Shooting locations and dates, Misc. other links

[To view the list of my other drama companion pieces (with links to them), check : HERE.]

1. SHOOTING AND RELEASE HISTORY AND LOCATION

From Baidu and other sources, this is the information for Hidden Love :

幕后制作 shooting : August 2022 -Nov 14th, 2022  (in Xiamen, Fujian)

Aerial views :

Xiamen university :

Broadcast info from Baidu :

September 21, the poster of the show was exposed for the first time, and it was officially announced that Zhao Lusi and Chen Zheyuan would be the leading actors.

November 14th, the "Heartbeat Atmosphere" version of the film was released and the full cast was announced; on the same day, the show posted photos of all members on its official Weibo.

January 6, 2023, the Youku platform announced that the drama would become their modern idol drama with the fastest reservation to break 1 million; 

June 16, the drama announced that it would be scheduled for 06-20-2023 ; + released the trailer for the secret love ;

June 17, release of cp poster

June 18, release 2 trailers Secret love come true + Accompany you to graduation; + officially announced the OST Lineup;

June 19, the show released the theme song "Just Want to Hide You Secretly" sung by Wang Sulong and Zhao Lusi and was officially launched; +release of a follow-up calendar;

June 20, the play released the original film and television soundtrack album;  simultaneously to airing Hidden Love  (25x45' episodes Jun 20, 2023 - Jul  6, 2023 on Youku.)

June 25, the show released a side face poster.

June 27, the Youku meeting of the show was held in Beijing.

Map of Xiamen and Gulangyu :

EXTERNAL LINKS IN CHINESE

• Baidu Baike

• Douban

• Weibo

link back to Table of Contents

3.1. Jiaxu's Shenlan electric car :

Nice ZLS & CZY selfies [click link] in the car : 

    Changan Announcement   (   Vlad,    26 July 2022     )

The Tesla Model 3 has yet another competitor in the Chinese EV market. This week's contender comes from Changan Automobile, based in Chongqing. The company officially announced the new Shenlan SL03 electric sedan last night, and this should, according to analysts, be a strong contender in the space dominated by the Model 3 and BYD's Seal.

The all-electric variant aims for mass-market, with a starting price of CNY 183,900 ($27,191) with a CLTC range of 515 km (320 miles). If you need more range there's another option with 705 km (438 miles) CLTC that sells for CNY 215,900 ($31,922). Deliveries are expected to start in early August.

The Shenlan SL03 has two motor versions and two battery options. The cheaper model pairs a 190 kW (254 hp, 258 PS) motor with a 58.1 kWh battery pack, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 5.9 seconds. The more expensive iteration comes with a 160 kW (214 hp, 217 PS) motor and a 79.97 kWh battery, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 6.9 seconds. Both of these top out at 320 Nm torque.

The car comes with six ultrasonic radars, three mmWave radars, and six cameras, has all the usual assistance systems, as well as an optional "valet parking" feature and Pilot Assisted Driving, both of which can be had in a pack for CNY 20,000 ($2,957). A Qualcomm chip powers the infotainment system, and analysts expect Changan to move about 15,000 units per month on average."

Licence plate secrets

Notice: In Episode 14, the license plate of Jiaxu's car at 26:15 and at 28:47 reads "D34520" . That's a code!   34 (sān sì) is almost homophone with 桑稚 Sāng zhì and 520 is the well-known text code for "I love you" (Wǔ'èr líng = Wǒ ài nǐ 我愛你). - but the 宜A before has only a "drama" significance, since there is no province or municipality with this code: 宜 is of course Yi(he), the (probably provincial capital) city in the drama. Next letter on the license plates numbers in China refers to urban or suburban area, sometimes other information  : A would be code for provincial capital of the province around Yihe, like in 苏A: Nanjing (capital city of Jiangsu province) ;whereas 闽D means Xiamen and  京C means Beijing center city districts...  (京C, 京E, 京F, 京H, 京J, 京K, 京L, 京M, 京P, 京Q refer to Urban area cars; 京A, 京LB, 京LC - foreigner or foreign company owned vehicle )  In addition, the green license plates refers to all electric car.   (China is moving away from cars using gas and has in many cities a restrictive policy, even lotteries, to register new car plates, and limit sales and congestion on roads; latest news on that here and on the incentives for EV cars here). Some license plate numbers are very sought after, but can no longer be chosen freely ; see here).

Can Jiaxu's car be driven in a real city?  Yes, with special authorization from municipal governments near known large cinema studios like Hengdian and now Xiamen, cars used in dramas or movies are allowed to drive on roads with their "special" license plates, for shooting purposes, because the government had a ruling that cars should not be linked to real places in fiction movies or dramas. So, throughout dramas, like in this one, you will see license plates that have no tie to a real one among the 22 provinces or 4 municipalitIes (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing). 5 autonomous regions and 2 special administratio regions (Hong Kong and Macau).

