Dear Mayang Street (2020)

Amazing story! Inspiring Characters! Incredible Acting!

This is a story with a setting in a closely knitted community in South China in the 80s at the onset of the country reopening its door to the outside world. The drama depicts vividly the life experienced by common folks where street gangsters roamed and interwove into the fabric of the society. Life was tough as the country rebuilt its economy, healed from the devastation of the revolution, and stepped onto the world stage.

The Story
The story is narrated from the POV of Yi Dongdong (Niu Junfeng), one of the main characters in the story. He recounts how he has come to meet Ma Xiaoxiao (Tan Songyun aka Seven Tan) and Ou Xiaojian (Xu Weizhou aka Timmy Xu) and how the two have inspired him. Though secretly in love with Ma Xiaoxiao and his love is never being reciprocated, Yi Dongdong is happy with this status quo for years from high school till adulthood.

Ou Xiaojian and Ma Xiaoxiao have grown up together on Mayang Street, a very tightly woven community where everyone knows and helps each other in times of trouble. Both Ou Xiaojian and Ma Xiaoxiao are soulmates and later become lovers to each other. They are role models in their neighborhood and in school with highest ranking in their academic studies. Tragedies strike repeatedly in Ou Xiaojian’s life and he grows up fast. While all the kids around him still in school, wondering what life is all about, he drops out of school, enters the police academy and is thrusted into a world that even most adults cannot handle. Unbeknownst to all, he becomes a mole for the police. To gather information, he hangs out with gang members, rendering everyone thinking he has turned rogue. Daily he’s involved in gang fights and getting hurt bloodily. His mission is to collect evidence to flush out the kingpin of the organization that has a seemingly clean façade, but deeply involved in money laundering, black market, smuggling, human trafficking, frauds, cheating schemes, street gangsters, and it has a giant network that spans to multiple cities and countries.

It is both happy and sad how the story ends. It makes me cry and my heart aches for my hero. I know deep down inside somewhere, Ma Xiaoxiao still remembers Ou Xiaojian dearly and cries for him.

The Characters and The Acting
The Ou Xiaojian character is a very difficult role to portray as he is multi-dimensional. On one hand, he’s a normal kid just like everyone on the same street. He goes through the same growing pains like others. But on the other hand, he has to act tough and fearless to protect those he loves. When he becomes a mole for the police, he has to act like a bad kid to blend in with the gangsters, talking rough and mean. Son of a dead police officer, he has a heavy burden on his shoulder that he cannot let anyone see. Misunderstandings are left unexplained because he can’t; he’s always in a predicament because he doesn’t want to purposely hurt the people he cares for. He is altruistic and magnanimous, and takes care of the kids in the neighborhood and helps them grow like a big brother, he's their guardian angel and everyone looks up to him. He's inspiring and very filial pious. And yet, life is cruel to him. Like his grandmother, I’m constantly fearful for Ou Xiaojian, fearing for him getting hurt again or even getting killed. Though I smile every time he comes on screen, as he gives viewers the security that Ou Xiaojian would take care of everything and everything would be fine, I’m fearful for him. The writer has successfully captured our sympathy for the character and brought out the motherly instinct of the viewers.

Actor Xu Weizhou has a baby face that plays well as the character of a 17-18 year old teenager as Ou Xiaojian. His ‘bad-boy’ aura makes him a very convincing gangster, albeit the best looking one, with a perfect physique even among the many Chinese actors. At 185 cm height, his long legs and strong chest make his every action move extremely good to watch; he’s really an eye candy for many viewers. Either riding his motorbike, running, kicking in fights, wearing his black biker outfits, he exudes a charisma no others can match. By the end of the drama, Ou Xiaojian has become my hero and Xu Weizhou gets enlisted on my favorite actor list.

Ma Xiaoxiao lives just across the street from Ou Xiaojian’s shop/home. They love and care for each other, watching out for each other’s back constantly. Ma Xiaoxiao is mature and commanding. A role model for her street and school, she is their big sister. She pulls the kids up when they lag behind in their studies. She’s their voice in school. Her friends love her and would fight tooth and nail to help her. Just like Ou Xiaojian who sacrifices for others, she sacrifices herself to make dream come true for her sister.

Tan Songyun has done it again, this time as Ma Xiaoxiao, an 18 year-old high school girl. At her actual age of 30, she continues to amaze me for transforming herself into a teenager playing the roles so effortlessly and convincingly.

