CRI听力:Nie Yuan, Charmaine Sheh Shine at GQ Men of the Year Celebration

Chinese veteran actor Nie Yuan and actress Charmaine Sheh recently captured a lot of attention when walking the red carpet for the "GQ 2018 Men of the Year" annual event in Shanghai.

Both Nie and Sheh are the leading stars in Chinese producer Yu Zheng's "Story of Yanxi Palace," a 70-episode Qing Dynasty drama which is quite popular both in and outside China.

The drama is distributed in over 70 countries.

Nie Yuan describes what it's like to play Emperor Qianglong.

"The Emperor is also an ordinary person who has emotions and desires and has his own pleasures, anger, sorrows and joy. I wanted to make the portrayal down to earth."

Charmaine Sheh admits her first-time cooperation with Nie is pleasant and helpful for each other.

"We have discussed a lot before each shooting. For example, originally there was one scene planned to take place indoors, however he suggested we should move outdoors for the shooting since our dialogue is a bit long. Eventually we follow his proposal."

A lot of celebrities, including popular actor Mark Chao and Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace, were all included on the guest list.