HONG KONG -- The Korean TV drama "Dae Jang Geum" or "The Great Janggeum" produced by MBC has become the most popular television show in Hong Kong has become the most popular television show in Hong Kong since it started airing in the island in January, achieving ratings of a staggering 44 percent. A festival celebrating the show drew 2,000 fans on Monday.
From 4:00 p.m. to midnight, the Harbor Plaza Hotel in Kowloon saw living testimony that the "Korean Wave" is more than a myth. On the last day of the event, Hong Kong actress and singer Chen Huilin, a goodwill ambassador for Korea's tourism industry, appeared to applause dressed in hanbok or traditional Korean dress. The festival was hosted by the Korea National Tourism Organization.
On the last day of a festival celebrating the Korean TV drama "Daejanggeum" or "The Great Janggeum", Yeo Un-gye, who played the role of Lady Chung, and little Cho Jeong-eun present themselves in front of some 2,000 fans at the Harbour Plaza Hong Kong on Monday. The series was enormously popular in the city.
The Hong Kong press has unofficially designated April "Dae Jang Geum Month". Korean expatriate Shin Heung-woo, who owns a Korean restaurant, said customer numbers are up more than 20 percent since the show started here. Travel agents are selling "Daejanggeum" packages rather than skiing tours. Some enterprising Hong Kong people sell hanbok, and supermarkets have "Dae Jang Geum" rice on offer.
Park Sang-cheol, head of the Korea National Tourism Organization's Hong Kong branch, said the show fascinated Hong Kong with its chopstick and food culture, oriental medicine, filial duty and power struggle in the palace -- none of it unfamiliar to the island's people.
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