I really enjoy watching the moments when Ma Xiaoxiao and Ou Xiaojian are together, not doing much, just holding hands, heads leaning on each other or gazing into each other wordlessly. Those moments really create ripples in my heart; their chemistry is exploding.

There are numerous veterans here, and multiple young actors, all giving their tip top performances, bringing alive the characters, making us empathize and love them.

The Official Sound Tracks
This drama produces numerous wonderful sound tracks, in particular the OST We Suddenly Grow Up, reminiscing the bygone childhood from the voice of a youth, and the OST Remembering You accompanied by a harmonica intensifying the melancholy, conjuring memories of a lost love.

My Verdict
This drama is one of those that once you start watching you cannot stop because the characters just pull you in.

This is a story with a lot of complexity. Its characters are multi-layered. Its attention to details is commendable. Many norms of the era are captured and depicted vividly here, such as how precious soda was for a child, how a big deal a pair of blue jeans was, televisions and phones were considered as luxuries. Private facilities were rare and common bathrooms for the whole community were the norm. Or the cooking of spicy or fermented foods that stunk the whole street. People living together like a big family, laughing and crying on each other's shoulder. The family dynamics and interpersonal relationships are being written so well that, these are all the small details that make this drama so relatable and endearing. It does make me ponder what does it mean by “a meaningful life”. Would one be happier living in a community like they do on Mayang Street, or like we do individually away from loved ones? No doubt there is a lot of conflicts living in a community like that – parents and neighbors fighting all the time, and secrets become public knowledge in no time.

This drama brings out the resignation and humor of life. At the beginning of each episode, the writer provides a lesson learned in the ensuing scenes with a fine statement for the viewers to ponder, successfully capturing the experiences all of us may have encountered in life. Sad as it is for a short young life of Ou Xiaojian, we should also celebrate him for living a life that he finds meaning in. The writer has successfully given us a very inspirational character.

A wonderful story that makes you keep thinking about the characters. TWO THUMBS UP!

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GOOD DRAMA BUT SAD ENDING FOR ME

The first sentence I want to write for this drama is "OUXIAOJIAN ... you are the character I like the most and the HERO of this drama, even though we as viewers have to lose yourself at the end of the story, but you will still live in our hearts ... forever...."

actually I want to give even more full marks to this drama because the storyline is so good and this is one of the 1980s-era dramas that I really like (considering we rarely see Chinese dramas that take stories in the era of the year at that time) but I It is very, very heavy hearted that I can only give8/10 for the whole drama because I feel very hurt and sad for losing Ouxiaojian at the end of the story. after what he sacrificed, fought for and what he suffered from the beginning of the story to the end of this drama. I really really hope the writer gives a happy ending for him ... a simple happiness for him at least to come back to MaXiaoXiao's side (although I know that will not change the story because from the beginning it was destined for MXX to end with YiDongDong who is the narrator. in this drama).at least the author can write that OXJ went far away with MXX leaving their beloved mayang street to live a life like ordinary people who are simple and happy ...remembering how deeply their love was from their childhood until they grew up. so much of their sacrifice for their love ....

although this drama ended sadly for me, but I highly recommend this drama ... a good, real, realistic storyline surrounding the lives of many families in Mayang Street ...

Timmy Xu, Seven Tan and Niu Jun Feng as the main characters really bring this drama to life with their very good acting performance, not only the main cast, the side actors also contributed their very good acting performance to this drama.

Their acting is so real, deep storytelling and naturally actually made me cry several times when watching this drama ... there were some scenes that made my heart ache a lot and my tears were running at that time ...
1. at the time OXJ cried sadly and my heart felt like it was slashed to see him so suffering (OXJ decided to choose to live a life like an ordinary person with MXX, even he had managed to win over the heart and approval of MXX's parents to bless their relationship, but the problem hit him insistently and he had to lose his grandmother because of it)
2.When OXJ sat on the stairs crying sadly because he had just lost his grandmother and had to lose MXX again (because of the misunderstanding that MXX broke their relationship), my heart felt hurt and sad when saw him crying because he had to lose the person he loved and as if so many problems have befallen him repeatedly.
and the most heartbreaking no one knows of the kindness and struggle of his life (even risking his own life) to catch criminals and is forced to disguise himself as a police spy .... everyone condemns his actions just because they see him working in a group criminals and they don't know what the purpose of it is ...and he must accept the suffering of body and soul because of this disguise.

sorry if my review dominates Ouxiaojian because he is the shining character in my eyes in this drama ...

the song in this drama is also very good and very about right for every scene ...

and if I will repeat this drama, maybe only the sweet parts of OXJ and MXX are important points for me, besides that there are side characters who are my favorite partner (XIAOBAO and ChengHaoHao), this couple is also very sweet and funny, especially xiaobao ... I really like him .... his cheerful and laughing face looks very handsome and sweet ...and I like shun zhun too, he is really a nice guy...he is one of the Mayang street people who always believe ouxiaojian.i like his character too...

overall I give this drama 8/10 rating ...

