Cantonese Version of Fan Bingbing’s “The Empress of China” to Air on April 26

Produced by and starring Fan Bingbing (范冰冰), the Tang Dynasty historical drama The Empress of China <武則天> has been positively received. Praised for its elaborate costumes, great scenery, and realistic props, The Empress of China aired in Mainland China to high viewership ratings in 2014. Although the show suffered censorship during its broadcast, it was one of China’s most highly-rated dramas of the year.

On April 20, The Empress of China will be holding its Asian press conference in Hong Kong at TVB’s TV Studios. Over one hundred journalists from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia will be present at the press conference. Fan Bingbing will also display two costumes from the show, each worth over $500,000 HKD. TVB has reportedly insured $1 million HKD on the costumes to ensure that they arrive to the venue safely. Over $2 million HKD is spent on the press conference.

The Empress of China tells the story of Wu Zetian’s rise to the throne of Tang, becoming Ancient China’s first empress regnant. It stars Fan Bingbing in the titular role. It also features Zhang Fengyi (張豐毅), Aarif Rahman (李治廷), Janine Chang (張鈞甯), Li Chen (李晨), and Kathy Chow (周海媚).

Only Fan Bingbing, Aarif Rahman, and Kathy Chow will be attending the Asian press conference next Sunday. It is said that Bingbing did not want to invite rumored boyfriend Li Chen, as she did not want their rumors to become the focus of the press.

Reduced to 70 episodes from its original 82-episode epic, the Hong Kong version of The Empress of China will be dubbed into Cantonese and will air on TVB channels starting April 26 for seven days a week. In TVB’s version, additional CGI was used to cover up the actresses’ cleavage, which were hastily censored when it aired in Mainland China last January.

In regards to the CGI censoring, Bingbing admitted that she wants the series to be aired in its original format as the actresses endured a lot of hardships while wearing the costumes. However, she also respects broadcast limitations.

Bingbing will also be promoting the series on Johnson Lee’s (李思捷) talk show Sze U Tonight <今晚睇李>. The episode will be aired before The Empress of China’s premiere. Binging’s Hong Kong promotional tour will last for three days.

Source: On.cc

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.