Love's in the air? Wang Yuqing and Chen Liping channel inner Chin Han and Lin Ching-hsia in new local drama

Their combined ages may come up to well over 120 years, but that hasn't stopped Chen Liping and Wang Yuqing from engaging in a sweet "romance".

But it's all in a day's work for the veteran actors. 

Yuqing, 61, and Liping, 57, rode a bicycle along the beach while filming for their upcoming Channel 8 drama series, The Sky is Still Blue, reported Shin Min Daily News. 

It's a scene reminiscent of classic '70s romantic movies starring Taiwanese screen idols Chin Han and Lin Ching-hsia.

Yuqing said, laughing: "When we held hands and strolled on the beach, Liping pretended she was Ching-hsia, and I pretended I was Chin Han."

Inspired, the actor shared that they even sang a song together.

The song, loosely translated as "Partly Cloudy With Occasional Showers" (1974) is a famous classic song by Taiwanese singer Jenny Tseng for the movie of the same title.

On set, Yuqing and Liping were seemingly transported back in time, with the windy beach being the typical setting for romance films of that era.

The pair, who have worked together five or six times, had built rapport as an onscreen married couple in the 2009 Mediacorp drama, Reunion Dinner, and will once again reunite as a married couple in the upcoming series.

But still, they could not help but burst into giggles while filming, the Chinese daily reported.

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Despite being a handsome leading man in his younger days, Yuqing shared that he has never filmed a romance drama.

"When I was young, I used to act in shows like The Flying Fish (1983), The Awakening (1984) and Moving On (1987). We did not have such [romantic] cinematography," Yuqing shared.

Yuqing added that he used to enjoy watching power onscreen couple Lin Ching-hsia and Chin Han, and longed for a romance as “out of this world” as theirs. 

"But life doesn't always imitate art, does it?" he quipped.

In real life, Yuqing's "princess" [his nickname for girlfriend Norah Zhang], "doesn't know how to ride a bicycle", he revealed. 

Sharing more about the 20-episode family drama The Sky is Still Blue, Yuqing said that he plays Liping's husband, who is the boss of a laundromat. A lazy character who is more interested in indulging in his antique collection than working, he later falls prey to a scam and is forced to offer his laundromat as collateral.

Thankfully, Yuqing declared that he's never been the victim of a scam.

"I've not been scammed, because I never believed in phone lotteries, and I don't pick up calls from unknown numbers either," he shared.

The Sky is Still Blue will be broadcast on meWATCH and Channel 8 from July 10, 2023.

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jolynn.chia@asiaone.com