Supervised by famous Hong Kong director Stanley Tong (Police Story, The Myth) and directed by Jeffrey Chiang, the Chinese version of Korean drama Hotelier will start shooting in the middle of April, with Cecilia Han, Calvin Yu and Allen Ting having been chosen to play the female lead and male leads after six months of auditions.

The original show swept Asia 10 years ago and launched the leading actors, Bae Yong Joon, Song Hye Kyo, and Song Yoon-a, into instant stardom. Despite the challenge in faithfully reproducing such an influential and renowned series on Chinese TV, where shoddy replicas often prevail, Tong is clear about his position: "Although it's originally a Korean drama, what we want to present are the sentiments, feelings, and emotions of the Chinese people, despite the fact that more Korean sensibilities currently rule the entertainment industry here in East Asia."

Producer Xu Xiangbei said he hopes that Hotelier will be seen as a turning point in the quality of the Chinese TV market with its focus on good storytelling and high production values, and that he believes the show will be poised to enter the entire East Asian market before long.

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