At 180 meters long and 60 meters wide, the set for the Emperor's Palace is the largest set ever built in China.
Gong Li was originally supposed to play Zhang Ziyi's part. Due to scheduling conflicts, the role was passed onto Zhang Ziyi and she gladly accepted because she thought the character was so interesting.
Both 'Li Gong (I)' and Maggie Cheung were originally considered playing the queen's role. When Ziyi Zhang took over the part, the script was rewritten to make the character younger.
The Federation of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong announced on 28 Sept 2006 that this would be Hong Kong's entry to the 79th Oscar's Best Foreign Film category.