Xi yan (1993) has the highest cost-to-return ratio of 1993, earning $23.6 million from a budget of $1 million. This gave it a of 23.6 ratio, considerably higher than 1993's biggest money-maker "Jurassic Park" whose ratio was 13.8.
Winston Chao had been an airline steward for seven years and had never acted in a film before when Ang Lee cast him as Wai-Tung. Three to four hours every day were spent to teach him how to act.
Ang Lee wrote Xi yan (1993) six years before it was made, and five years before his first film, Tui shou (1991).
Film debut of Winston Chao, who was discovered on an airplane flight, where he was part of the crew. In order to overcome his fear of being in his first ever acting role, writer/director Ang Lee had to promise that Chao would receive acting lessons on the set from his own designated acting coach.
As of 2018, in the 25 years since being discovered for Xi yan (1993), Winston Chao has gone on to a distinguished acting career, including portraying Chinese statesman Yat-sen Sun in five different film or television productions, and has also portrayed at least five different Chinese kings or emperors in five different productions.