The day a blockbuster was born

Actresses gather in Beijing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the TV series; a scene from the 1987 TV classic. [Photo Provided to China Daily]

"When I received many replies from those who said they could attend the concert I was reassured about my decision," Ouyang says. "Some had been living and working overseas for years, so it really did feel like a family reunion."

Of the days when the series was filmed, Ouyang says: "We were all very young then and about the same age. We spent three years together, and that left us memories that are priceless."

Those who saw the reunion concert were not just middle-aged people but also young people born after 1980 and 1990, he says.

"What is a great honor for us is that over the years many people of different generations have enjoyed the series."

The novel has been interpreted in many different ways, through movies, Chinese traditional opera, Western opera and theatrical drama. These adaptations have often stirred passionate debate among those in the know, in particular about which is the most authentic.

In 2010 the director Li Shaohong remade a 50-episode television series of Dream of the Red Chamber with the same title. Though the move gained a lot of interest, including public auditions that turned into a televised contest, it remains eclipsed by the 1987 version.

Ouyang, who was born and grew up in Chengdu, Sichuan province, became an actor of the prestigious Emei Film Studio in the province when he was 14. However, it was not until six years later that he would be given his big chance, one that Wang offered him, to play Jia Baoyu.