Tourism windfall likely from shot-in-Nepal China flick

SHENZHEN (CHINA)A new Chinese movie that was mostly shot in Nepal is now winning the hearts of millions of Chinese audience.

´Up in the wind´, a romance-comedy that Teng Huatao directed after his 2011-mega hit ´Love is not blind´, was released in Beijing on December 31. The movie, which stars the Chinese youth´s current heartthrob Ni Ni and Jing Boran, has already raked in 80 million Chinese Yuan; and still going strong in hundreds of theaters, including in Shenzhen.

It is believed that the 107 minute-long movie, nearly 80 per cent of which was shot in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan, will attract more Chinese tourists to Nepal in the years to come.

"Mostly, the youth have liked the movie," said Yu Jincui, a reporter with Global Times daily in Beijing. "After watching the movie, many youths have posted on social networking sites that they would love to visit Nepal in 2014. This is proof that the movie has been able to attract Chinese tourists to Nepal."
"After ´Lost in Thailand´ was released in China about two years ago, hundreds of Chinese tourists chose Thailand as their next holiday destination," said Yu. "Same can be expected from ´Up in the wind´."

Not only does ´Up in the wind´ mesmerize the Chinese audience with Nepal´s breathtaking beauty but also inspires them to be happy in whatever conditions that are living in.
Talking to the Chinese media, director Teng has said that he wants those Chinese audience who are not happy with their lives despite being rich to watch ´Up in the wind´. "In China, many people are rich but not happy. On the contrary, the Nepali people are happy despite being poor and suffering from lacks of basic amenities," Teng told Radio China. "I made this movie as I wondered how those rich-yet-unhappy Chinese feel when they experience the lives of poor-yet-happy Nepali people."

´Up in the wind´ is an adaptation of Bao Jingjing´s book of the same name. Bao has said that the idea of ´Up in the wind´ first struck her when she was in Nepal. In 2011, director Teng had visited Nepal with Bao, who had earlier won the Best Adapted Screenplay at the 49th Golden Horse Awards from ´Love is not blind´.

"I wanted to explore new story ideas in Nepal. But, I was so disturbed by problems like traffic jams, water crisis and power outage that I could not explore any," Bao has told Shandong Business daily. With her upset mind, Bao went to experience paragliding in Pokhara along with Teng. Bao climbed a cliff to paraglide. But, she could not muster courage to jump off the cliff. She wanted to return without paragliding. But, she would have to walk down the hill for hours if she decided not to paraglide.

"Eventually, I decided to jump off the cliff. But, I was told to wait for the wind to blow in the right direction," said she. "As the wind kept blowing, I started thinking about what people gain and lose in their lives, which led to germination of the idea of ´Up in the mind´." After returning from Pokhara, she started penning ´Up in the wind´, which was adapted by Teng into a film. The film tells the tale of two Chinese youth who visit Nepal and explore inner happiness.

source: republica,25 feb 2014