9. Characters by order of appearance, ctd(Foreign aid workers ; mountain heroin traffickers, episodes 18-21 ) |
My GIF excerpt from a Weibo clips : Nightmares and heartaches, preparing to escape : 留还是走 [Liú háishì zǒu] (Stay or go?)
 | [57] Justin 贾斯汀 [Jiǎ sī tīng] Teaching volunteer for an international charity organization called "Growth Helps International School". He was building a school tent for the neglected kids, across the river and witnessed the fire in ep.17. He swam over but couldn't help much. He also could not prevent the children being conscripted by the poppy growers. Disappearances of foreigners or locals, and random murders were commonplace in Trilateral Slopes, so his being among those did not cause a stir, except for Shen Xing who had started to admire the idealist and help him with the kids "jungle classes". |
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 | [58] Wū Méng 乌蒙 Justin's local friend and assistant with the tent school kids. Her young brother was forced away by an elder relative (dad?) to be sold to the drug gang, who made the children harvest poppy in the mountains of the restricted zone. |
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 | [59] The Minesweeper - an old bearded man He appeared on and off, since ep.16 when Shen Xing was troubled about Guo Limin changes. He wore a dun colored sarong and a grey shirt, around Mr. Cai's walled residence grounds, down to the small river in the jungle across which Justin had set up his tent. In fact, he had been clearing landmines all along the river for years and that was why Uncle Cai let him live there. Wu Meng called him "grandfather". | Not credited on drama pages My GIF from ep 21 - Shen Xing found a landmine in the old man's shack! | ||
 | [60] Xiǎo Zhōu 小周 Justin’s Chinese colleague at the international charity organization, headquartered in Mandalay. Shen Xing met her at a party organized by the charity, which was warning Justin to stay away from the gang people and their children. But she left, presumably with the other foreign aid workers, when a pandemic of swine influenza broke out in the country. |
 Youtube tourism video in Myanmar, capital city: Naypyitaw. | ||
 | [61] Sū Sū 蘇蘇 Owner of a tattoo shop in Mandalay. She had offended a gang and Shen Xing helped scaring the gangsters away. She did not agree with Shen Xing's request immediately but ended up drawing for him Justin's eyes. |
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 | [62] Zhào Ziyīng 赵子樱 Su Su's mentally ill half sister. She lived in the rooms over the tattoo parlor. She fell into the clutches of the drug dealers and tried to escape. |
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  | [63] Lóng Yùlán 龙玉兰 I am not totally sure but think he was the Drug lord of mountain poppy fields known to Uncle Cai as 逻央 [Luó Yāng] aka Naw Kham. He had a spoiled son who liked to play with a big toy bomber plane, and a private army with far reaching tentacles in the cold storage warehouse where meat was being used to conceal packets of heroin. He was offended by Dan Tuo, who sacrificed to keep his brothers in the gang safe, but Shen Xing was fed up and found a way to escape from Sanbianpo. |
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  | [64] Luán Bāsōng 銮巴松 He was the "mythical" founder of Kinchamba casino in Landpley, a mover and shaker shadow power figure who wanted to use Mr Cai to reorganize the north of the Trilateral Slopes, and get rid of obstacles such as Ai Suo and Naw Kham. He met with Uncle Cai briefly in the end, as reported by Jue Xintun ; the implications had Shen Xing wake up to the need for escape. | Not credited on drama pages |
My GIF from ep.21 Drug traffickers had spotted Shen Xing, who escaped, by leading them in hot pursuit to a wasteland full of landmines since the "three upheavals", which he knew about from Wumei...
My GIF from the conclusion : Cai Shu had been pretending to sleep before watching with sadness Shen Xing drive out. He had heard him and understood he was flying home. He sent him a half ironic goodbye text message... 勃磨联邦期待您再次到来！[Bó mó liánbāng qídài nín zàicì dàolái!] (Bomo Federation looks forward to your coming again!) --- the story ended in December 2009, Shen Xing reflecting to himself on his way to airport that he had spent 513 days in Bomo since his arrival as an unskilled construction worker (but also that he was unsure Cai Shu really had let him go, since Cai had said Shen Xing could go home, but had made him promise to come back to help change Trilateral Slopes with him - and as he had said to Jue Xintun, Cai had his family's address in China...)