Thank you to the cast, producer, director, writer and crew for delivering this excellent drama....

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touching story of loving others willingly

This is a very touching story about 3 main characters who choose to love unconditionally.
1. Seven Tan' (MXX character) who are so smart and worked so hard to get the best grades academically and winning the top spot in top university but ended up sacrificing her dreams to study locally and take care of the family specifically her dad and letting her younger sister fulfill her dream of becoming an actress. Her mom has done well business wise but too selfish with her own ambition and sacrificing her own daughter, asking her to give up her dreams to go out of state to study. I think she could handle the business and manage her husband's health care herself but she didn't have a good relationship with her husband (constant fighting, etc) I didn't like the fact that both mother and the younger sister could stand by and fulfill their own dreams while the older sister who deserved to enjoy the fruits of her labor (worked hard to gain good grades and top spot in well know out of state university) ended up carrying the family burden alone.
2. Timmy Xu (OXJ character) - who also sacrificed his education to join the police force because his dad's unfortunate event (framed for a crime working as undercover) and also to take care of his grandmother. He loves MXX but could not reveal anything about working with the gang and bad crowd as undercover agent. He was misunderstood many times and accused wrongly but could not defend himself (working as undercover). He sacrificed his love for MXX for their safety and could not fulfill his own dream to become a detective/police officer.
3. Yi Dong Dong - who loves MXX unconditionally and willing to help her without expecting anything in return. He is just happy to watch her live happily. He followed MXX closely just to be by her side and support her quietly. His love for her is selfless and pure.

this is truly a remarkable story how the 3 main characters show their love for a friend, family and others.

As usual, Seven Tan, Timmy Xu and Jun Feng's portrayal of the characters are spot on. Seven Tan's acting skill and versatility continues to amaze me. Her acting is so natural and not forced. All of her films are so enjoyable to watch. She is so under rated. She can act so cheerful and also quickly makes you cry in all the tear jerking scenes.

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A show filled with everything.

First of all, the main reason I gave this show a chance was the main leads. It's Seven Tan and Timmy Xu ! What could go wrong? I really liked Go Ahead and Timmy Xu's City Of Streamer and Addicted. That's why I was like, what could go wrong with these two?

And i was so right. Actually I regret that i didn't watch it before, because I stumbled upon this one a few months back but didn't even looked at the description.

As i wrote in the title, this show has everything one can ask for - a strong and smart female lead, a caring and NOT cold nor statue male lead, a sweet second lead who got the girl, friendship goals, gang/ crime theme, no backstabbing friends, no bitchy siblings and most important: freakin' great chemistry. I really didn't have any expectations when i started this, but the moment the main leads looked at each other in the 1st episode, i knew I'm gonna binge watch it in a day or two. Oh their eyes...their eyes spoke so much. The longing looks, the pain, the affection, the love it was just so good. The only thing i was sad for was that XiaoJian didn't live to the end. The scene in the last episode when he was being taken away in the car and saw XiaoXiao when he looked back - his eyes were full of regret, love and and apology and best wishes ; like he knew he wasn't gonna make it out this time and that's why he left her, even it meant hurting her. I felt so bad for him. He lost his father when he was little, was called names, had to drop out and give up a bright future, lost his granny, lost uncle Li, XiaoXiao and most important of all , he lost himself in the process. And even he was working for the country, for the good, everyone he cared for only got to know after he died.

The main lead had the least screentime in the drama and in a drama I've ever watched. It was like not even 2 whole episode worth screentime. Still, the moments they had, those were just so good. My heart hurt for them and I cried so much in the shower today.

The show was so good that I want to watch it again. But I don't think my heart can take it again. Oh, it was just everything. Even if XiaoJian died, it was real, it felt realistic this way. Cause if he came back, it wouldn't be real and would've felt exaggerated. This drama was just so realistic that I felt i wasn't just a viewer, I was there, with them under an invisible cloke and could feel each of their emotions and feelings. This drama made me laugh, cry and envy the friendship they had. I don't even know why it is so underrated here.

People who are reading this, give it a try.

