 Principal photography began on March 20, 1961; the film was largely shot at Stage 12 of the Universal Studios Lot, on a set built to reproduce Chinatown, including the opening scenes at Saint Mary's Square (complete with a replica of the stainless steel statute of Sun Yat-Sen sculpted by Beniamino Bufano), at a cost of $310,000.The film was notable as the first that featured nearly all Asian American cast members (one of the few speaking Caucasian parts being that of a mugger), including dancers, though three of the singing voices were not Asian ones.The contemporaneous paucity of Asian actors notably forced producers to dress Arnold Stang in yellowface as a Chinese cook for an episode of "Wagon Train", since "all of Hollywood's Oriental actors were busy making 'Flower Drum Song'".