Fun fact: Shen Xing wore the same polo shirt for departure as when he had arrived, perhaps symbolizing that he was going back to his original optimistic outlook on ordinary life and work.
10. Main Characters "ID" posters |
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And for those looking for a specific still or poster from the drama, here is the 914 views (as of September 3, 2024) Douban photo collection (which I used many from-- Other pictures were from the 28 Animal posters collection on Maoyan which I made a GIF for, since Baidu had only selected 4.)
11. REACTIONS |
GIF above from an interesting reaction on yeeyi.com (in Chinese).
 | My own first : The drama took some time to climb from lower than expected ratings and reviews to very positive ones, because of the grittiness and wavering moral compass that felt almost bewildering to those who are used to c-dramas avoiding too graphic violence, and the rumor of many cuts having been done to address the guidelines. Are there many cut scenes that expand on the violent ones? I am not sure about that. It is certain that some scenes where characters are stabbed, shot, hung upside down, drowned, tortured... are not over extended, as they would be in other countries' dramas. Indeed, the director skillfully leaves it to viewers imagination before skipping to next, less violent scenes. |
Despite its dark subject matter, it still has found its audience, and was expected, as of Thursday August 28, to be ranking first in the ten most viewed tv series of the week ending August 31. That in itself would be a feat, since audiences usually are in for gushing love and kisses costume or business and family dramas, less attracted to darker slice of life ones (idyllic or "healing" ones like Meet Yourself, are more relaxing and preferred). Outlaw heroes have always an appeal when they fought for justice, but morals had to be upheld, not shown as only hypocrisy. On the other hand, religions, while respected, are also viewed with some misgivings when they flow into sect-like blind or hypocritical worship. Ai Suo and the zen sect followers are not really redeemed by their faith, and the teachings of the Buddha that Mr Cai sanctimoniously leaves for Shen Xing as "moral compass" legacy when he first is supposed to leave with his uncle, get subverted into materialistic gold instead of the mystic golden aura they purport to have. The gangsters release fish that, as Mr Cai blandly states, are caught again downstream, so that release is only sending the animals into further misery, like the cattle who are slaughtered with the priests blessings to send heir "souls" into transmigration. None of the gangsters and people in power in the drama work to really improve the fate of the people. That is very realistic, but since the police and government of the fictional (but thinly veiled real) country there are part of the problems, where does the social moral, detached from superstitions, come in? Shen Xing started out as an idealist, almost naive youngster, with admirable determination to achieve his small goals without hurting others and keeping righteous, in the face of adversity. Somewhat like in the song 男儿当自强 (A Man Should Strengthen Himself) an ancient military song made famous by Jackie Chan to sing the virtues of the 好汉. When he was ordered to use a gun to get rid of a murderer, Shen Xing balked, blurting out that it was "against the law". Yet, his moral compass was slowly being twisted through his exposure to the gangster brotherhood. He slowly shifted into gangster mentality, seeing no wrong in using nepotism to help one he thought a friend, tolerating scams that could help Mr Cai and his gang. For all that Mr Cai claimed that money was not important but the value of humans was paramount, he offhandedly told Dan Tuo that as long as he knew what Shen Xing wanted, he could make use of him... The discrepancy is less paradoxical than realistic, but is it what is desired in showing a drama to Chinese public? China's censoring authorities declared it to be ok to "pass review", so it has to be ending in a less confusing light ; it is a "crime thriller" so of course the gangsters can't be angels, they will show their muddy feet wallowing in deceptions, that public should be warned against. And Shen Xing - like his real life author who lived the similar adventure, will of course surrender to proper authorities and get back to a normal life... |
| Here is one among other interesting articles that were already published about the drama. Even though these are in Chinese, automatic translation tools can help to understand them for those who can't read them directly : |
高评分悬疑剧《边水往事》如何在虚构中构建真实 (发稿时间：2024-08-24 08:58:00 来源： 北京青年报 中国青年网) How the high-rated suspense drama "Once Upon a Time on the Edge of Water" constructs reality within fiction - Release time: 2024-08-24 08:58:00 Source: Beijing Youth Daily /China Youth Network  Zhang Yuanhuan, general manager of Alibaba Entertainment Yitian Studio and producer of "Once Upon a Time in Bianshui" In an interview with a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily, revealed that the most important "secret" of the drama to open up the human nature interest is actually to construct reality within fiction.
