Mainland China however has no ratings systems, and therefore the director had to cut a reported 12 minutes from the film in order to sanitize the explicit love scenes between Tony Leung and newcomer Tang Wei.
Another consideration delaying the Mainland release was October's People's Party Congress, which prompted a black-out of foreign and non 'patriotic' films during the preceeding weeks.
Ang Lee was accompanied by stars Tang Wei and Wang Lee Hom at the Mainland premiere last Wednesday in Shanghai.