National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1363 Huge Success

Facts have proved that the publicity strategies and promotion methods adopted by Ning Weimin have achieved great success.

Twelve days later, not only has the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions" become very popular in the three places in Japan, but the actors in gorgeous costumes and exquisite makeup have also attracted countless fans.

It obviously boosted the ratings and broke the 20% mark in one fell swoop.

TBS TV station was overjoyed by this surprise, and Deputy Director Kaga received recognition and praise from the board of directors.

The "Dream of Red Mansions" Theme Cultural Festival planned by Ning Weimin himself was also warmly sought after and loved by the Japanese people.

At the events in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, all products sold explosively, making many Chinese snacks, desserts and handicrafts quickly popular.

Even Taurus and Yamato Advertising reaped huge benefits from this event, far exceeding the two companies' initial expectations.

However, for Ning Weimin, the most important gain is the smooth development of this cultural exchange activity of Chinese culture overseas, with the help of the IP influence of "Dream of Red Mansions" and the support of the crew and actors.

He finally succeeded in promoting the opening of the two branches of Tan Gong Restaurant and achieved a successful start as he wished.

It turns out that the actors of the "Dream of Red Mansions" crew and the cultural festival activities are attracting more and more attention from the media and the public.

More and more media outlets have reported on this incident, and many TV stations' food programs have come to the cultural festival specifically to film Chinese snacks and interview the chefs of Tan Gong Restaurant.

As a result, thanks to the accumulation of these BUFFs, the Tan Gong Restaurant, which was originally unknown in these two places, became instantly popular.

The branches of Dangu Restaurant in Kyoto and Osaka were packed with customers as soon as they opened, and their sales surpassed those of the long-established Chinese restaurants in the two places, instantly gaining fame and building a good reputation.

This situation is rare in Japan, it is as awesome as it can be.

This is especially true in today's Japanese society, where money is abundant and high-end exotic restaurants are opening in major cities every day.

From this we can also see how magical the commercial effect of cultural IP can be if used properly.

Of course, having said that, any marketing method is just a method.

No matter how good the marketing is, it can only bring temporary glory to the business, but it cannot create a truly century-old store.

If you want to have a long-term prosperous business, the key lies in whether your goods are genuine and of real quality.

But the good thing is that both the quality of the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions" and the craftsmanship of Tan Palace Restaurant are truly beautiful and elegant.

With their hard power, they not only firmly accepted this overwhelming "wealth", but also pressed on to win more fame and gain.

This time when they came to Japan, the "Dream of Red Mansions" crew not only brought the people, but also brought exquisite clothing and jewelry, as well as a documentary consisting of behind-the-scenes footage from the three years of filming.

Although due to the short time, the documentary was not translated into Japanese.

But before the crew left Japan, at the invitation of TBS TV station, the clip was broadcast in an exclusive interview program, accompanied by commentary in the host's language.

These scenes from the filming of the TV series caused a sensation among Japanese "Dream of Red Mansions fans" and some viewers who were attracted by the genre by chance.

Because the Japanese could never imagine that in order to shoot this TV series, China actually spent three years providing relevant cultural training for the actors, completed 2,000 sets of costumes alone, and even built a real Grand View Garden in the capital.

In particular, Deng Jie, the actress who played Wang Xifeng, said personally that when filming the final scene of "Feng Jie's death", she shot it in the snow in minus 30 degrees Celsius with only a single layer of clothing. After the filming, she was frozen unconscious and almost froze to death.

This kind of dedicated attitude and "craftsmanship" not only fully caters to the values ​​of the Japanese people, but more importantly, it is completely impossible to appear in the capital-driven Japanese entertainment industry.

As a result, the level of this TV series was raised to the maximum.

The ratings for the new episode rose again to 22%, just a hair's breadth away from the 25% ratings ceiling for TBS morning dramas.

This is already a sign of becoming a national hit, and is quite worth boasting about.

