According to her agency, S.A.L.T. Entertainment, Park Shin Hye will represent Korea on a Chinese holiday program to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
It was only a year ago when her "The Heirs" co-star Lee Min Ho was invited to star in the CCTV Lunar New Year gala. He sang "Can't Help But Fall For You," the theme song of "Meteor Garden," the Taiwanese version of "Boys Over Flowers."
This year it was Park Shin Hye's turn to be the Hallyu star helping Chinese audiences to welcome in the Year of The Sheep. Park will appear on Hunan TV's holiday program "The Lantern Festival."
The program airs in celebration of the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. The holiday special usually earns high viewership ratings and over one billion Chinese viewers are expected to watch this year.
According to a representative of Hunan TV, viewers have responded enthusiastically to the news that Park Shin Hye will appear on the program. The 25-year-old actress has become very popular in China due to her appearance in dramas such as "You're Beautiful" with Jung Yong Hwa and Jang Geun Suk," "The Heirs" with Lee Min Ho and Kim Woo Bin and "Pinocchio" with Lee Jong Suk and Kim Young Kwang.
There are a few different indicators of her popularity in China. In December of 2014 Park Shin Hye became the first Korean actress to acquire over seven million fans on her Weibo account. She was also recognized with a "Popular Foreign Actress Award" at the Chinese Anhui TV Drama Awards for her appearance in the hit drama "The Heirs." She sang some of "The Heirs" OST at the Anhui awards ceremony.
By the time that the sixth episode of "Pinocchio" was shown on Youku, the Chinese video site, the drama received over 170 million views.
"We are anticipating seeing Park Shin Hye captivate the fans once more when she appears on The Lantern Festival as the entertainer representing Korea," said a Hunan TV representative. "Around one billion viewers watch every year during the first full moon of the Lunar New Year."
The Lantern Festival with Park Shin Hye will be shown on March 5.
Park also plans to meet her fans during her "Dream of Angel" Asian fan tour, which starts in March.
