[Photo provided to China Daily]

City of Stars, the theme song, has quickly accumulated nearly 60 million clicks since it was released on Chinese video-streaming sites, generating 130 million comments on Sina Weibo, the Chinese answer to Twitter.

But locals can also see the Oscar frontrunner's attempt to connect with Chinese culture, in a small way.

In one scene, an American businessman who is dining with Stone's character answers a phone call and suddenly switches to Mandarin.

"Right now for American business, China is one of the most important places in the world. It makes sense that an American businessman would show off his bilingual talent, and his (connection with) the Chinese market," the director says.

Chazelle has found his own influences here, citing Wong Kar-wai－a Hong Kong arthouse master－and Zhang Yimou－who's behind the recent hit The Great Wall, starring Matt Damon.

"China has such an incredible pictorial tradition. Chinese filmmakers know how to tell a story through imagery, with their tradition rooted from the scroll paintings, operas and so on," he says.

Instead of showing off some simple Mandarin as touring Hollywood celebrities often do, Chazelle and Gosling charmed a crowd on Tuesday by using Chinese ink brushes to write the Chinese character ai (love).