Yip has put in an effort on costume and stage design, including tailor-made qipao and suits for cast members that show their character's personality and the general milieu.

"When doing research, I felt that Eileen Chang had an urge to preserve traditional Chinese aesthetics and values, but she was also very fond of the new and the Western," Yip says.

With props and costumes, he has tried to faithfully re-create the fashion trends in Shanghai of the last century.

Zhangmi Keting, a blogger and a fan of Chang's work, writes on Sina Weibo, "They are virtually putting the effort and cost of making a film into staging this play."

The play will tour Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, Changsha in Hunan province and Beijing in the coming three months.