The Hidden Love license plate love code was also spotted by others in  episode 12, at 29:21, screenshot on this post found on the Net, just mistaking D for a 0  (also mistyping Duan Jiaxu's name and missing an "e" in plate, but that's nitpicking):

3.2.  SANG YAN'S  Chang'an UNI-K   EV :

Sang Yan's car  is a Chang'an UNI-K compact crossover, 5 door SUV, 5 seater,  "all new blue core technology " turbocharged  gasoline direct injection(TGDi) which keeps consumption at minimum, and is filled with electronics, including audio control. Info from the March 2023 brochure.   Based on the rejuvenated CS75 Plus, which had either 6 speed manual or automatic transmission. Produced since 2019, it has an updated model, dubbed the second generation CS75 Plus, which was introduced in 2022 ; 8-speed automatic transmission being the only sole gearbox option. "To ensure all products meet customers’ demand of driving for 10 years and 260,000 kilometers, Changan has established product development system and test validation system."

Licence Plates of Sang Yan's Car

The license plate read 南A D00866 (Ep13  5:27) - You know that this is not a real license plate because there are no real ones starting with a  (nan) prefix; once again it is a fictitious municipality and of course, that one must be 南芜 (Nanwu). The combination of numbers 8 and 66 are sought after as auspicious, lucky numbers : 8  is near homophone with fā 发, rich, prosperous ; and 66 is the start of two lucky phrases : “liu liu da shun” (六六大顺), meaning  “everything will go smoothly.” and the saying “liù liù wú qióng (六六無窮) which means “the flow (of luck) is infinite” or more explicitly “flowing money is never poor.” because 6 sounds like 流 (liú), which means "flow" in Chinese.    One well-known text code using these digits is 086  for 你发了 ni fa le (You made a fortune).

The still pic above does not always link here. Sometimes it does if you refresh the page.     

link to table of contents

5. SETS AND LOCATIONS IN XIAMEN, FILMING INDUSTRY IN XIAMEN

1. The Sang family complete house in "Nanwu" was specially built on set  for the drama !

https://twitter.com/outrolusi/status/1678788132488237057

https://twitter.com/Princess_rosyyy/status/1678788726833696768

These links posted by  MikaM are very interesting !  

From  the Net, some other  pictures from the Hidden Love house in Nanwu and information about the film and TV industry in Xiamen and why it is such a desirable shooting location.

Below: Sang Zhi's upstairs room and the downstairs living room interior design

2. The film industry in Xiamen :

From an article about Xiamen's film industry, it is being promoted already for a few years now, with an emphasis on further development in 2023-2028 in the wake of the  November "Golden Rooster awards" ceremony which takes place in this city since 2020 and are scheduled to ramain hosted there until 2030.

AP, Dec.14, 2020 : "... Xiamen aims to build itself into a new industrial hub for the domestic market by 2022 and become a model of high-quality development for the Chinese film industry by 2025.

The city has been accelerating construction on a slew of film industrial parks, studios, and other supporting facilities.

The Xiamen Film and TV Shooting Base, located in Jimei district, started operating on Nov 20 [2020]. It is capable of accommodating a diverse array of requirements for film and TV production and providing a variety of venues for shows and advertisements. The base is expected to receive three to five film crews and 10 to 15 TV and variety show crews annually.

The district’s film and TV industrial park is currently home to 626 companies, which generated 1.08 billion yuan ($156 million) in output from January to October, up 60.8 percent year-on-year.

In addition to its development plan, Xiamen also provides a series of incentives to film companies and talent in an effort to develop the regional film industry.  Subsidies ranging from 50,000 to 5 million yuan are offered to people who establish film companies and studios, write scripts, distribute films, export film services, and more. [...]

The city, dubbed the “most beautiful natural film studio” for its charming coastal landscapes and year-round warm weather, has attracted 200 to 300 film and TV crews every year since 2015. [It is] an ideal place to produce modern-day and campus-themed dramas due to its blend of modern and historic architecture.  It is easy to gain access to resources such as hotels, personnel, and shooting venues in the city, which saves  time and money,

During the first three quarters of 2020, 97 films made by Xiamen-based companies received approval to begin shooting, five times the number in 2019. Thirty-three of them are online movies, accounting for two thirds of Fujian’s total.    

“The {Golden Rooster] film festival will help boost the film and TV industry in Xiamen by raising its profile and attracting more resources,” said Yin Li, vice-chairman of the China Film Association. During this year’s event, Xiamen signed 32 film and TV project deals valued at a total of 19.6 billion yuan.

The projects involve a film cultural town, investment foundation, 5G VR industrial base, film script center, artificial intelligence-powered online animation platform, and a dozen film companies.  

In addition, Xiamen  led Fujian in setting up the first film academy in the province.  The Film Academy of Jimei University was established in June and has already admitted its first group of undergraduates and postgraduates. During the festival, Xiamen University also announced that it would soon do the same. -  Universities and companies have joined forces to carry out a number of projects in the city, gradually forming an ecosystem of film talent cultivation and helping the city to become a new center of China’s film industry."

* The Golden Rooster awards biennial event, initiated in 1981, was hosted by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the China Film Association, and now also the Xiamen Municipal People’s government. It represents one of the most prestigious film awards on the Chinese mainland. It got its name from the Chinese Zodiac, as the inaugural awards were held in 1981, the Year of the Rooster.

