In late 2011, many spin-off TV dramas began to shift their focus to court intrigue and infighting among the emperor’s harems.

Audiences interested in historical TV dramas will have had their appetites satisfied over the past five years – a spate of fictional programs about court intrigue and other hidden secrets of the imperial family members have been popping up in China in wake of the time-travel craze.

Palace (Chinese: 宫锁心玉) was a time-travel TV series aired by Hunan TV Station in the first quarter of 2011. Measured by audience ratings and influence on the market, it turned out to be a huge commercial success, building up a large audience and prompting other producers to jump on the time-travel bandwagon.

Their efforts led to the soaring popularity of the time-travel concept, with characters often being transported back to ancient history. But the trend was reversed last December when China’ State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued a new protocol that essentially put the brakes on all fictional time- travel in the media.

However, when one door closes, another one opens. In late 2011, many spin-off TV dramas began to shift their focus to court intrigue and infighting among the emperor’s harems. The highlight was Legend of Zhen Huan (Chinese: 甄嬛传), a fictional story in which an innocent 17-year-old girl, Zhen Huan, uses her wit and sometimes unscrupulous methods to survive a fierce power struggle between the empress and concubines,.

The show created a lot of buzz. Some young people even viewed it as "a treasured book for survival in today's professional world.” But now the show and its derivatives are finding that the odds of maintaining success are unlikely. On May 8, a commentary deploring the rampant spread of harem-based TV dramas appeared on People’s Daily, a key official newspaper in China.