Taiwan's Golden Bell television awards are the country's equivalent of the Emmy Awards. The Golden Bell Awards are awarded in both television and radio and this past weekend celebrated television. This year the celebration for television was separated into two ceremonies. A ceremony for entertainment, reality and game shows was held on Friday and one for drama awards was held on Saturday.
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Taiwan's Golden Bell television awards ceremony on Saturday was full of surprises. Taiwanese opera actress Chen Ya-lan (陳亞蘭) became the first woman to win the Best Leading Actor award, for her male role as the Qing Dynasty Emperor Jiaqing in "Lord Jiaqing and The Journey to Taiwan". Chen says she was shocked to win and she admires Taiwan's progressiveness for giving this award to a woman.
Historical drama series "Seqalu: Formosa 1867" won four awards, including Best Television Series. The drama features conflicts between different ethnic groups in Taiwan during the mid-1800s.
The drama "Twisted Strings" won five awards, including Best Miniseries, making it the biggest winner this year. The drama explores the boundary between reality and fantasy surrounding a series of bizarre deaths.
Other notable wins include 13 year-old Bai Run-yin (白潤音), who took home the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries for his role in "More than Blue: The Series". The drama revolves around a record label searching for the original writer of a popular song, which involves an old love story.
Taiwan's television series feature a wide range of genres and storylines and the annual Golden Bell awards celebrates the cream of the crop.