3. Other locations suitable for films and dramas :

Located just five minutes southwest from downtown Xiamen the coastline stretches for miles offering visitors miles of sandy beaches for sunbathing and swimming there are also numerous bike rental shops making for a great way to tour the coast, and boardwalks.  Less than a mile from shore, the Jinmen island is under Taiwanese control.

Xiamen was already home to Xiamen Tong'An Movie & TV City which was completed in 1998. Its former name was Yuanhua Movie and Television City. The Fobidden City, Tiananmen Square and  Summer Palace are imitated in the basic architectural complex. The complex also has a Jurassic dinosaur world and other theme parks. This tourist attraction can be accessed by a bus line from center city to Jimei University, but the size and age of the sets make them not the prime place to go visit and looking for film sets.

Among the most successful businesses in Xiamen are the Luckin Coffee chain which moved its headquarters from Beijing to XIamen and has more coffee shops, cashless,  in China than Starbucks ; and Meitu which is the most successful digital company in Xiamen (it is a photo editing and sharing ‘beauty’ software for smart phones that lets let users touch up their selfies using filters, stickers, video editing and other tools.)

.Of course there are numerous karaoke or live stage bars such as this one, the Hao Jiu Bu Jian (Long Time No See) one  [ok, that's an insider's joke around the livestream 😄 check after the 14 37 minute mark on the linked video ; and CZY singing that old Eason Chen song] :

NB: In 2015, Chen Zheyuan participated in the variety program King of Pop, and subsequently debuted as part of the boy group Mr. Bio ; his acting career started in 2017.

The Science and Technology museum :  "Xiamen Science and Technology Museum is located at the intersection of Xianyue Road and Tiyu Road. It is a science education center that aims to promote scientific knowledge among the general public. It is a very large science and technology museum with a high amount of technical content. The museum has a total of more than 400 items on display and is equipped with a dynamic 4D cinema and a flying cinema, with some amazing experiences available for visitors; visitors with children are especially encouraged to try it out."

Noticed by MyHiguma (July 15, 2023)  : " The filming location became popular, and as the world loves to watch "Hidden Love "  -- The filming location attracts the audience to check in- The visitor flow of Xiamen Chengyi Science and Technology Discovery Center increased by 152.7% year on year
The single-day visitor flow of Xiamen Huandong Romance Line reaches 100,000
Cr: @HL_HiddenLove
https://twitter.com/HL_HiddenLove/status/1679000637239881729

link to table of contents

7. Names and ages of characters, profiles :

段嘉许  Duàn Jiāxǔ  

as in 嘉许  (to praise, favorable, appreciation) was  also called 嘉许哥 Jiāxǔ gē (Xu brother) by Sang Zhi.  

PROFILE :  Jiaxu had had an unhappy youth in Yihe, and had therefore chosen to study in Nanwu, in the computer academy (计算机学院  jìsuànjī xuéyuàn) of a university at the heart of the game industry in the country. He was a tall, handsome, very bright, hardworking student with no addiction (non smoker and teetotaller), focusing on studies, and making money through part-time jobs and tutoring, in order to pay off crushing debts left to him by his father who was in a coma.   The debts had taught him frugality and thrift.  He had started to save as soon as he could, aside from finishing his payments to the wretched Jiang Ying, daughter of the man whom his father had hit and run when Jiaxu was still in high school preparing for the gaokao (end of high school exam that determines entry to selective universities).  

As a student in Nanwu, Jiaxu's only leisure interests were playing video-games with Sang Yan, and reading science fiction (such as a translation of Isaac Asimov's time travel novel  The End of Eternity). He was both thankful and attracted to the normalcy of the Sang family with the funny rivalry between his friend and his little sister, who became sort of his "found family".  So, he was attentive, as a "Brother 2", to help little Zhi out of trouble, giving her useful advice for her studies and for her social skills, cute gifts when she was small, a nice jewel, and a hand stress reliever when she was interning.   Although he was always very wrapped up in his job, he also proved to be good at snooker,  darts (ep.6), at basketball  (ep.17), and at roller skating (ep.18).  But after a couple of years working full time in a game designing company back in Yihe, he still had no property, except a car, and some savings. 

Jiaxu shouldered the need to pay his father's blood debt and hospital bills, after the tragic event that had destroyed his home. His mother had sold their Yihe apartment in a high rise to meet the crushing cost without needing to ask reluctant famly, but it still was not enough. He had had hell to pay in his last years of high school (flashbacks in ep 11,  25:35-28:20 + ep 16, 21:24-28:17), so had chosen to study away from his hometown.  ), But the year before his move to the new dorm, he'd had to bury his mom after her long illness, that added hospital bills to pay.

Sang Yan's family had extended a helping hand to tide Jiaxu through that difficult period.  He had become friends with Sang Yan who introduced him to video games, in which Jiaxu saw not only pastime, but a possibility for his future job. Thus, he interned in a game design company already during his last year at university, and moved to Yihe, to join the Dream Games company there, following an older student (Li Xun). He only came back to Nanwu briefly,  for formal graduation, before returning to Yihe, his home town, 500 km away.  

