Chinese actress Tian Xiwei namechecked Singapore viewers’ warm reception of Pursuit Of Jade during a celebratory dinner on April 13 in Beijing to mark the successful conclusion of the popular Chinese series.

In the 40-episode period drama, available on streaming platforms like Netflix, iQIYI and WeTV, she plays butcher Fan Changyu opposite Chinese actor Zhang Linghe’s fallen noble Xie Zheng.

At the dinner, Tian, 28, recalled how Pursuit Of Jade surpassed a popularity index of 10,000 on iQIYI’s domestic platform on March 11, six days after the show’s premiere on March 6. It also debuted at No. 1 on iQIYI International’s weekly Top 10 Chinese-language dramas chart, while also topping related search trends on Google.

On that day when the figures were released, she said she was attending a promotional event alongside Zhang and director Zeng Qingjie when her colleagues off-stage reacted with joy at the news but it had not sunk in for her at that time.

“It only hit me when... people started creating all sorts of memes online,” Tian said. ”I really wanted to share them with the platform executives, but I held back.”

The actress continued: “The next time it hit me was when Pursuit Of Jade performed exceptionally well on Netflix - in Taiwan, Singapore and other places. I suddenly felt I had an obligation to contribute to cultural outreach. I realised my life’s direction had taken on a higher purpose: I want to create quality cultural content and let the world see what China has to offer.”

Pursuit Of Jade has gone viral outside of China, becoming the first Chinese title to reach No. 5 on Netflix’s Global Weekly Top 10 (Non-English) chart and stay there for four consecutive weeks. It is also the platform’s top-ranked drama in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand, outperforming a slew of South Korean titles.

Zhang, 28, also shared his thoughts at the April 13 dinner.

“The (entertainment) industry has faced challenges over the past two years, but the success of...