Outstanding acting
Mira Suhardi, an Indonesian graphic designer, is also a fan of Yang and she is drawn to the actress because of Yang's acting skills.
She really enjoyed her performance in Eternal Love.
She even shed tears when Su Su, the character played by Yang, jumped through a hole and said goodbye to Yehua, the hero. "[Through Yang's acting,] I can see [the character] emerging [from the drama] into real life," she said. "Two thumbs up for Yang."
Walker also attached great importance to acting and found it difficult to fall for stars if they were not good at interpreting or representing the roles they played.
She liked Yang's performance in Eternal Love because she did really well playing three completely different characters.
She believed that a bad actor or actress could hardly make any breakthroughs with a character except displaying what he or she was like in real life or a single facet of himself or herself on screen no matter what role he or she was playing. However, a talented actor or actress could show thousands of different versions of themselves.
She cited that Yang managed to bring different characters to life in the drama, as she could be a fairy as the immortal Bai Qian, kind and soft as Su Su, a common human being, and naughty as Si Yin, a woman disguised as a man.
Jie Pin, a 22-year-old student from Singapore, also considered acting important as it is what draws her attention to the actresses she is a fan of.
She became a fan of Tang Yan, a Chinese actress, for her acting talent when she stumbled upon Silent Separation, a 2015 TV drama, on YouTube.
Impressed with her performance, she then looked for dramas and films starring Tang, like Lady and the Liar, a 2015 TV drama, and Perfect Couple, a 2014 TV drama. In fact, she was so passionate that she even read the novel Silent Separation was based on.
She found out about Zheng Shuang, a Chinese actress, when she saw the trailer for Love O2O, a 2016 TV drama, on the Internet. Afterward, she became a fan because of the amazing chemistry Zheng had with the hero on screen. "Now, I look for TV shows and movies that feature my favorite stars," she said.
Chinese females
Gill has never been to China and has no idea what Chinese females are like. Therefore, he sees Chinese female stars as a window through which he can get a picture of true Chinese females.
He realized that most of the time, Chinese female characters in American films were often portrayed as either exotic mistresses and hookers or Westernized independent women.
He is disappointed at those stereotyped female figures, because he feels they are basically what the West thinks and hopes the East should be, and that it is not what Chinese women truly are.
When he watched Legend of Lu Zhen, he felt pleased to see Chinese female figures in Chinese dramas that were portrayed in a different way.
He cited that he was amazed to see how Lu Zhen employed her wisdom and inner strength to rise from a mere lady-in-waiting to a prime minister during the Northern Qi (550-577).
He was in awe to see that Lu Zhen, amidst constant scheming from her stepmother and princes, finally managed to appeal to the Supreme Court to re-investigate her father's murder after going through a series of difficulties.
"Chinese women could be tough and persistent," he said.
When he watched Boss & Me, a 2014 Chinese TV drama starring Zhao, he was impressed that Xue Shanshan, the heroine played by Zhao, faced up to her rival in love and pursued her own happiness.
He noted that although there was a great gap between Xue Shanshan, being a lowly employee and a simple and regular girl from the country, and Feng Teng, the hero and Xue's boss, Xue still bravely fought for her love.
Gill said that he, as well as many friends who have never been to China or made any Chinese female friends, thought that most Chinese women, compared with their Western counterparts, were more delicate and restrained in personality. However, to his surprise, the female characters portrayed in many Chinese dramas often presented a different picture, like Lu Zhen and Xue Shanshan.
He admitted that what is in drama and films does not always reflect reality, but after watching these performances, he believes he can say he has a general idea as to what Chinese women are like.
Similar to Gill, Walker was not sure about the characteristics of Chinese women, but she also managed to get a hint through Chinese actresses, such as Zhao and Yang.
"They seem to be more modern and liberal than I expected, but I can not be sure until I visit China, meet some Chinese women, make some Chinese female friends and see for myself," she said.
"I have decided to visit China soon and I am sure that I will have a more definite answer then."