In Yihe, 23 going on 24 years old Jiaxu's workaholism had led him to the point of surviving on junk food such as instant noodles, refugee-like, until he fell ill and Sang Zhi decided to check that he was fed properly. Before she came to study in Yihe, he also had found cheap accommodation in a sort of converted attic in a former warehouse of the relatively cheap part of the city that was booming, with high tech companies, spurred by the rejuvenated university. 

Jiaxu's father was in a coma for many years, until he died and was buried in Yihe ; but Jiaxu only visited the tomb of his mother together with Sang Zhi. 

Jiaxu was 5 years older than Zhi, they had birthdays about two week apart, hers in March before his, in the late spring hot months. (she turned 19 in episode 15, and he turned 24 in episode 17)

Twitter reposts with translation of an interview where actor Chen Zheyuan talked about Duan Jiaxu:   When did Duan Jiaxu fall in love with Zhi ; What touched him most ;  What scene did he love most  ;  Which scenes felt heartbreaking ;  and see at the end of this post a link to a discussion by ZLS, CZY ans VMBQ about their characters + farewell to Duan Juaxu by CZY.   My own opinion about Jiaxu.

桑稚 Sāng zhì as in 稚气 Zhìqì 

(innocence, naivety, simplicity, juvenile, childish) : appropriate name!  Her pet name [小明] was 只只 ZhǐZhǐ  (one and only).  Her brother used to call her  小鬼 xiǎoguǐ (Little Demon). Her roommates at the Yihe university called her affectionately 桑桑 SāngSāng  .Jiaxu called her  妹妹 mèimei (little sister) or 小朋友 xiǎopéngyǒu (small friend) up to university, when he realized she was not a child any longer. Then he was unsure about how to address her, using 年轻人 niánqīng rén (young person).... 

PROFILE:  Zhi had been a very protected but willful child, before becoming more cautious and shy as an adolescent and as an adult. She always loved to draw and therefore chose to study in the best digital design university, since she always achieved good results in school at exams. As the baby sister of a big boy who always teased her, she had gone through yearning for a nicer big brother, puppy love attaching to her tutor, secret adolescent crushing on the tall student, feeling devastated and numb after thinking he had broken a promise, getting reacquainted while feeling defensive and reluctant about it. In ep 9, 11:30-13:30, Jiaxu joked about Zhi's showering him with honorifics in a long text message : "oh, I see, does this 您 mean that you have me in your heart?" (since the "heart" 心 key is featured below the "you"你 in the formal address  您)!  Her care about Jiaxu, which she had firmly crushed and put away since ep7, ghosting him for two years, was rekindled when he had to go to hospital (ep9).  In ep13 after the wedding, she accepted his gift (手环  [shǒuhuán/wristlet] rhyming with 喜欢 [xǐhuān/love]) . This became another 爱不释手 [ài bú shì shǒu] - to love something too much to part with it - treasured item!  She was violently allergic to milk (ep.14-15) and beef, but she liked sweets, and had used her favorite Jellybelly beans pyramids to prepare a gift for Jiaxu a few times, and also made cotton candy for him,  one evening when he came back downcast afer having seen his father at the nursing home (ep.16).

see Zhao Lusi's Farewell to Sang Zhi below.

桑延 Sāng Yán  as in the phrase 延年益寿 Yánniányìshòu 

(Promise longevity, prolong life); he was the true 哥 gē (brother) of Sang Zhi, who called him casually 哥哥，哥   or  大傻狗 dà shǎ gǒu  (Big Silly Dog).   

PROFILE:  4 years older than his sister, and  one year younger than Jiaxu. (mentioned in ep13 of the drama) Sang Yan was a willful young man who often quarelled with his sister, while also doting on her.  Sang Yan, after graduation, was starting a business as bar owner in ep.16.

Jiaxu joked with Sang Yan at the wedding of Qianfei, taunting him by calling him 哥哥 too, as if  they were in mock BL blood brother style relationship. The actors also joked in a livestream about Sang Yan being the "father" and Jiaxu the "son" , thinking of the sports competition episode where Sang Yan and Jiaxu pretended to teacher that this was their family tie to little Sang Zhi! 

Sang Yan considered Jiaxu as a family member, a sworn brother, more than a  friend, So he was understandably disgusted when Jiaxu taunted him with "elder brother" gege  哥哥 address (at their mutual friend Qianfei's wedding), as if Jiaxu was implying Sang Yan had an advantage such as being richer, able to idle like a "young master" to Jiaxu's plebeian roots, or worse, coming on to him as in BL trends! 

See the farewell message by Victor Ma to Sang Yan below.

Other characters :

Li Ping (桑太太 Sāng tàitài) (played by Zeng Li), Zhi and Yan's mother; Jiaxu called her 阿姨   āyí (auntie, a generic term in China to address older women one is familiar with).

Sang Rong (played by Qiu Xin Zhi), Zhi and Yan's father; Jiaxu called him 叔叔 shūshu (uncle, father's younger brother, a generic term in China to address a man one generation older as in "family")

Qián Fēi  钱飞,  (played by Hu Yu Xuan) university roommate of  Duan Jiaxu, Sang Yan, and Chen Junwei.  [DJX remarked  "钱飞哥挺聪明" qián fēi gē tǐng cōngmíng : Qian Fei is very smart ] (ep.13, 31:40)

Yīn Zhēnrú  殷真如  (played by Gu Shu Qi), high school "friend" of Sang Zhi who got her bullied and robbed in an alley by a gang of three girl thugs.

