Little people set to light up big screen
Prolific author makes his first foray into cinema with protagonists of popular children's story, Xu Fan reports.
In the early 1980s, China was still using ration coupons as a measure to tackle food shortages. Despite most people struggling with their appetites, novelist Zheng Yuanjie－dubbed China's "king of fairy tales"－occasionally derived inspiration from the experience.
Then, being a young father of a toddler son, Zheng often bought canned pork－which was not limited by the quota regulations－to add nutrients to the family's meals.
"I remember that most families in Beijing were rationed to 1 kilogram of pork every month, but you could buy canned food with just cash," recalls Zheng, during a recent interview with China Daily in a downtown cinema.
While wrestling with the can opener in the kitchen one day, he was struck with a quirky idea.
"What if the pork magically evolved into several tiny creatures? I was hooked by the scene that popped into my mind and stood there pondering over it for a long time," he says.
