Zhao Wei Unofficial Fan Blog

Creator: Qiong Yao

Date of release: 1999

Genre: Action/Comedy/Drama/Romance



Returning Princess Pearl also known in the Philippines as My Fair Princess) is a television-adaptation of Qiong Yao's novel-series of the same name. It stars Zhao Wei, Ruby Lin, Alec Su, and Zhou Jie and is a joint-production between Taiwan and Mainland China. Because of the heavy comic elements present in the first two seasons of the series, the show can be classified as a dramedy (although the second season carries a more serious plot). Fans may often abbreviate this series as "HZGG".
The legend of Princess Huanzhu of the Qing dynasty and the reign of Emperor Qianlong served as the initial inspiration for the author, acclaimed Taiwanese romance writer Qiong Yao. Although some of the characters and the premise of the plot are based on real historical events and figures, considerable artistic license was employed and the series is largely fictional.
Due to its immense popularity, this series propelled its four main leads to super stardom in eastern Asia . The first season debutted in 1998, it had a successful run becoming a region-wide phenomenon, winning over legions of fans. A second season was first broadcast in 1999 and a third in 2003. It is popular in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia. Indonesia and even Thailand. In fact, the second season broke China's TV record with the highest ratings ever, achieving almost 50% viewership in all local TV stations.
The third season saw the show suffer a backlash in popularity, partly because most of the original cast, including the main characters, had been replaced with different actors and actresses. Zhou Jie was the only principal actor from the original series who remained.