Zhang Yuanhuan defined "Once Upon a Time on the Bianshui" as a suspense drama with adventure elements, and emphasized that although it is still a suspense drama in the overall category, it covers very rich elements. "Many people feel a sense of game and interaction after watching it... ...I think this is what young people need to do, to have spirit, values, and expression. If you are always mediocre, why should we do it, whether it is subtitles, worldview, or language? Carefully consider everything on the scene, and the audience will feel your intentions." | Excerpt ctd: "Although "Once Upon a Time in Bianshui" only has 21 episodes, its investment exceeds that of ordinary online dramas. In the art and props departments alone, hundreds of people were working at the same time to ensure that the production had a solid foundation for the reality of the fictional world. It has built real-life scenes such as the Jiandong construction site and the Haishan mine that determine the development of the story; from the special design of the opening subtitles to the three ending songs that switch with the plot, and even specially invited language experts to create the "Bomo language", Build a new language system and create a set of social rules, customs, etc. The "three-sided slope" built from the inside out is what [Producer] Zhang Yuanhuan calls "shaping a new world with extreme realism."
Zhang Yuanhuan said he was gratified that such a work with a new world view, ...has received positive feedback from the audience. He added, "The director is also the screenwriter of this project and is a very talented new force in the industry." ""Guo Qilin + Wu Zhenyu" was [not] an attempt to use Guo Qilin's relaxation and humor to reconcile some with the rough texture and cruelty. "When I chose Guo Qilin to play the role, I first wanted to have a grassroots perspective, through which he could see the real and unfamiliar Tri Lateral Slope. In addition, what is more expressed in the play is Guo Qilin's human character." "The word "righteousness" comes first! I think this is what the younger generation of users particularly likes. The preferences of young users are very diverse nowadays, but what we value most is definitely interests and [human] values. ” |
Many more reactions were compiled on a Douban list, in Chinese. Most saluted the cast and photography, some thought the ML looked too fat, too short, too expressionless, and thought him not charismatic enough ; others recognized him to embody the clueless, unfit, young everyman who only by sheer luck manages to survive in the tough underworld where some characters may look more glamorous, or remarkable.
The whole cast had a large selection of people showing diverse abilities even in short support roles. Dan Tuo (played by Jiang Qilin) was among those who stood out, but so were also actors like Jiang Qiming (Wang Anquan), young Zhou Zhengjie (Lan Bo) or older Zhang Junyi (Xia Wenjing).
Among the female characters, Liu Jincui (played by Qi Xi) was totally mismatched with Shen Xing for a "love interest": they were poles apart and irreconcilable, despite the rough interactions which understandably made audiences uncomfortable. The height difference, thinness of the manageress, was an embodiment of the mismatch with plump and short Shen Xing, who couldn't even play "babyish" to a woman who was supposed to have got rid of or abandoned two of her own, with zero maternal instinct ; she only cared, a little, for some of her female employees. Still, this was not at all a miscast super imposition of sentiments on a male centric story, as some wanted to reproach: the brief attempt at romance did happen in the real life account by the author, but "Cui Jie" and Shen Xing could not pull it through; their ideals and background just did not fit together, so this part is reflecting, precisely the impossibility of romance between such people, despite their brief revealing of their vulnerabilities in a short lived moment of trust. Most women in the story were not lovable : Ma Lanian was too ambitious, Chen Jie was insufferably partial to her hooligan son, Rong Jie was a smiling beady eyed mantis ready to devour preys (even though she was portrayed a "flamingo" in the animal posters). In the chaos of the Trilateral Zone, no empowerment of women was expected, despite Liu Jincui mentioning that she had her girls educated to better be able to fend for themselves. But in fact, the truth was that she made a business in trafficking brides. One in the large array of trafficking that were depicted in this drama.
