The core creative crew comprises playwright Sheng Heyu and director Zhang Manjun, a winner of the Plum Performance Award, a top honor for traditional Chinese theatrical art. The main actor, Yang Jun, is also a winner of the Plum Performance Award, and because of his performance in this production, he won the Wenhua Award, another top accolade in the performing arts, in 2022.

Traditional art forms such as shadow puppetry and caichaxi, or traditional tea-picking opera, are incorporated in the production. The roles of a mule and a horse are represented with puppets, and dance movements from the tea-picking opera are adopted to enhance regional characteristics.