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IT IS WORTH IT !

okay, so this is going to contain alot of spoilers so beware.


This drama has become my second favourite drama ever, and it deserves this spot so much!


For the ending; i was really bitter about how XiaoJian ended at first, since i thought it is not happy enough for him to just disappear, with the people he cared about the most hating on him, however, when the officers came to visit XiaoXiao in the last scene, it really felt like a closure to me and I LOVE IT! he lived a meaningful life and got recognised by the one he mostly cared about! Even if it was late, or after he died, his effort was NOT in vain, which is great!!


I hated how XiaoXiao didnt keep her promise, he asked her to believe in him, and i know he gave all the wrong vibes away, but she was the closest to him and the one who knew him the most yet she doubted him and treated him as an outsider later on, which really broke my heart.


It was obvious that yi dongdong was going to get the girl since the first scene as the story was naratted by him so yeah, I liked XiaoJian more but I agree that XiaoXiao is a better match with dongdong at least she will live in peace without having to worry if her husband is dead or not all day so yeah lol.


Im still crying because i wanted XiaoJian to be somehow happy or get another match or so, but well, he lived like a hero and died like a hero!


Its a great drama and i love it!!

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Neighbour is family

Never expected i'll gonna like this drama. But so far i love every work of Seven Tan, this drama is no exception.

This drama is about family, life & maturity of every cast. This drama start when they still in the high school. This drama devided into 3 part: the high school time to university when they just learn how to be adult, after university to work time when they became mature & really put themselves into society & last is the ending of mayang street.

This is the first time i have difficulty to decided which one is our male lead, is it Ou Xiao Jian or Yi Dong Dong. But after finished watching i feel Yi Dong Dong (DD) is our main lead, after all he is the one that get the girl ^_^, our narator & the last strike is from the last episode where its from his point of view.

Not much drama these days about this kind of relationship. I'm talking about making the neighbourhood is your family. People this days prefer individuality & stay far away from your neighbour as far as we could. This kind of neighbourhood really makes me miss my childhood where i still play with neighbour kids every afternoon. This closed kind of neighbourhood there is good & bad, the goods of course really make our neighbour as our family where every problem is like our family problem & the bad of course, what people this days prefer to stay away, make every family news into gossip for the whole neighbourhood.

This drama not only about 1 family but the whole neighbourhood with every family with each problem. There is Ma family where father have health problem & mother have to support family, in here we can see how a man pride distrub & how he in the end resolve this pride problem. There is Sun family where the wife is like fire cracker, which every little thing without further investigation can became big thing. There is Liang family where husband most of the time is not at home, how he finaly relize what's important in his life after Ma Xiao Xiao (XX) dad became sick & how in the end the wife have problem with zheng how who is her daughter in laws, love how this mother-daughter in laws problem not only surface but also we given clue about what the core problem.

In this drama we also can see sometimes in chinese culture being the oldest kids in the family is also meaning burden. Like XX & DD how they end up have to take care or at least think about their family before think about themselves.

Now we talk about our main lead & their friends...
° Zeng Hang (ZH) is one of the most hidebound or petty in the drama I've watched so far. He insisted XX like the way he want even though XX clearly not like him, i really want to kick his butt & throw him into river.
° Ou Xiao Jian (XJ) is so stupid. He can choose to quit the job before it's too complicated & imply him too deep, i talk about before he go to jail & his boss from the police give him a way out, but he insisted to continue because stupid reason & finally he is too deep. In here I really agreed with ZH who said if he can't give XX happiness he should give up. Yeah i know maybe at that time XJ really think he can quit and break away from his past, but as we can see when once you join the gang & want to quit is never that easy.
° Yi Dong Dong (DD) is maybe like Sun Zhui said, is one of the most soft & most tough person. Yeah sometimes we can't choose who we will gonna fall in love into & the one DD feel is one the most tiring kind of love, where the girl u love already love someone else but you just can't give up the love you feel. Sometimes with this kinda love we just fool ourselves that we happy as long as she is happy.
° Ma Xiao Xiao (XX) is like the mother figure for all their friend. I like to see her with XJ, they just cherish every moment together, how happy she is when she is with XJ & how she just plainly & stupidly just trust XJ. But I also like how in the end she decided to end the relationship with XJ. When reality hit us we need to wake from the dream. XJ is one complicated man with so much mystery, when XX said she was tired we really feel she finaly give up, if it was me i already give up long before that.
° Liang Xiao Bao (XB) & Zeng Hao (ZH) relationship is maybe our dream relationship. They know each other from childhood & finally became husband & wife. XB is like prince charming who is willing to sacrifice every thing just to be with ZH & very pampered her even after married. But so funny how in the end he is like his dad who like to run away from home when there is problem between his mom & his wife, apple really fall not far from the tree ^_^.