Fù Zhèng Chū  傅正初 (played by  Zhang Jiong Min) , former classmate of Sang Zhi who had an unrequited crush on her

Jiāng Yǐng 姜颖  (played by Xu Shi Xin), mentally unstable daughter of the man who Jiaxu's father had hit and run ; she harrassed him with texts and in person  (ep.6-26:21;  ep.9;  ep11 )

Lǐ Xùn 李迅 (played by Guan Zi Jing), former student from the Nanwu university who became "middleware consultant" (as introduced in ep13, 38:07) of the e-game development company The Dream games (一梦互娱）in Yihe where Jiaxu went to work on the game       《一梦江湖》 (tr. as Tales of Adventure). Note: this game does exist,  title A dream of Jianghu RPG available on STEAM.)

Jiǎng Sīyún 讲思云, (played by Wang Yang) Li Xun's wife and manager of the e-game studio, who drove Jiaxu to the airport in ep.7, worked on the game development in ep.9, and cleared up the misunderstanding in ep.14. -- Jiaxu addressed her as 思云姐  Sī Yúnjiě (elder sister Siyun) and called Li Xun 迅哥 (elder brother Xun)  as good friends.MMORPG demo video of A Dream of Jianghu, YT 2019

Shī Xiǎoyǔ 施晓雨   also called  晓雨姐 (played by Xu Shi Yue), head of planning department at the digital design company in Yihe (ep.19, 10:00), where Sang Zhi interned in animation. She was a close friend of Jiang Ying, so had a bias against Zhi, was harsh on her, and enabled the obsessed one to find Zhi at the team building party.

Níng Wēi 宁薇 (played by Smile Wei), dorm roommate of Sang Zhi in Yihe university, who was in a relationship with Chén Qiáng 陈强  and coached the others in matters of love. Her friends called her affectionately 薇薇.

Yú Xīn 虞心  (played by Qi Tian Qing),  [室友  shìyǒu] roommate  of Sang Zhi. She focused on her studies in digital media and paired with Sang Zhi for an award winning project

Wāng Ruòlán 汪 若兰 (played by Wang Yi Lan),  roommate of Sang Zhi, shy and bespectacled, she had an unrequited crush on tall basketball player Jiang Ming whom she interviewed (ep.18). Her friends called her 汪汪 WāngWāng  familiarly .

Chén Míngxǔ  陈名许 (played by Chang Hai Bo), teacher in Nanwu high school.  He got hoodwinked by Jiaxu who impersonated Zhi's brother in the school interview (ep.2 ), and by Sang Yan who pretended to be her father, when Zhi fell in the sports competition.  (ep.2 )

Chén  Qiáng  陈强 (played by Song Pei Ze):  boyfriend of Níng Wēi, student at the Sports Department of Yihe university. Chén Jùnwén 陈骏文 (played by Zhang Hao Lun), roommate of Sang Yan, Qian Fei, and Duan Jiaxu, at Nanwu university.

Jiāng míng   江铭  (played by Lu Dong Xu), tall "1.95m" basketball player who had an unrequited crush on Zhi. He tried to show his love by playing a song for her in the bar where she got drunk (ep.12)  Wan Zhe  (played by Wang Sheng Yun) was an elder student, who started interning at the digital media company   together with Zhi (ep.19).

JIAXU AND SANG ZHI'S RELATIONSHIP

Between  the age of 19 and 22  (ep1-7), Jiaxu  paid only friendly attention to his friend's baby sister.   The two had met in Nanwu when she was a shrimpy schoolgirl of 14 in Rising Sun middle school 旭日中学  xùrì zhōngxué (she was in 初二 chū èr, 2nd year of middle school, also called junior high school = Grade 8, US system).  Sang Zhi was fascinated by the handsome "Big Brother", and wished he could be her brother too. Soon, she felt the pangs of a puppy love which she concealed as best she could because she did not want to come out as "weird".  She grew up a little and stored his gifts in her room : an empty bottle of milk was used to store her secret thoughts written on strips of paper folded into stars. She had an illustrated diary in which she recorded sentences that struck her fancy.

Secret crush on the part of Sang Zhi when she was  17,  in 高二 gāo'èr (Grade 11).   The two  did not often meet before Sang Yan moved in, closer to her school, to a new dorm at the university, where Sang Yan was rooming with Jiaxu, chubby Qianfei, and another student. On that occasion, Jiaxu gave to Zhi the big fox doll that he had won somewhere. Zhi noticed from the document on his bunk that he was an outstanding student who had been exempted from test to enter directly a Master's degree (硕士  shuòshì). Jiaxu tutored her over a winter vacation, efficiently, and spurred her on to focus on her studies.  She was touched by his sadness and tried to cheer him up through giving him a specially handmade New Year's gift, and preparing another thoughtful gift for his graduation.  The night after his graduation, before he returned to Yihe, she had him promise to introduce her to his girlfriend if ever he got one.

