It takes Aaron Kwok, Gigi Leung, and Him Law for about five to six hours to put on their special makeups; the makeups are easier for Shaofeng Feng and Shenyang Xiao, who only have to spend two to three hours. The heaviest make up goes to Chi-Ling Lin's character as the river goddess, for which she has to spend eight hours.
Zanilia Zhao describes in an interview that her character, the Queen of the Kingdom of Women, as a naive girl. She was very surprised to learn that her character indeed rides on a giant deer instead of a horse after she saw the final poster.
To carefully capture the taboo romance between a monk and a Queen, director Soi Cheang refined the screenplay and edited several times. He illustrates the Queen as is no only young but also sensible and intercultural, and she should be more than a little girl.