Gong Li says she schooled Farrell in Mojitos

Left to right, Chinese actress Gong Li, U.S. director Michael Mann, Irish actor Colin Farrell and actor Jamie Foxx from the U.S. pose during a photo call to promote the movie Miami Vice in Berlin Saturday, July 29, 2006. (AP Photo/ Jan Bauer)

Chinese actress Gong Li said Colin Farrell, her co-star in "Miami Vice," taught her how to drink beer but she introduced him to a stronger drink, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Sunday.

Gong plays the Chinese-Cuban lover of a crime lord in "Miami Vice," and Farrell is an undercover detective who has a relationship with her. "Miami Vice" reprises the iconic 1984-89 TV cop show of the same name.

The Chinese actress said Farrell "treats everybody well and takes great interest in everyone around him - not just me, but the crew as well. As a result, it's easy to feel relaxed around him," the Sunday Morning Post reported.

Gong, 40, said Farrell showed her how to drink beer, while she "taught him how to drink mojitos," a combination of rum, lime and soda served with a sprig of mint.

She said she went on a research trip to Cuba to learn about the Chinese community in the communist country, which she said was much like China in the 1980s, the paper reported.

"But Cubans are always very happy, even if they don't have too much money and their houses are worn down. Still, they are joyous people. In contrast, people in China in the '80s were more repressed emotionally," the paper quoted her as saying.