Crush crushed. A misunderstanding arose when Sang Yan told Sang Zhi that his friend was dating. She took the short air trip to visit Jiaxu in Yihe, but was appalled to see him in company of a woman she did not know.  Assuming that he had broken his promise and not bothered to introduce her to his girlfriend,  she broke off contact with him for two years and stored away the toys and the paper stars.

Growing into love. Jiaxu slowly fell for Sang Zhi after a series of events which had him :  go to hospital ; be attacked and defended by Zhi just before the first snow at a calendar New Year ; rescue Zhi from a bar where she had become drunk and revealed that she had a crush ;  suspect the crush was himself after a conversation with Qianfei ; flirting shamelessly with her at a wedding party (ep.13). His love for her deepened when she accepted him as suitor ;  celebrated his birthday and agreed to be his girlfriend (ep.17) ; accepted to study at his place (ep.17-18) ; and finally, when she gave him her childhood star-folded secrets. But first he had to dispel the notion that he was like a "中央空调"  zhōngyāng kòngtiáo  as she had drunkenly described him in ep.12 (central air conditioning or, a "ladies' man" attentive to all and sundry instead of a "暖男" nuǎn nán, warmly devoted to one only). he also needed to clear up the misunderstanding that had caused Zhi to shun him for two years, leaving his messages and gifts unanswered. And also to overcome Sang Yan and his family's initial opposition and reluctance because of his past and his age difference with Zhi. 

Jiaxu and Zhi got married when they were 27 and 22  after she graduated from university. (epîsode 25)  - In the PRC, if citizens reach adult age at 18, they nevertheless need to wait until they are 20 (women) or 22 (men) before they can enter marriage.

The annoying Jiang Ying

Jiaxu hated Jiang Ying who was guilt-tripping him, sending unwanted gifts of dietary supplement from the beautician shop where she worked, and spreading lies that they were "together" when he never wanted her near him. But because  of his mother's promise, Jiaxu had trouble shaking her off until Sang Zhi made him realize that he should not compromise any longer and that Jiang Ying  might become a threat if not dealt with finally.  In ep9, Jiaxu  sent to Jiang Ying the final payment of 8,000 Rmb to settle the debt and from then on cut communications with her, since he had suffered enough at her guilt-tripping him about his father's hit-and-run when her father died. But she had grown obsessed about him, showering him with unwanted packages from the beauty salon she worked in, flooding him with text messages, banging on his door (after having unawares  brushed shoulders with Zhi in ep 10), attacking him in the restaurant (ep11), stalking him to his door (ep11),  making a scene at the company Jiaxu worked in, (ep11) and spreading lies to her friends and former classmates that they were "together". Finally; Jiaxu had to warn her that he would not hesitate to call the police if she went on stalking Sang Zhi, after Jiaxu heard about the team building incident. Sang Zhi also suggested to Jiang Ying's friend (manager Shi Xiaoyu) that the mentally unstable Jiang Ying ought to be get psychological treatment instead of persisting to demand the impossible from Jiaxu, and risk problems with the police as a troublemaker. 

-o - O - o-

In the original novel (see in the links post below for a translated version), Jiaxu is not 5 but 7 years older than Sang Zhi, which made it probably easier for him to achieve the degree of relative affluence he got to, and the support from business angels in order to launch the company he started in Nanwu, so Sang Zhi would be able to stay near her family.

Video:  CP Photoshoot for Hidden Love  (posted on YT July 2, 2023) Later, in unpublished sequel chapters to the novel version, Sang Zhi and Duan Jiaxu would have a daughter慕桑 Mù Sāng (name meaning "act" in a play, or "curtain" + Sang family name which is also the name for "white mulberry", one of the more precious materials used to make calligraphy paper).  To continue the story someday, perhaps.   (check the Book vs Drama Discussion,  also among the "Compilation of Links" post below to find the additional chapters to the novel. Warning: the "Wedding Night" chapter is rather raunchy).

Despite I did not go into actors and actresses biography/presentation, except making a separate Profile for Chen Zheyuan (updated and expanded since, here in link), I would like to point to this interesting commented discussion about the actors reactions to their characters in the post drama livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0ePN1qF2xU

Adding these goodbyes from the main cast to their characters :

1/Chen Zheyuan :   insideout91  posted  (July 2023)  Chen Zheyuan weibo update (from https://twitter.com/HL_HiddenLove/status/1678608495090778112?s=20)

~I will say goodbye to you today. I know, along the way, it was not easy for you, [I may have] wronged you. Whenever I introduce you to others, I will say that you are a warm and powerful person, a person who has gone through ups and downs but is still alive like the sun. In the short three months of being you, I have learned a lot and grown a lot, not only in acting, but also in life. I often think, if I encounter the same situation as you, can I deal with it, can I not feel sorry for myself and even take good care of the people around me? When I was twenty-six years old, I met you [jiaxu] who were twenty-six years old. [I feel I am very lucky to have met such a beautiful character]. When I first started, I actually didn’t know how to interpret you well.

I have been thinking about how to peek into your heart, tried many methods, tried many tricks, and even prayed before going to bed, "Duan Jiaxu, help me, just let me be you, just three months ’” (a little silly sorry) But thank you for opening the door to me.