There is only several think that i thing missing from this drama. First is the farewell party for the whole neighbourhood when they leave the neighbourhood, not make the drama bad it's just better when there is farewell party. Second, i really hope there is the wedding for XX & DD.

Overall i really like this drama. This drama plot is not the usual plot. But i really like how the drama wrap. It's just give the fair ending for XX, DD & XJ. Actually if the ending turn out XX became together with XJ i think it's a little bit unfair for DD, because XJ & XX split up is purely because the stupidness & stubbornness of XJ. But i don't think i'll gonna re-watch this drama

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Fast forward and skip to ending

After 22 episodes of watching families eat and talk about their lives, struggles and neighbors etc, i decided to skip to the ending episode and fast forward that too. During the 22 episodes I have also fast forward after episode 10, because its just too draggy, OXJ would just dig deeper and deeper into undercover and its just more high school moments that isnt enduring or interesting to watch.

Overall I am just not invested or as interested in the 6 families in this series, so there's alot of fast forwarding to be done. Maybe its the lack of comedy or sweet moments in this series but it just cant draw out any attachments in me for the characters involved, even the romance is awkward like MXX and OXJ would just silly smile at each other and kinda lack chemistry for a couple that grew up together and are supposed to be infatuated with each other.

In the end MXX ends up with the narrator YDD while OXJ dies and it seems that MXX discovers the truth about OXJ when he dies. So if you are up for a slow and tragic story about OXJ then maybe this series is for you

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Poor script + too much focus on unappealing characters

I was drawn in by the first episode, which was by far the best, and by my love for choral stories, focused around a large group of characters. And indeed, the parts I really liked were the ones regarding the different families leaving on this Mayang Street, their daily lives and struggles, etc.

Too bad, after a few episodes, the focus started shifting, slowly but surely, to the relationship between Tan Songyun's and Xu Wei Zhou's characters, and that deeply annoyed me for a coupla reasons: first and foremost, their characters are, imho, really unappealing (particularly the guy, whom the writer tried waaaay too hard to make us like with huge doses of lazy writing - how many times do they show us some Mayang Street person getting in trouble, only to have him/her so conveniently saved at the last moment by Xu Wei Zhou's "Deus ex machina" character? - a character whom I really despised BTW - such a selfish person, sacrificing others and their feelings only because he wanted to be an undercover cop - and then again, had it been so as to stop some terrorists or other types of reeeeally dangerous criminals, I might still have had some sympathy for him...but no, all that just to stop a bunch of *smugglers*...how can that be even remotely worthy of provoking his own granny's death and bringing grief to everybody else around him?!? Sorry, but I don't get it...). Secondly, I have the feeling that those actors are the weakest ones in the cast (please note I haven't watched anything else with them, so it may very well be that thy're not so bad and my impression just depends on the poor script and on the director's orders, who knows...but judging solely on what they showed here, I'll have to borrow a deliciously caustic definition the brilliant Youtuber "AvenueX" used for other actors and say that "one's a vegetal, the other one's a mineral". The former has the expressivity of a plant (always with that annoyingly faint smile or a faintly sad expression - in both cases veeeeeery faint, almost imperceptible...it gave me the feeling someone's scared of getting wrinkles otherwise, URGH), the latter as expressive as a rock (dude, poker might be a better career option than cinematography, seriously). They're both good looking, I'll give 'em that. But good *acting* is something else, in my book. Like, something else *entirely*.

Another huge fault of this dorama is, as I briefly mentioned earlier on, the poor script: inconsistent, incoherent, cheesy, lazy. Always taking the easy way out, always giving me the strong impression the writer couldn't care less for *conveying* messages but rather chose to *force feed* them down the viewers' throats. It was really hard, for someone like me who can't stand poor writing, to keep on watching it till the end, seriously. I think I should have trusted the gut feeling I had while watching those überbland opening credits and steered away from this.

