hou's thirteenth film, "flowers of shanghai" (1998), would see him reunite with actor tony leung chiu-wai from "a city of sadness" as well as jack kao, and was a period piece set in the elegant brothels (also known as "flower houses") of 1880s shanghai. the screenplay was written and translated by acclaimed novelist eileen chang, along with frequent hou screenwriter collaborator chu t’ien-wen, based on a novel by bangqin han. the film also starred carina lau, michiko hada, vicky wei, annie shizukah inoh, rebecca pan and ming hsu.