You are also lucky to meet such a beautiful Sang Zhi, who loves your sunshine and tolerates your brokenness, so that you will have someone who can support each  l other and rely on each other in the days to come. Thanks to Sang Zhi for allowing Duan Jiaxu to go from having no house to having a home, from "alone for a lifetime" to "with one person for a lifetime"

Thank you to everyone who loves this beautiful story, and thank you to everyone who participated in writing this story. I hope everyone can reap the love regardless of everything."

2/ Sang Zhi :  insideout91 2023-07-11  Sang Zhi’s Farewell Weibo post Hidden Love : "When I folded the three characters ‘Duan Jia Xu’ into paper stars, I also imagined what it would be like for us to stand side by side one day. But no matter how many times I imagined, this moment is more beautiful than any of them.  
You said it was because of me that you had the courage to love without hesitation, but you don't know that you were my first heartbeat. It's because you're really, really amazing that I can sprint towards you without looking back. After all, in the face of love, we all inevitably become cowards. And we met each other at just the right time.

The moment we ran ahead of the tsunami together, the moment we made wishes together in the first snow, the moment we blew out birthday candles together, and many, many more moments that I want to cherish forever.
Fortunately, the future is still so long, and we will eat many delicious meals together, take many walks, and see many different sceneries. We will have many, many more moments in the future, right? Duan Jiaxu?"

3/ Sang Yan’s Farewell weibo post Hidden Love : "That little demon who has been challenging me since we were young, the little demon who would argue and threaten to end our friendship, the little demon who would secretly bear the burden of being bullied, finally got proposed to today! She's finally getting married!

When we were young, I didn't understand and was annoyed at my younger sister. Whenever something happened, she would tattle to our parents, and I wanted to dunk on her a thousand times, but I could never bring myself to do it.

After she learned to speak, she called me "GeGe" for the first time. As she grew up, she started calling me "Ge" and when she was angry, she would call me by my full name. Every time I saw her small body with big round eyes and chubby cheeks, she was both adorable and annoying.

But I have to admit, she is the best sister in the whole wide world, one of a kind. She is very kind, even ants in the yard are well protected by her. She is very intelligent and used to always come first in exams when she was young. She is very independent. When she left home for Yihe, she didn't cry, but I was the one who shed tears while facing her backwards. She is very strong. She will do everything in her power to protect the people she loves and she will use love to heal all the unhappiness and past hardships. My sister is someone I will protect for my entire life. Now there's another person who will protect her with me, and I'm very happy. I'm also happy that this person is Duan Jiaxu.

I won't allow her to cry, I won't let her get hurt, and I won't let her be unhappy. Otherwise, I will dunk on someone directly!”

link to table of contents

9. ON WHICH CITIES ARE NANWU 南芜  AND YIHE  宜荷 MODELED ?

I was wondering which cities could have been the model of the two university cities in Hidden Love, supposed to be 500 km apart but relatively close by air flight ; Nanwu did not seem close to the coast but featured a good science museum, and a university with a specialty in computer programming. Yihe had a university with a digital design specialty, a shopping center with a large cinema, a beach and a relaxing road along the coast... Both can be found in Xiamen, but if we envisioned XIamen as Yihe, then 500 km would be Wenzhou to the north or Shenzhen and vicinity to the south. If Zhi's preferred taro fried duck is a dish from the Guangdong, then Nanwu would fit Shenzhen, which certainly also has a good science and technology museum. Plus 南 meaning "south"  and 芜 meaning "grassland"， the name of the city looks like it was pretty rural, green, and flat to start with, before it became developed as the modern city it is now? Furthermore, in episode 5, Jiaxu told Zhi that he had chosen to go to Nanwu university because it was the city with the biggest e-game industry in the country, and it happens that Shenzhen is home to Tencent holdings, which is "the world's largest company in the video game industry based on its investments, with Tencent Games being the subdivision of Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG) focused on publishing of games." (*)   In the same vein, I might say that 宜  ("suitable") and 荷 ("load", "charge", "shoulder something")  looks like the name of a pretty "serious" city where things are being moved and shouldered, like in a port, and Xiamen has long been a port city in Fujian, with a close relation to Taiwan  :)

But the drama is adapted from a novel, which is supposed to be based on the author's memories, so I put the question to the forum and got this answer :

MikaM  asked (on Twitter ) and Jov answered:
"I did some research on Baidu and Weibo, most novel fans have connected the dots and presume that Nanwu is most likely Hangzhou and Nanwu university = Zhejiang University
Regarding Yihe, there are many different guesses but the most popular guess is that Yihe = Shanghai and Yihe university = Fudan university   since the flight is around 3h 5minutes"
https://twitter.com/wonwoncity/status/1681809753226481664

So, let's look at these possible models for the Hidden Love cities, here's what I found :

HANGZHOU as model for Nanwu Hangzhou, famous for its West Lake, tale of the White Snake, tea and silk culture, has grown into a city embracing the 21st century with its tech park and Qiangjiang new city  CBD: It is now home to some of the nation’s largest technology companies, even some of the world’s leading organisations like Alibaba (founded in and remaining headquartered in Hangzhou)  I found a house for rent among a row of townhouses with small gardens, which could remind of the Sang house in Xi Hu /West Lake district in Hangzhou. There are also many schools and commercial streets of course. And if the old Science Museum is not the best, there is a very interesting Low Carbon and Technology museum.

