Royal Tramp is a 2008 Chinese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel The Deer and the Cauldron

The Deer and the Cauldron

The Deer and the Cauldron, also known as The Duke of Mount Deer, is a novel by Jin Yong, and was the last of Jin Yong's works. The novel was initially published as a serial, and ran between October 24, 1969 to September 23, 1972 in Ming Pao.Although the book is often termed as a wuxia novel, it is...

. Produced by Zhang Jizhong and Huayi Brothers

Huayi Brothers

Huayi Brothers Media is a movie producer and record label, founded in China in 1994 by two brothers Huang Zhongjun and Huang Zhonglei.-History:...

, the series consists of 50 episodes, filmed in high definition. The series was first broadcast on Jiangsu TV in China in 2008 and was subsequently aired on TVB

Television Broadcasts Limited

Television Broadcasts Limited, commonly known as TVB, is the second over-the-air commercial television station in Hong Kong. It commenced broadcasting on 19 November 1967...

 in Hong Kong and in other countries.

Plot

The story centers on a witty and sly protagonist, Wei Xiaobao

Wei Xiaobao

Wei Xiaobao is the fictional protagonist of Jin Yong's wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron . He is a witty, sly and illiterate teenager, born to a prostitute from a brothel in Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty. He bumbles his way into the Forbidden City and has a fateful encounter with the young...

. He makes his way from his hometown in Yangzhou

Yangzhou

Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...

 to Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, where he is kidnapped into the Forbidden City

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...

 and he impersonates a eunuch. Wei Xiaobao meets the young Kangxi Emperor

Kangxi Emperor

The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...

 by chance and they strike up an unlikely friendship. Through sheer luck and cunning, Wei Xiaobao manages to accomplish a series of seemingly impossible tasks that would affect the future of the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

.

