Tang Dynasty beauty film casts for leads

Legendary Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) beauty Yang Yuhuan has long been a film and TV drama darling and is set to return to the silver screen in a Chinese, Japanese and South Korean joint production.

Tentatively titled Crisis in the Tang Dynasty, the film will focus on the romance between Yang and her father-in-law, Emperor Xuanzong.

South Korean Kwak Jae-yong, whose 2001 romantic tale My Sassy Girl was a smash hit in Asia, will direct.

Kwak's choice for the role of the ancient belle will probably be from among Zhang Ziyi, Tang Wei, star of Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, and upstart Fan Bingbing, known for her beauty.

The filming will start this autumn.

Academy joins hands with US university for dance

Beijing Dance Academy (BDA) and Brigham Young University (BYU) of the United States signed on May 4 a three-year cooperation agreement, which involves exchanges of students and teachers, joint performances and other programs that will share resources between the two institutions.

"The agreement will enable more BDA students to study at BYU. In the past, many students paid to study abroad, while under the current framework, exchange students need not pay for tuition at BYU," said Zhang Ping, director of BDA's external cooperation and exchange center. "Now we have two exchange postgraduates majoring in choreography at BYU."

He said thanks to the agreement, the academy will soon have two BYU professors, one for ballroom dancing and another of impromptu dance, as guest professors; while Brigham hopes the academy can send teachers of classical Chinese dance to teach at the university in the future.

Zhang said the academy has had similar exchange agreements with 11 educational institutions around the world.

Chen Kun's studio partners with Beijing Galloping Horse

Actor Chen Kun recently announced the latest work of the studio he founded last year. It is a film co-produced with Beijing Galloping Horse Film and TV Production, which has created such smash hits as Reign of Assassins and Eternal Moment.

Titled Love on Credit, the romantic comedy stars Chen and Taiwan model/actress Lin Chi-ling. Lin will challenge her sweet Barbie doll stereotype to play a sassy girl trapped in relationships with three men, including Chen's character.

Taiwan director Leste Chen started filming at the end of April.

Ningbo to host singing contest once again

The 5th China-International Singing Contest is to be held in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, from Oct 9 to 20. The musical event, initiated by China's Ministry of Culture in 2000, takes place every three years and has made the port city its home since 2005.

The contest will be divided into three stages, and top singers, one male and one female respectively, will win $20,000, the highest in its history.

To popularize the event, Ningbo' municipal government, the organizer, will hold a national pop song competition and tour concerts of the winning singers, and take the singers to campuses and communities for promotions.

China's military heroes celebrated in TV series

China Expeditionary Army, a 45-episode TV series, which narrates the Chinese army's fights against the Japanese in Myanmar during 1941-1945, is now airing on China Education Television and four local satellite TVs, including Tianjin, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Hubei.

Set in China, Myanmar and India during World War II, China Expeditionary Army tells of military officer Han Shaogong and his resistance against the invaders. The show depicts several important events and battles.

Executive producer Zhang Liying said she had wanted to portray the history of the China Expeditionary Army on TV, since she visited a graveyard in commemoration of those dead officials and soldiers in Tengchong, Yunnan province, several years ago.

"Very few people know about these heroes and how much they did for the peace and happiness of their descendants," she said.

The show will also be broadcast in Taiwan.

China Daily