THE Royal Shakespeare Company has been taking the title its current production Eastward Ho! to heart with its first tour of China and the Far East.

And the company's mobile touring group's production of The Merchant of Venice, which was seen in Stratford last year, has been a tremendous hit with the Shakespeare-loving Chinese, who sold out the performances in Beijing and Shanghai earlier this month.

"I was told we had the best box office of any visiting theatre company ever, " said Caro MacKay, RSC special projects manager, during a brief stopover in Stratford before flying out to Malaysia and onto Japan, where the company performed last week.

In fact, demand for tickets in China was so high that touts did a roaring trade outside the theatre, a first for the RSC and a reflection of the Chinese hunger for plays in a country where theatre almost died out during the Cultural Revolution.

"They are very much aware of the RSC's reputation and tradition," said Caro, who was co-ordinating a company of 33 cast, musicians, technicians and education specialists.

During the tour the RSC conducted a full education programme, including work with performance arts students and a "Shakespeare Day" at the University of International Business and Economy.

"It's absolutely down to logistics and down to planning," said Caro. "That proscribes how many performances you can do. It takes a week for air freight to get into and out of China."

Once in China, the company, which had been invited as part of a cultural exchange, was anxious about the reception it would get.

"You go to a new country and you don't know how they will react," said Caro.

But any anxieties were instantly erased as the Chinese, who are well-versed in Shakespeare, greeted the actors warmly and responded to the play's humour and tragedy.

"They totally engage with the play. They identify with Shylock as they feel they are a minority," said Caro.

The play was sur-titled so that the audience could easily understand what was happening, though many of them had an excellent grasp of English, which is the main language taught in Chinese schools.

"I was told it was a very good translation," said Caro. "It was done by a 76-year-old Chinese actor who spoke English like he was Bertie Wooster."

The RSC is hoping that its first foray behind the Bamboo Curtain will lead to more co-operation with the Chinese, and there is already talk about the British Council supporting a visit to England by a Chinese theatre company.

"It's been a very happy tour," said Caro. "I will never forget, along with the laughter of the first performance, that audible intake of breath the moment Shylock was spat upon and told to become a Christian."