Anyway, the only redeeming points (and the reasons why, a) I kept on watching after all, and, b) I don't give it a lower grade) are, firstly, that the rest of the cast did a pretty decent job (particularly considering the poor material they had to work with!) - and here I want to give honorable mentions to Niu Jun Feng and Li Mu Ran: such nice characters, and so nicely played, that they had me smiling inside every time they were on camera; secondly, as I mentioned at the very beginning of this review, the choral parts of the script weren't bad after all, so those kept me hooked enough that I wanted to see what would happen to the other characters; thirdly, after the (again, imho) total yawnfest of the middle part of the dorama, I kinda enjoyed the last few episodes (the ones after the time skip - those that most other MDLers seem not to have enjoyed, BTW) that brought some closure and - as far as I'm concerned - what I'd define a "happy" ending (given how much I disliked Xu Wei Zhou's character, the fact that he was finally removed from the picture felt like a happy ening to me, what can I say...^_^;...had that character been totally expunged from the series - and had they chosen another actress for the FL's role - I might've liked this much, much more.

As is, nevertheless, the passing grade is beyond reach of this drama, imho. 5/10

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Beautiful story

This drama evokes so many emotions and really makes you feel for all these beautiful characters. I loved all three of the main leads. Yes three, because I fully believe ma xiao xiao, yi dong dong and ou xiao jian were all main leads. Though she didn’t end up with Xiao Jian his story is what breathed life into this drama. As tragic as his fate was he was truly a man of justice which you can’t help but respect.


Unpopular opinion maybe but I’m so happy that ma xiao xiao and yi dong dong ended up together. He proved himself in being the man that she needed by her side. Though she and Xiao Jian had their childhood and so many emotions and connections between them, at the end of the day the path he chose in life prevented him from ever being able to give Xiao xiao the life she deserved. Dong dong’s love and understanding made me love him so much. He was willing to let her go when he realized xiao jian could make her happy. Regardless of his feelings what he wanted most was her happiness. Such a beautiful soul definitely deserves all the happiness life can give him.

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One of the best family drama that I've watched

This is one of the best family drama that I've watched. The drama tells the story of six families in Mayang Street in Guangzhou. The story starts with the sixth family (with five family members) first move to the street. They then interact and became part of the community. The drama has very interesting characters, some with traits that you have met at least once in your life. We all have that nosy neighbor, that annoying auntie, the kindhearted grandma, the silly boy next door and the girl that everyone likes. The drama has a stellar cast from the young actors and actresses to the more experienced ones. I thought that most of the cast acted really well. The best acting in this drama goes to Timmy Xu. I first watched him in Addicted to Heroin but he was not memorable in that one. He played Ou Xiao Jian really well and portrayed the emotion of a very complicated character. I can feel his pain as I watch the drama and his breakup with Xiao Xiao was the saddest thing. They were the ones breaking up in the drama and I was the one who were sad and felt the pain. (It's that good! LoL). Another kudos goes to Niu Jun Feng for portraying Yi Dong Dong, also a complex character. They both acted really well in this drama. The drama is not all serious, there are some funny moments too and funny character like Liang Xiao Bao's father. He is comical and that includes Xiao Bao too with his comical expression. I will definitely rewatch this in the future. The ending is not what I expected and what I would have liked it to be, but it's still a good ending. The OST is also good and fitting to the tone of the drama. If you like dramas about life and family and friendship, I would totally recommend watching Dear Mayang Street. It's been two days since I finish the drama and I still miss the characters and their story.

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A Nice Drama about Growing From Teen Years To Adulthood

I had wanted to give up on this show so many times many times throughout watching it but I made it to the end. I chose this show being a Tan Song Yun fan. She was still the same lovely and talented actress but this may not have been her best performance. But I can say that about all of the major characters in this story. The show is not only long with 37 episodes but it covers many years in time, about half the lives of the major characters and even more if you count flashback scenes from times before this story began. I don't know if it was the script, the actors, or the director but if you are working with a story that covers such a large timespan, there should be some progression in the characters. It may have been tough on the actors to today playing a 16-year-old, then a few episodes later someone in their mid-twenties and by the end a thirtysomething. But aside from some hairstyle and makeup changes, many of the characters acted the same from beginning to the end. So, in the beginning, you have a group of very mature teenagers and at the end you see a group of very immature adults. And that went for the adult characters too. The parents didn't age from day one to the end of the story. But none of this detracts from my appreciation for the quality of the acting throughout the story.
The ending which for me makes or breaks a show was a letdown. Despite the writers giving away the ending in the middle of the next to the last episode, I still kept hoping for the hero to prevail. The very last scene seemed out of place too. It was somewhere between an epilogue and an afterthought. It was nice that they gave us closure to the character but the scene came out of nowhere with no explanation of what actually happened, although the result was obvious.
I will likely watch the show again at some time in the future but it is not at the top of my rewatch list.

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