Wire fu is an element or style of Hong Kong action cinema used in fight scenes.
Wire fu is used to describe a subgenre of kung fu films where the stuntmen's or actor's skill is augmented with the use of wires and pulleys, as well as other stage techniques, usually to perform fight-scene stunts and give the illusion of super-human ability (or qinggong).
Another later-developed technique of creating wire fu is using a green screen and post-production special effects.
Wire work is often used in kung fu films to simply allow actors to perform stunts beyond their physical abilities.
In movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it is used to create a more dramatic effect and adds magical realism to the world in which the film takes place.