My Fair Princess
My Fair Princess, also known as Return of the Pearl Princess or Princess Returning Pearl (), is a 1998–1999 Chinese-Taiwanese period drama jointly produced by Yi Ren Communications Co. (怡人傳播公司) in Taiwan and Hunan Broadcasting System in China. Season 1 (1998) was filmed in 1997, and Season 2 (1999) in 1998–1999. Both seasons were filmed in Beijing, Chengde and the Bashang Plateau in China, and first shown on China Television in Taiwan. Written by creator Chiung Yao, the story is set in 18th-century Qing dynasty during the Qianlong Emperor's reign. It follows tomboyish and innocent Xiaoyanzi, originally an orphaned and semi-literate vagrant in Beijing who, after befriending the emperor's illegitimate daughter Xia Ziwei, becomes a princess in place of her by accident. Although some characters, the plot premise, and certain sections of the story are based on historical events and figures, considerable artistic license was employed. Originally made with a small budget and little-known young actors, My Fair Princess became a massive hit in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and is considered the most commercially successful Chinese-language series in history. Hunan Broadcasting System, after achieving ratings as high as 65% of audience shares, became China's second largest network. Meanwhile, little-known cast members were made household names and teen idols over night, like the actress trio of Zhao Wei, Ruby Lin and Fan Bingbing, who are still among the biggest stars in Chinese entertainment more than 15 years later. In 2021, the drama will be produced as web series with 38 episodes. Origin After a successful writing career which saw many of her works adapted into films and television series, Taiwanese romance novelist Chiung Yao and her husband Ping Hsin-tao established Yi Ren Communications Co. (怡人傳播公司) in 1985 to produce television dramas. (The company later transferred to Chiung Yao's son Chen Chung-wei and daughter-in-law Ho Hsiu-chiung.) In 1987, the Republic of China government on Taiwan began to allow visits to People's Republic of China for the first time since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. China did not allow visits outside China until 1990, and only then to a few select countries. In her first trip in 1988, Chiung Yao became friends with Ouyang Changlin, then a reporter working for Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS), who encouraged her to start producing dramas in China due to more diverse landscape and cheaper labor cost. In 1989, Chiung Yao began filming for the first time in China in Changsha, Hunan, assisted by HBS and Beijing Television (BTV). Most of the actors, equipment, and production crew came from Taiwan, while the Chinese stations produced chiefly cheap labor (such as extra actors) in exchange for broadcasting rights in China. Being the first Taiwanese television production assisted by Chinese stations, the drama Wan-chun ran into many problems with the Taiwanese government. However, as years went by, restrictions in the Republic of China loosened and Chiung Yao began to use more and more Chinese actors and crew members in her productions, such as director Li