At the same time, the difficult conditions during the filming of "Dream of Red Mansions" also sparked considerable discussion in Japanese society.

Many viewers were delighted to see that despite the lack of funds and difficult filming conditions, everyone was able to unite as one and work together to complete such a high-quality TV series.

One cannot help but question whether the current Japanese entertainment industry model that is completely driven by money is reasonable.

  Compared with money, are the creator’s artistic conscience and creative intentions more important factors in the success of a film or television work?

As a result, Japanese media and drama critics have given more and more praise to the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions".

The main point is that this TV series is indeed a magnificent masterpiece, and the actors are all beautiful and diverse, and the TV series is highly faithful to the original work.

Although it is difficult to say which work has greater literary influence than Japan's "The Tale of Genji", at least in terms of TV drama filming, China's "Dream of Red Mansions" is better.

In comparison, Japan has not yet been able to produce a live-action version of "The Tale of Genji" that satisfies the Japanese people. It is really terrible, and the people concerned should really reflect on themselves.

Needless to say, these remarks have put NHK, which has always been producing Taiga dramas, in the crossfire.

As a result, "Spring Waves", which was already criticized by the audience for its poor casting, also encountered more criticism.

Many drama critics compared this Taiga drama with "Dream of the Red Chamber" and ended up criticizing NHK harshly.

The producer who made the decision to replace Keiko Matsumoto was in a terrible situation.

Amid this criticism, he was destined to be held responsible for the failure of "Spring Waves" and bear the wrath of the NHK production committee.

On the other hand, this allowed Ning Weimin to inadvertently help his wife vent her anger, which was an unexpected surprise.

As for Tan Palace Restaurant, its real highlight moment came after its opening.

They became famous because of the rich variety of Chinese snacks they provided at the "Cultural Festival" and the successful opening of their branches in Kyoto and Osaka, and received invitations to appear on countless TV food and variety shows.

And not surprisingly, the chefs they sent out, like Jiang Dachun and dim sum team leader Xu Chunyan, also shined in these programs.

Moreover, they took advantage of the opportunity to appear on television to successfully popularize the true concept of Chinese food and promote the culture of imperial cuisine to Japanese audiences watching the program.

They let Japanese audiences know that real Chinese cuisine does not include dishes that are familiar to Japanese people, such as Tianjin rice, dry-fried shrimp, and mapo eggplant.

The taste of Chinese food is not as simple as sweetness, thickening and pepper.

Even the names of some common foods are very different in China and Japan.

For example, the word "wonton" in Japanese actually refers to udon noodles, and the word "mantou" refers to steamed buns.

The "Okonomiyaki" in Japanese is actually a kind of pancake.

On the other hand, in authentic Chinese cuisine, these words correspond to specific foods, and our food variety is far richer than what the Japanese know.

Of course, since it is a show, showing off one's skills is a crucial part.

Otherwise, no matter how eloquent you are, no one will take you seriously and will just think you are bragging.

Actually, it is quite interesting to talk about it, because it is in this part that the chef of Dangu really managed to master the Japanese easily.

For example, Xu Chunyan from the pastry group did not show any real skills at all. She just made some common pastries in Beijing and impressed the guests on the scene.

Because there are so many kinds of pastries she makes, old-fashioned steamed buns, silver thread rolls, scallion pancakes, sugar triangles, fried triangles, mahjong flower rolls, shredded radish cakes, jujube dumplings, fire-baked bread, sesame cakes, screw turns, and perilla leaf cakes, they are all very different and taste wonderful.

These are all things that the Japanese have never seen or eaten.

But the most amazing thing was the plate of meat-filled lazy dragon she made, which was enough to feed seven or eight people.

Because she really made a realistic form of a dragon using food.

That’s not all, Jiang Dachun’s vegetarian grilled spare ribs are equally amazing.

Since it is a vegetarian dish, Jiang Dachun's braised spareribs naturally do not contain any meat.