Excerpts from the Guo Qilin Super Weibo page on August 29:
 Noting his personal presentation : "Guo Qilin, whose real name is Guo Qilin, was born in Tianjin on February 8, 1996. He is an actor and his representative work is "The Son-in-law"." [赘婿 Zhuì xù]. Further down the page, the page recorded the post from 千千snowbaby : "Classmate Guo Qilin has two dramas with male protagonists on the platform that are popular over 10,000 times. Who can help but die from jealousy? It feels so good, so good, so good.
darling199401 added : 开播13天，热搜91条，热度破10000，恭喜大林子: 13 days after it was aired. There are 91 hot searches and the popularity has exceeded 10,000. Congratulations to Dalinzi. 林Kevin12 concluded: "Once Upon a Time in Bianshui" Guo Qilin plays Shen Xing ⭐️ "The night you came to Daban, the stars in the sky were as bright as tonight." The story of Sanbianpo ends here. Shen Xing has also returned to China. This is already the best ending. On August 29, 2024, this Super Weibo thread page comprising 278,000 posts from other Weibo social media subscribers, had been read 72亿阅读 (7.2 billion times) and followed by 90.1万护林军 (901,000 "hùlín jūn [Ranger]" fans of Guo Qilin. |
12. Weekly popularity and Douban initial rating |
Heat index and Viewcounts posters from August 16 to --, 2024 :
| As monitored by Dreams, Youku heat index reached provisional Highest peak: 08/30 -> 10 032 on August 30 after a rise starting on August 17, 2024 Highest peak: 10 032
[Note: Since 25/07/2024, Youku has changed their heat index system : 10k is not the max anymore. But one thing is certain: it has reached a popularity that competes with blockbusters like The Double (most successful on Youku with 10k for 23 days), Blossoms in Adversity, In Blossom, Love Endures, Dashing Youth... this year. As a point for comparison, last year top 3 :
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Viewcounts :
From 500,000 befor, to 1 million views, ten days after airing: "the number of effective views across the entire network has exceeded 300 million. (3亿)", and reached over 500 million views on August 28, over 600 million views on August 31, and over 700 million views on September 3:
 
| "Bianshui Past events# Detawen’s TV drama boom index topped 11 times a day, and Maoyan’s effective broadcasts on the entire network exceeded 700 million, Deta Daily list of TV series and double crown on weekly list🎉🎉 (from Weibo post) |
Rank in weekly viewing of TV series in China
(weekly reporting of the 10 top TV dramas of the week, by Marcus Here! channel on Youtube, "based on TV ratings, and social media discussions in China") in the second fortnight of August 2024:
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August 31, 23:22
According to data from Maoyan Professional Edition, the drama "Once Upon a Time in Bianshui" starring Guo Qilin and Wu Zhenyu has more than 600 million (6 亿） effective views on the entire network.
September 5, 2024
"As of September 5, data from the Beacon Professional Edition show that "Once Upon a Time in Bianshui" has been viewed 26.664 million (2666.4万) times [*] across the entire network, firmly ranking first in the online drama list and becoming a dark horse among this summer's online dramas." (Source) [*] number of views per episode, on average.
Douban initial rating of August 22, 2024 : 8.1 for almost 29K votes(an excellent rating) Rising to 8.2 on August 26, 8.3 on August 30. |
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(Screenshot of August 25, 2024 - Click on the above page to check the latest Weibo rating : it may fluctuate over or below highest rating, although expected to stay at least at 8.1)
 | "2024-09-01 Bianshui Past was the Hottest Adventure Drama in August Maoyan Professional Edition data testifies that in August 2024, Maoyan’s popularity value was 9327.25, becoming 2024 Maoyan’s most popular adventure drama in August! #马眼August Drama Hot List# " |
Datawin data standing for September 2 : #1 and for 35 weeks total (yes it's been less than 3 weeks on air, so that's estimate comparison) : #1
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More data showing the drama's standing as an S+ DRAMA (i.e. fends off the comments by some who wanted to dismiss it as "low budget" !) Each episode counted about 38.77 million views estimate over the 30 days period reference (the number of days here is less than 30, but it is the total estimate views divided by number of episodes aired which was taken into account at the end of August, when total views were estimated 620,320million and 16 episodes were aired). Also, which are the three ones that ranked better there, regardless of genre and length ? #1 The Double (60.32 million views per episode) ; #2 The Tale of Rose (50.83mil.) ; #3 Lost You Forever Season 2 (40.57 mil.) Note that the data below is for the past 30 day period.
