologies would be a challenge but I decided to take it. As a Star Wars fan, I want to be engaged in all activities related to it," he said.

Their own creation

He began to write a play set in the world of Star Wars. With his Chinese and American friends who were also Star Wars fans, he spent half a year working out a play set against the Star Wars series background, elaborating on a minor character in the original movie. The group then spent another two months turning it into a short film.

Liao discusses almost everything in the movies with other Star Wars fans over the Internet. He is a senior member of a Star Wars BBS - the biggest Internet Star Wars fan club in China.

The BBS was launched in 1999 by Yuan Jiandong, who is nicknamed Daily. "At first, when I began to build the BBS, I was trying to promote one episode of the Star Wars series - "The Phantom Menace" - because I was deeply attracted by the preview of the film released by Lucas Films at the end of 1998," Yuan said.

After the fever for "The Phantom Menace" calmed down, Yuan was confronted with the toughest days for his website. Ever fewer people visited his website because the next episode of Star Wars had not been announced. But most Star Wars fans still held their ground on the BBS.

In November 2001, one of his friends nicknamed Armok, who is also a Star Wars fan, provided him free space on an Internet server. Yuan could now update his website more often and more regularly. The new website attracted more fans than before. According to Yuan, the number of registered members on the BBS has reached 1,388.

Li Bo is a 28-year-old engineer who works in a communication device company. In most of his spare time he works on writing a sci-fi novel based on the world of Star Wars.

"I've bought all the Star Wars novels and movies in past years. When I was still a college student, I finished all the Star Wars novels that I could find. Then I decided to write a sci-fi novel to explain some unexplained questions in the books and movies. I have finished three-quarters of it. It's complicated because I have to make myself understand all the details in the novels and movies. But this job makes me feel great because the legendary story of Star Wars has been a part of my life - sometimes I'll think or talk like those characters," Li said.

Zhu Lei is also a fan of Star Wars novels. Unlike Li, he prefers studying the relationships between Star Wars novels and other sci-fi stories. Three years ago, he translated and published several stories written by Isaac Asimov. "I chose Asimov's stories only because they influenced Star Wars. I'm a post-graduate of English literature, but my academic career is not restricted completely by my supervisor. To study the relationship between Star Wars novels and other sci-fi novels is another part of my academic career - and it is more fun, " he said.

In the 28 years since the first episode of Star Wars was released, a large group of people's lives have been changed by the movies. "Definitely I would have chosen another way of life if I had never watched the movie," Liao said. He made an important career move three or four years ago when he began to run a workshop with another Star Wars fan from Taiwan. They design and manufacture all kinds of costumes like those that appear in the movies.

"Star Wars seems to have become an indispensable part of my life. Related activities, such as collecting toys, have become my habits," he said.