Carina Lau, one of the most popular film actresses in Hong Kong, is now returning to TV with an adaptation of novelist Eileen Chang's book Half a Lifelong Romance.

The TV drama titled Eighteen Springs stars Lau in a lead role as a nightclub hostess who becomes a slave of her own miserable marriage. The new series marks Lau's reappearance on the small screen after a 14-year hiatus following the TV drama The Spring River Flows East featuring actors Hu Jun and Chen Daoming.

"I am a fan of Chang and have read a lot of her classic tales such as The Golden Cangue and Red Rose, White Rose. They are sad yet beautiful love stories that depict young women who want to chase their dreams but are oppressed by social hierarchy (in their time)," Lau said at a Beijing news conference on May 6.