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13. Some Farewell messages from the cast |
As usual, some members of the cast left farewell messages.
 | Jiǎng Qímíng (蒋奇明) who played Wang Anquan quipped on his Weibo page : "Goodbye, bosses. If you have a phone number, I’ll give you a call. My name is Wang Anqiuan. I am the safest person to find." 【*】安全 Ānquán means "Safety". |
 "Bian Shui’s Past Events, which has exceeded 10,000 hits, is about to come to an end. Bian Shui’s current achievements are inseparable from the support of all netizens." |  On the same day, Wáng Xùn (王迅) who played Wu Haishan posted a message welcoming Netizens to his mine, and offering a Youku annual VIP membership for each of 10 lucky draws among those who would chat about the drama. |
Sòng Jiāténg 宋家騰 who played Yán Báiméi 岩白眉 regretted that he had to be dubbed, but not that he took part in the drama:  【*】Wall crack 墙裂 is a Chinese internet buzzword for "highly recommended" | Goodbye "Bianshui Past", goodbye Baimei. Bai Mei was dubbed, not the original voice. The dubbing was uncomfortable to listen to and gave everyone a bad experience. But what, many things are regrettable. Thank you everyone for liking our "Bianshui Past". Our director is super great. He also made "Reset" and "Madhouse" before, which were also very good. “Wall Crack“ 【*】 recommends it! The main reason is because I participated in all the performances, hahaha |
| Zhào Rùnnán 赵润南 (who played Guō Lìmín, 郭立民) expressed his feelings about the ambiguous role: "Today marks the end. I am honored to play Guo Limin and become Guo Limin in "Once Upon a Time on the Edge of Water". The depth of this character to me is hard for me to express in words. The universal values he believed were challenged, shattered, and tried to be rebuilt again and again. Countless times I felt suffocated by the internal and external pressure he faced. The numbers written down in the account book were the traces he left alone on the three slopes. The best of him should be in the small things. Eating sugar cane in front of a brightly lit stall, celebrating Brother Xing's birthday in the dim light of the construction site, and unexpectedly repairing the fan in the scorching heat.... |
 ... Not to mention the betrayal the character faces, I would like to thank all the creative staff of Bian Shui and every senior actor for allowing me to experience his life so immersively. "I feel that I have never lived for myself, and I have never been a normal person." These two sentences were spoken out of emotion at the scene. If it happens again, I hope, Xiao Guo, that you can truly live for yourself. |
 "The days of walking around mountains and rivers to make a living are over. Thank you all for accompanying "Bianshui Past" on this magnificent adventure! In order to commemorate this unforgettable journey, we join hands with all #BianShuiPastGoodHelpers# to bid farewell to SanBianpo and move towards a new adventure together."【*】"Mountains and rivers" evoke the concept of "jianghu" 江湖 (rivers and lakes) which refers to roving for adventure, but also "the adventurous world at large" that young people looking for jobs will enter... Production's farewell messagecame with a "puzzle" opening windows as a scroll with "framed ads" hung on "wood color" background (evoking the precious wood traffick -- Chinese people are fond of "nanmu", "hongmu" or "huanghuali" furniture). They picture 20 associated brands on gold and green jungle background, with the ubiquitous baby tapir. Among the commercials for brands, the frames showed:Pepsi Cola, Rio, Organic Coconut Milk, mineral water brands, Budweiser beer, Dove chocolate, snacks packets for kids, Chinese medicine for stomach problems or bruises, batteries, etc ... and the Samsung Galaxy ZFold6/ZFlip6 mobile phone.
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| (Did we wonder where product placement came in? The show was interrupted at times by shrill commercials, on the platforms, although in-drama product placement was less conspicuous). Another post showed the drama themed wearables (T shirt, dun-color girls' bob hat with the emblematic baby tapir sitting on a pink lotus flower ; there was also a black version for boys...)
|  Besides which, the drama Weibo offered a sweepstakes to win some drama-themed "goodies" including a small toy Buddhist "wooden fish" 木魚 adorned by the emblematic baby tapir picture. (Encouraging kids to recite the sutras !? lol) |
Guo Qilin expressed his farewell simultaneously with the final livestream that had the 5 main actors reply to questions :
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Click here to get back to Table of contents - This companion piece was completed on August 4, 2024 - final message of Guo Qilin added on Sept.7
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