The highly anticipated Chinese period drama, The Great Businessman, recently premiered, surging past 250 million online views within its first ten days and commanding a remarkable 3.21% television rating, positioning it as a potential frontrunner to become the year’s top-rated historical series. This cinematic success marks the first on-screen collaboration in over a decade between Hong Kong actress Rosina Lam and mainland star Chen Xiao, former university classmates, and has generated significant buzz, including social media trending topics focusing on Lam’s portrayal of the historical figure Cixi and the actors’ shared academic history.
Though only taking on a guest role, Rosina Lam invested considerable effort into embodying the young Empress Dowager Cixi, a challenging historical character. Lam’s commitment involved extensive preparatory research, delving into biographies and historical accounts to grasp the Empress’s known fondness for beauty and traditional Chinese opera. This research informed crucial adjustments to her posture and vocal delivery to accurately reflect Cixi’s demeanor.
To fully immerse herself in the period setting, Lam even practiced wearing the distinctive Manchu “flowerpot” high-heeled shoes, known as huapendixie, at home for nearly a month before filming commenced. She recounted humorously adapting to the unusual footwear, “I wore the flowerpot shoes even when walking my dog; my neighbors found it quite strange.” Her dedication earned strong praise for professionalism from co-star Chen Xiao.
Lam faced an additional layer of challenge, performing her lines using her original Mandarin voice for the first time in an ancient historical drama. Despite the limited screen time, she dedicated a month prior to shooting to intense voice and dialogue training with former Central Academy of Drama instructors. “The dialogue needed to be delivered in my own voice, so I continuously rehearsed and fine-tuned it,” Lam explained, aiming to present a fresh, distinct version of herself to the audience.
The opportunity to reunite with her long-time friend and classmate, Chen Xiao, proved a source of immense relief and support on set. Lam expressed gratitude for director Zhang Ting’s guidance and described the collaboration with Chen Xiao as the fulfillment of a long-held wish, viewing the project itself as a significant gift.
The overwhelming positive reception—reflected in the impressive ratings and frequent appearances on trending charts—has been a pleasant surprise for the actress. She humbly thanked the audience for their support and attention, noting the gratifying response to both The Great Businessman generally and her specific performance as Cixi. The show’s current rating performance suggests it is closely challenging the record held by Xiao Zhan’s Tibet Code, which sits at 3.3%, signaling a highly successful year for Chinese historical dramas and demonstrating the enduring appeal of high-quality period storytelling and powerful performances.