That was a flavor-changing technique he learned from Master Liu, the master chef at Ceramic Liu. All the ingredients used are vegetarian, even the soup is made with vegetarian ingredients, but the taste is close to meat and the shape is particularly realistic.

Not to mention the texture of the shredded meat, even the bones are made with "rolling sticks".

  Where have the Japanese ever seen such miraculous cooking skills?

Chinese chefs can actually create meat dishes without using meat!

Even though seeing is believing, many Japanese began to suspect that they were daydreaming.

Some people couldn't believe it and called the TV station to scold TBS for having no bottom line and cooperating with the Tangong Restaurant to fool the public. But the most pleasing dish was Dai Hong's fried chrysanthemum.

This dish, which made Ning Weimin's anus tighten and made him feel evil from the bottom of his heart, aroused widespread interest and countless attention from the Japanese once it was broadcast on TV screens.

Because from the perspective of Japanese aesthetics, although they love chrysanthemums, due to their dietary limitations, they have never thought that this flower can be eaten and tastes good.

This dish in particular is also very easy and fun to make.

To put it simply, it is actually just coating the chrysanthemums in batter, frying them, and finally pouring jam on them to make it a dessert.

But if that were the case, it wouldn't be so sensational enough. The key is that Dai Hong also added some wire drawing techniques into it.

She first made a sugar flower basket and placed the fried chrysanthemums on the basket.

Then the prepared sugar for pulling the silk was placed on an iron plate.

At this time, lift the iron plate upside down and let the sugar threads hang naturally from top to bottom.

At this time, gently wave the iron plate, and the endless sugar threads will also be scattered.

It's like white flakes flying in the air, like heavy snow falling...

After a while, the layers of hair-thin sugar threads were stacked on the fried chrysanthemums, forming a high pile.

It was so beautiful and wonderful that it amazed everyone present.

Just like that, several dishes that became famous on TV by Chef Tan Gong became well-known Chinese delicacies overnight.

Not only did Tan Gong Restaurant become more popular in Japan, but it also sold hundreds of "Internet celebrity dishes" to diners who came to Tan Gong every day.

The few Dangong chefs who have appeared on the show have been revered as "Masters of Chinese Cuisine" by the Japanese people, and many newspapers and magazines have invited them for exclusive interviews.

What is more critical is the influence spread by these media.

What surprised Ning Weimin was that a newly coined term began to appear in the Japanese media - "authentic Chinese cuisine" (ガチ中華).

The so-called "authentic Chinese cuisine" refers to Chinese restaurants that do not adjust their food to suit Japanese tastes.

Audiences who have watched the show all understand one thing: the Chinese food they eat is modified Japanese cuisine.

The food at Tan Gong Restaurant tastes almost exactly the same as what they eat in their country.

There is no change in taste due to Japanese habits.

So if you want to taste authentic Chinese food, the imperial cuisine that was once exclusively enjoyed by the Chinese royal family, there is only one Chinese restaurant in Japan that can satisfy everyone's needs, and that is - Tan Gong Restaurant.

  Undoubtedly, this phenomenon certainly represents that authentic Chinese food has already "strongly" entered overseas markets.

Authentic Chinese food is breaking the status quo of the Japanese market and establishing itself in Japan with a more diverse appearance.

Therefore, this concept can be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and gain recognition from the Japanese people.

Even without considering the commercial benefits he would gain from it, Ning Weimin felt that he had made the right decision by inviting the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions" to Japan, and it was well worth it.

Yes, he was sincerely grateful to everyone in the "Dream of Red Mansions" crew and to Mr. Cao who had long passed away.

He knew very well that it was the colorful and splendid Chinese culture that gave him the weapon to win people's hearts and minds, allowing him to conquer overseas so smoothly.

It’s great to be a Chinese.

Even though he is an orphan, he is proud of it.

God has been kind to him.

