MBC's drama 'The Moon That Embraces the Sun' has taken China by storm.

The popularity of drama - known popularly as 'Hae Pum Dal' - has spread to China at the Shanghai TV Festival, where it won second place in the foreign TV series category. Taking first place in the category was English channel BBC's 'Downton Abbey', and Japanese NTV's 'Kaiseifu no Mita' shared second place with 'The Moon That Embraces the Sun'.

The success at the festival is not altogether surprising; 'The Moon That Embraces the Sun' was the top drama of the first half of the 2012 year in Korea, posting a whopping 46.1% viewer rating while it aired from January to March and giving a boost to the popularity of the lead actor Kim Soo Hyun.

Other notable entries from MBC at the festival were 'The Peak' and 'Tears From the Antartic', which both were nominated in their respective categories of television movies and documentaries.

The Shanghai TV festival, created in 1986, is considered the top television festival in China, including award ceremonies, fairs, displays and seminars.