According to Sina.com.cn, Li Bingbing is rumored to be replacing Zhang Ziyi in the Wayne Wang film, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. The movie is currently in pre-production with Hugh Jackman already attached. The movie is based on the novel by Lisa See. The story tells the relationship between two Chinese women in the 19th century who have to endure the customs of the time where women’s feet were bound and they spent their lives in seclusion. The following is an excerpt from the synopsis of the book on Miss See’s site:
This absorbing novel – with a storyline unlike anything Lisa See has written before – takes place in 19th century China when girls had their feet bound, then spent the rest of their lives in seclusion with only a single window from which to see. Illiterate and isolated, they were not expected to think, be creative, or have emotions. But in one remote county, women developed their own secret code, nu shu – “women’s writing” – the only gender-based written language to have been found in the world. Some girls were paired as “old-sames” in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their windows to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.
An old woman tells of her relationship with her “old-same,” their arranged marriages, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood—until a terrible misunderstanding written on their secret fan threatens to tear them apart. With the detail and emotional resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha , Snow Flower and the Secret Fan delves into one of the most mysterious and treasured relationships of all time—female friendship.