DRAMAS SPREAD WINGS

Contemporary Chinese productions are not only taking off in Southeast Asia but are also enjoying growing popularity in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Xu Fan reports.

Inoka Weerasinghe, second secretary at the embassy of Sri Lanka in Beijing, says the hit Chinese TV series Ode to Joy has just become her latest mustwatch show.

The drama, which tells the story of five women striving to make a life for themselves in contemporary Shanghai, is airing in Sri Lanka after a deal was signed in November last year between China Radio International and Rupavahini, Sri Lanka's national television network.