But she said she was surprised to find one group she solicited on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival in France knew little about the disaster.
"I was as angry as a madwoman. I said, 'Are you idiots? You are well-dressed people who look like you identify with society, but you don't know what's going on on planet Earth.' It's incredible!" Zhang said.
Zhang said she has made a pamphlet about the quake to show foreigners. She said she donated $144,000 and received a pledge of $100,000 from Wendi Deng, the Chinese-born wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Zhang's other credits include "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Rush Hour 2" and "House of Flying Daggers."
