It's going to be clash of the giants this winter as the two heavyweights of Chinese cinema, Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou, battle it out at the box office.

On December 15, The Promise, the magical kung fu blockbuster by Chen Kaige, will hold a grand premiere screening ceremony in Yunnan. The next day Zhang Yimo's Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles will also have its first showing in domestic cinemas.

For the first time the two established directors are locking horns, wrestling for the box office bonanza at the year's end.

As the two's experience and achievements seem inseparable, the result seems hard to predict. As the most celebrated of China's fifth generation directors, both graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in the early 1980s. Zhang worked as the cinematographer for Chen's directorial debut, Yellow Earth, and the follow-up, The Big Parade.

But the movies that the two are due to release are totally different. Chen Kaige's The Promise is touted as the most expensive Chinese film ever made, with a US$35 million dollar investment and production lasting three and a half years. It has an international star cast drawn from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and mainland China, with the picture featuring Oscar-winning cinematographer Peter Pau (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

As the only submission to the Academy Awards from the mainland, the saga follows the magical story of a princess, Cecilia Cheung, who becomes the object of affection and intrigue for a duke, Nicholas Tse, a general, Hiroyuki Sanada and a slave, Jang Dong-Kun. The film's epic battle is said to be the most amazing scene in years, making full use of the latest computer generated imagery.

According to the online Chinese Business View, 92 percent of filmgoers of early October screenings in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, gave it the thumbs up.

Unlike the big budget, grand scenes and legendary plot of The Promise, Zhang Yimo's Walking Alone for Thousands of Miles is a simple, low-budget, comedy drama about a man trying to heal relations with his son.

Exploring the emotions among the ordinary people, the movie is said to be "warmly touching," striking a deep chord with parents.

The movie also sees Zhang going back to the tone of earlier works such as Not One Less and The Road Home, a long way from the recent martial art successes, Hero and House of Flying Daggers.

To avoid the plot failure of those two movies Zhang has invited Zou Jingzhi, the top writer in China, to take part in the screenwriting. The veteran director also took a low-key attitude to the film's promotion and until now there are few reports on the coming movie.

While many don't doubt The Promise will beat Walking Alone in Thousands of Miles at the box office, it remains to be seen which will be more celebrated by the industry itself.