The cast of Winter Begoniaincludes Yin Zheng (left and center) as a Peking Opera master and Charmaine Sheh as a tycoon's wife.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Shang is depicted as a gourmet in the series. So, Huang often felt hungry while acting alongside Yin in the restaurant scenes.

In the series, the artist Yin performs in more than 20 Peking Opera shows from at least eight schools, most of which are classics of the likes of The Drunken Concubine, about the bittersweet romance between a Tang Dynasty (618-907) emperor and a woman in the royal court.

"Yin's appearance as a heavily made-up Peking Opera performer is amazing each time. I believe even people who don't know much about the opera will become fans, thanks to Yin's striking performance," says Huang.

Director Hui Kaidong says he was stunned when he first saw Yin in makeup and lavish outfits for a show about Zhao Feiyan, the queen of emperor Cheng during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24).

"Yin (as the queen onstage) is gorgeous, creating the illusion that he actually is an ancient figure who'd traveled across time to the film set," says Hui, who's best known for the 2018 smash hit, Story of Yanxi Palace.