A new TV version of A Dream of Red Mansions, China's most famous classic novel, will begin shooting in October next year.

Preparatory work -- including casting, rehearsals, script revision, and setting up the outdoor scenes in an area of 26 hectares -- will last more than a year, said Hu Mei, director-in-chief of the new TV play.

According to Hu, the new TV play will take 300 days to shoot, with one segment completed every six days. The new TV play, produced by Han Sanping, will be screened in 2008.

A Dream of Red Mansions, written during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) by Cao Xueqin (1715-1763), is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Chinese fiction.

The story traces the lives and loves of a wealthy family, who symbolize the decline and myopia of feudal society. The main characters in the story live in the Grand View Garden.

In 1987, China screened a TV series adapted from the first 80 chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions to wide acclaim.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2006)