So even when the show was coming to an end and everyone was about to leave, he was still attentive and considerate to his compatriots at home and all the crew members.

Not only was the celebration party held with great fanfare, the crew members were treated to high-end Japanese cuisine, and a yacht was chartered for everyone to go out to sea for half a day.

He also secretly gave a few main actors and leaders a big red envelope of 100,000 yen to thank them for their cooperation and help during this period.

Especially the three characters "Lin Daiyu", "Feng Jieer" and "Ping'er", who shot commercials for him for the "Dream of Red Mansions" series of products.

Although it only took them half a day to shoot three sets of costumes and several scenes, these shots were enough for him to insert various products and use them as a panacea. It would be unreasonable for him not to pay them some extra labor fees.

In short, it was a happy ending and everyone was happy. This cultural exchange activity had a perfect ending.

So much so that when everyone said goodbye at the airport, they all felt a little reluctant to leave.

It's not only the prosperity and modern life of Japan that makes the departing crew members feel like they have wanted more, but also because it is so rare to meet a "kind" boss like Ning Weimin, which makes everyone really reluctant to leave.

To be honest, the difference is obvious when comparing the two. They were both invited to do publicity and engage in cultural exchange.

  But how did those Hong Kong cowards treat them?

What a difference!

Those journalists in Hong Kong have malicious intentions. They set ambushes for almost every question and want to know all kinds of gossip.

ATV did not let them have any free time during the six days.

Apart from two banquets and a tour of Songcheng, there was no other extra care.

As a result, the crew members of "Dream of Red Mansions" went to Hong Kong, but they had no money to shop and no time to go shopping.

I could only find time to go out for a stroll and visit the Ocean Park.

Occasionally, when he went to the commercial district, Ouyang was unlucky enough to end up in a shady shop and had to flee in panic.

In particular, the "float parade" promotional method made several main actors hate it and hurt their self-esteem.

In such hot weather, under the arrangement of ATV, they put on makeup and costumes, stood on the roof of a tram and paraded along the street to promote the 87 TV series "Dream of Red Mansions".

Their faces were almost sunburned and oily, and they all felt uncomfortable.

There was no sense of honor at all, they just felt like they were being treated like monkeys in a circus.

Afterwards, the Hong Kong media also fabricated stories about them because they had sad faces and were unwilling to wave goodbye to the Hong Kong citizens...

In short, to put it bluntly, ATV is a pure capitalist.

In order to get ratings, they will think of anything and they are very stingy and don't want to spend a penny more. They especially look down on mainland actors.

Therefore, even though the main actors of "Dream of Red Mansions" are all distinguished people in the Grand View Garden, to ATV, they are just like free farmhands.

Aren’t these Hong Kong cowards going to drive mainland actors to death?

But when we arrived in Japan, Ning Weimin treated everyone differently.

He truly treated the crew members as his fellow villagers.

They were given both respect and considerate benefits.

I won’t even mention how much stuff they brought back in their bags or how much money they had in their pockets.

Just look at what they ate, drank, stayed in and used on this trip, which one wasn’t the best?

Just these experiences, what they have seen, and the photos they have taken will be enough for them to show off for years after they return.

So when the breakup was imminent, it seemed like everyone had endless things to say to Ning Weimin, and it was really like they treated him as a member of the crew.

Ning Weimin also clearly felt everyone's closeness and friendship towards him, so he said sincerely, "All good things must come to an end. I am honored and happy to have spent the past few days with you all, but I am also a little reluctant to leave you all. I won't say much else. Meeting is fate. I know that it is almost time for everyone to go their separate ways. Let me say this from the bottom of my heart. If you treat me as a friend, then if anyone wants to study or develop a career in Japan in the future, please feel free to contact me. I will definitely help you if I can."

These words were absolutely magnanimous, and no one thought that Ning Weimin was just speaking for show.

The scene was immediately filled with cheers and applause.