He found himself caught in the conflict between Vietnam and France, so he went to Shanghai in January 1947 and applied to resume his studies in National Jiangsu Medical College.
After arriving in Taipei, Pan Lei worked as the manager of a small department store specializing in Hong Kong products.
In addition to continuing the writing of his long novel The Red River Trilogy (紅河三部曲), he invested all he had, gold bars he brought from Shanghai, to establish the literary journal Bao Dao Wen Yi (寶島文藝; Formosa Literature).
[2] In 1956, Pan Lei adapted his own novel into a screenplay and was recommended by an elder to meet Li Ye (李葉), the then General Manager of Central Pictures Corporation Co., Ltd, (中央電影公司) and found a job there as screenwriter.
The film stars Hsiao Yen-chiu (小豔秋) and includes a documentary of the development of the Central Cross-Island Highway in the opening sequence.
Still committed to Tsai Meng Jian (蔡孟堅), the Chairman of Central Pictures Corporation Co., Ltd., Pan did not leave Taiwan.
[3] Pan Lei founded his own company, Hsien Dai Motion Pictures (現代電影電視實驗中心) in 1963 in Taipei, with the idea of combining the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC) and Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) into one.
Pan subsequently made Lovers' Rock (情人石) and Song of Orchid Island (蘭嶼之歌) for Shaw Brothers, both films are set in Taiwan’s scenic locations.
Unfortunately, due to financial difficulties, Pan had to sell it to Zhou Jian-guang (周劍光)in 1968, who turned it into Hwa Kuo Film Studio Co., Ltd.
The film’s script is written by King Hu (胡金銓) and is shot in the Dasyueshan (大雪山) National Forest Recreation Area, where the snowy mountains of the subtropical island were transformed into the scape of Northeast China.