Brave new worldview

A scene from A Beautiful Daughter-in-Law Era.

Dramas that showcase the younger Chinese generation's merits and dreams may possibly be another option. The three DVDs given to Argentina's vice-president - the TV series Beijing Youth and To Elderly With Love and the film Love Is Not Blind - all tell such stories. Their producer Perfect Pictures aims to formally export them to Latin America soon.

"They don't preach. They show real faces. They are down to earth," cultural scholar Yu Dan from Beijing Normal University said in a previous interview with China Daily.

"While fighting for their future, China's young have their confusions and worries."

Nevertheless, Luo expects some heavy topics, like Chinese history, to finally feature more prominently in the exported TV series and films to satisfy curiosity of foreign audiences. Martial arts will continue to be a popular theme, though it is no more in its heyday.

Zhang Yimou's martial arts blockbuster Hero (2002) was introduced to North America in 2004. It grossed nearly $54 million and remains the most lucrative Chinese movie shown overseas. However, similar successes in the developed world are rare.

Some genres struggle to overcome cultural barriers. Lost in Thailand (2012), a comedy which earned a remarkable 1.3 billion yuan ($210 million) in the Chinese market, flopped in the United States. Likewise, Empresses in the Palace, a historical TV drama on the power struggles of concubines during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng (1678-1735), won an overwhelming thumbs-up in China, but received a lukewarm response in Japan.

"Translation is the main bottleneck," Luo sighs.

"Compared with today's mature translation of subtitles from foreign languages to Chinese, our country lacks experienced personnel to translate from Chinese to another tongue. It is especially hard when it comes to historical stories and comedies, which rely heavily on language subtleties and complicated cultural backgrounds."