A man for all seasons

With a huge budget, the crew's art department re-created over 380 replica sets-some life-size-of iconic complexes such as Zhongnanhai in Beijing, the White House, Moscow's Kremlin, the Elysee Palace in France, and the Palace of Nations, the home of the United Nations Office, in Switzerland.

While the TV drama covers long spans of time and sets foot in numerous locations, the film Mao Zedong 1949 centers on the leader's stay at Shuangqing villa in the Fragrant Hills in western Beijing from March to August in 1949.

The site was the transitional headquarters of the Central Committee of the CPC after the liberation of Beiping, which later had its name changed to Beijing.

Despite the fact that Mao is now his best-known screen character, the versatile Tang has also played a string of impressive and influential roles over the past few decades.

Born in Qingdao, Shandong province, Tang shot to fame with the 1979 military-themed film Little Flower and gained increasing popularity by becoming something of a pop idol thanks to the mythological romance flick, Peacock Princess, in 1982.

In 1990, Tang was cast to play the ancient politician and strategist Zhuge Liang in the epic TV drama Romance of Three Kingdoms, adapted from the 14th-century classic Chinese novel of the same name. In the years between the 1990s and 2000s, he starred as more historic figures, such as Li Shimin, the emperor who laid the ground for the golden era of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and Yongzheng, a highly self-demanding and diligent ruler during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Interestingly, one of the most-asked questions the veteran actor receives is, has he ever felt too immersed in his rulers' roles. Wearing a big smile, he says such a moment can actually never happen.

"When the cameras are rolling, I am an 'emperor' watching all his 'courtiers' kneeling before him on the palace floor. But when the director shouts 'cut', they all stand up. Some of them take off their caps while others peel off their artificial beards. When the 'palace' suddenly turns into a noisy and chaotic place, it's quite easy to be pulled out of character as no one still regards you as an emperor," he explains.

But looking back at his acting career which has spanned nearly half a century, Tang says he feels lucky to have been given so many opportunities to play lead roles in influential works.

"I'm still expecting new roles. And, as time goes by, an actor becomes more able to bring his unique understanding of life to any new role," concludes Tang, who is now 67 years old.