"The Pavilion of Women," a noticeable Hollywood style Chinese movie which has taken two years to make, finally premiered in Beijing Friday night.

The 100 minute-long feature, which was jointly produced by the famous Hollywood film company Universal Pictures and the Beijing Film Studio, depicts an exceedingly romantic story between a Chinese lady in south China and her American tutor.

Yang Buting, president of China Film Group, said the movie is adapted from the Nobel Literature Prize-titled homonymous novel by Pearl S. Buck, an American female writer known for her fiction on the lives of people in old China.

"The movie is the first time for Universal Pictures to invest and distribute a China-related Hollywood film, especially with a Chinese producer," Yang said.

Luo Yan, the movie's producer, screenwriter and leading star, used to be an outstanding actress in China before she went to study and work in the United States in 1986.

Besides Luo, the director, cameraman and art designer are all Chinese.

The movie will be shown in English and Chinese versions in major cities worldwide.

(Xinhua 04/22/2001)