Cast

Huang Xiaoming Huang Xiaoming Huang Xiaoming is a mainland Chinese actor, singer, and model. He is often referred to as China's "number one heartthrob" or "number one young male"...  as Wei Xiaobao Wei Xiaobao Wei Xiaobao is the fictional protagonist of Jin Yong's wuxia novel The Deer and the Cauldron . He is a witty, sly and illiterate teenager, born to a prostitute from a brothel in Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty. He bumbles his way into the Forbidden City and has a fateful encounter with the young... Wang Chengyang as young Wei Xiaobao Wallace Chung Wallace Chung Wallace Chung Hon-leung is a Hong Kong actor and recording artist. Chung's first debut was in the 1993 Hong Kong TVB biographical television drama The Chord to Victory, portraying Kenny Bee, a member of The Wynners...  as Kangxi Emperor Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's... Shi Lei as young Kangxi Emperor He Zhuoyan He Zhuoyan He Zhuoyan is a Chinese actress and singer. She was one of the top ten finalists of the 2005 Hangzhou Super Girl singing contest. In 2006, Hé emerged as champion of the Zhang Jizhong category of the Chinese Yahoo Three Directors Star Search programme...  as Shuang'er Shu Chang Shu Chang (actress) -External links:...  as Princess Jianning Liu Zi as Fang Yi Liu Yun Liu Yun (actress) -Biography:Liu Yun, a girl born and raised in Changsha, Hunan, China, later became a graduate from Central Academy of Drama, one of the best and most famous drama school in China...  as Mu Jianping Cherrie Ying Cherrie Ying Ting Man , better known as Cherrie Ying or Ying Choi-yi, is a Hong Kong actress. She moved to New York City at a young age, and later moved to Hong Kong...  as A'Ke Hu Ke as Su Quan Li Fei'er as Zeng Rou Qiao Zhenyu as Zheng Keshuang TAE as Liu Yizhou Jing Gangshan as Feng Jizhong He Jiayi as Jiunan Princess Changping Princess Changping , birth name Zhu Meicuo , was a princess of the Chinese Ming Dynasty.-Biography:Changping was born to the Chongzhen Emperor and Consort Wang Shun. As Consort Wang died from illness not long after Changping's birth, the princess was raised by Empress Zhou... Tan Feiling as Songgotu Songgotu Songgotu was a minister during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. He was an uncle of the emperor's official wife, Empress Xiaochengren of the Heseri clan who died during childbirth. He was the son of Sonin, one of the four regents appointed to assist the young Emperor Kangxi during his minority... Elvis Tsui Elvis Tsui Elvis Tsui , also known as Tsui Kam-kong, is a Hong Kong-based Chinese film and television actor.-Biography:...  as Oboi Oboi Oboi was a highly decorated Manchu military commander and courtier who served in various military and administrative posts under three successive Emperors of the early Qing Dynasty. He was one of four regents nominated by the Shunzhi Emperor to oversee the government during the Kangxi Emperor's... Zhu Yanping as Chen Jinnan Hua Zi as Hai Dafu Gao Yuan as Empress Dowager / Mao Dongzhu Ning Jing Ning Jing -Filmography:-External links:***...  as Chen Yuanyuan Chen Yuanyuan Chen Yuanyuan , born Xing Yuan , lived near the end of the Ming Dynasty, and was a concubine of Wu Sangui. Her courtesy name was Wanfen . Her actual historical significance is disputed, although it is largely believed that Chen was pivotal in Wu Sangui's campaigns after the fall of the Ming. She... Ma Lin as Wei Chunhua Li Chengru as Xingchi (Shunzhi Emperor Shunzhi Emperor The Shunzhi Emperor was the third emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China, which he did from 1644 to 1661. "Shunzhi" was the name of his reign period... ) Zhong Liang as Wu Yingxiong Tu Men as Wu Sangui Wu Sangui Wu Sangui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644... Yu Chenghui Yu Chenghui Yu Chenghui , sometimes credited as Yue Sing-wai, is a Chinese actor, action director and martial artist.-Martial arts career:...  as Feng Xifan Liu Xiaohu as Zhang Kangnian Rocky Hou as Yang Yizhi Wang Xiaoming as Mu Jiansheng Li Xintong as A'Qi Hu Dong as Duolong Xiao Xiangyu as Gui Erniang	Li Zefeng as Gui Zhong Shen Baoping as Gui Xinshu Zhao Xiaorui as Mao Shiba Xue Zhongrui as Prince Kang Yang Niansheng as Xu Tianchuan Liu Naiyi as Taoist Xuanzhen Li Ming as Qian Laoben Yan Guanying as Pang Toutuo Qin Weidong as Shou Toutuo Wang Jianguo as Qi Qingbiao Sang Weilin as Zhao Liangdong Chen Zhihui as Li Zicheng Huang Gexuan as Galdan Boshugtu Khan Zhang Hengping as Taoist Wugen Yuan Yuan as Hong Antong Huang Suying as Li Chunyuan Laobao Duan Duan as Ao Biao Tao Jixin as Liu Dahong Qiao Yu as Li Xihua Zhou Gang as Xingdian Zhou Xiaobin as Deng Bingchun Li Na as Liu Yan Zhao Da as Wen Youdao Zhao Jintao as Wen Youfang Sun Lihua as Ruichu Li Aiqin as Yunhui Guo Xiao'an as Deng Guan Xing Han as Su Mei Xi Xianfeng as Qinglongshi Wang Jingluan as Taohua Yang Lin as Yu Ba Liu Guanlin as Jing Ji	Zhang Chi as Huang Lizhou Su Mao as Lu Gaoxuan Lu Shigang as Guan Anji Zhao Gang as Xia Guoxiang Hou Yueqiu as Zhang Danyue Zhao Yang as Wang Jinbao Ren Baocheng as Shi Lang Shi Lang Shi Lang was a Chinese admiral who served under the Ming and Qing Dynasties. He was commander-in-chief of the Manchu fleets which destroyed the power of the Zheng family in the 1660s, and led the conquest of the Kingdom of Tungning in 1681.-Early life and career:Shi Lang was born to a... Chen Hai as Lin Xingzhu Zhang Gong as Hu Yizhi Li Jun as Deng Guang Ma Zijun as Huicong Ren Wu as Qingliang abbot Zha Xi as Wu Zhirong Su Yan as Xiaoguizi Li Yuan as Peng Chun Gao Fei as Zhuang San Shaonai De Long as Gao Lijin Zhao Guixiang as Gu Yanwu Hu Qingshi as Zha Jizuo Chen Zhou as Lu Liuliang Wang Bing as Ba Yan Dong Zhigang as Yu Lin Shen Tian as Xing Hua Ye Jing as Huangfu Ge Yuan Ming as Rui Dong Zhang Kai as Wei Tongchui Li Chen as Wei Hutou Jin Wenting as Wei Shuangshuang Ba Tu as Wu Lisheng Han Yueqiao as Tao Hongying Carrie as Sophia Alekseyevna Sophia Alekseyevna Sophia Alekseyevna was a regent of Russian Tsardom who allied herself with a singularly capable courtier and politician, Prince Vasily Galitzine, to install herself as a regent during the minority of her brothers, Peter the Great and Ivan V... Henry as Fedor Golovin Fedor Golovin Count Feodor Alekseyevich Golovin was the last Russian boyar and the first Russian chancellor, field marshal, general admiral . Until his death he was the most influential of Peter the Great's associates....

Viewership ratings

	Week	Episode	Average Points	Peaking Points	References
1	January 5–9, 2009	1 — 5	28	30
2	January 12–16, 2009	6 — 10	27	29
3	January 19–22, 2009	11 — 14	27
4	January 27, 2009 (Two Hours Version)	15 — 16	23	25
	January 28–30, 2009	17 — 19	23	25
5	February 2–6, 2009	20 — 24	29
6	February 9–13, 2009	25 — 29	28
7	February 16–20, 2009	30 — 34	27	28
8	February 23–27, 2009	35 — 39	27	30
9	March 2–5, 2009	40 — 43	29	33
	March 6, 2009 (Two Hours Finale)	44 — 45	29	33

External links

Royal Tramp official page on TVB website