SHANGHAI as model for Yihe Shanghai is one of the world's major centers for finance, business and economics, research, science and technology, manufacturing, transportation, tourism, and culture, and the Port of Shanghai is the world's busiest container port. It is the most populous urban center in the world with 39.3 million inhabitants (about 25 in city proper).   The CBD skyline in Lujiazui Pudong is well-known. It has some of the tallest skyscrapers such as the 632 m (2,073 ft) high Shanghai Tower, which is the tallest building in China and the third tallest in the world. Across the Huangpu river, the Bund skyline has many neo classical or Art Deco buildings, with lanes that remind of the times of the foreign concessions. Shikumen (石库门, arranged along lanes called longtang (弄堂).remind of Western townhouses with a courtyard. The city has also industrial and hi tech parks such as  Shibei Hi-Tech Industrial Park established 1992, which  has become an important powerhouse (2022 video presentation) behind much of Shanghai's innovative development and a pilot base for China's Yangtze River Economic Belt Strategy. As the only large-scale big data base in Shanghai, the zone is home to over 150 cloud computing enterprises and plenty of start-up companies.  It is 52km (1hrs drive) from Songjiang university town, which is not far from Hongqiao airport, and home of SIVA.

The Hangzhou Low Carbon Science and Technology Museum is located at No. 1888 Jianghan Road, Binjiang District. It opened on July 18, 2012 and is divided into three halls, with theaters to make it a "second classroom" for young people to understand "low-carbon economy, low-carbon society and low-carbon city". Zhejiang University: Zi Jin Gang Campus Zhejiang University (ZJU)  is a public institution that traces its roots back to 1897. It has over 47,000 students and 7 campuses :  Zijingang (main),  and Yuquan, Xixi, Huajiachi, Zhijiang, Zhoushan and Haining. Many startups have started there.

Fudan University  was establishe in 1905 (118 years ago). It is ranked 3rd in China, with 31,900 students in 2022.  It offers 70 undergraduate degree programmes across the arts, humanities and sciences. The main campus of Handan contains the majority of the schools and departments., and  the iconic Guanghua Twin Towers, 2nd tallest university building i the world, and  highest buildings ever constructed in a university campus in Asia.- Zhangjiang campus (one of the 4 campuses of Fudan university), houses the Computer building.  The Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts (SIVA) is the top Art university in Shanghai. Established in September 2005, it became independent in 2013 and is no longer affiliated with Fudan U. Registered full-time students are about 3,600. They study design, fashion, digital arts, media and film. It is located in  Songjiang university town, south west of Jing'an district.  2200 Wenxiang Rd, Songjiang District, Shanghai, Chie

The answer to my request added :  "And as to why Hidden Love was filmed at Xiamen, actually most modern cdramas (and especially campus dramas) will utilize Xiamen as their filming spot, it’s always been popular": https://twitter.com/wonwoncity/status/1681811606425174016

From Zhao Lusi's interview (2022):
"Host: any spoilers to when Hidden Love will broadcast after you finish filming?
Zhao Lusi: I think it’ll be quite quick actually, if we’re lucky, it’ll be soon!
It’s a pity that we didn’t get to film many scenery while we are in Xiamen but it’s due to some external factors"
https://twitter.com/wonwoncity/status/1585249062181572608
https://twitter.com/wonwoncity/status/1585249062181572608

(*)  Footnote about the e-gaming industry in China :

Love and Producer was one of 2017 hottest games in China, having overtaken the blockbuster MOBA Honor of Kings (aka Arena of Valor) on Apple’s store at one point. It is a idating sim that promises to “lead you into dangerous honey traps and love that exceeds the boundaries of reality” But if you think Love and Producer is about dating, you’re as wrong as believing everyone on Tinder is out looking for true love. The game revolves around a girl who inherited her late father’s production company ; she approaches various male strangers to help her out. All dateable men in this game have super powers, They’ll ask weird things like : “Evolver?” which is insider speak for “Do you have super powers too?” Source: South China Morning Post

Knives Out, a clone of PUBG for smartphones made by NetEase, was heading to PS4 in 2019. It was originally released in 2017, when the battle royale craze had only just begun and PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) was still only available on PC. NetEase says Knives Out was downloaded by more than 250 million mobile users around the world (it’s free to play on smartphones). Unlike Fortnite, which has a distinctive cartoon-like appearance and a focus on building alongside shooting, Knives Out follows PUBG’s template of real-world weapons in a realistic, Eastern European setting. But Smartphone game looks rough compared to console competitors Battlefield V and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.  Knives Out was last updated in March 2023. Source: South China Morning Post

"According to our research findings, China Online Games Industry will grow with a CAGR of 8.45% from 2022 to 2027. China is the 'Gaming Industry Capital of the World' making up around 25 percent of the global video game industry.  China's online gaming market is rising meteorically, with more than 701.8 Million gamers as of 2022; China is the biggest market in the world in terms of video games." (China Online Gaming Market Forecast 2023-2027, Yahoo Finance, March 7, 2023)

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I have now finished adding, checking, and reformating  the data that I thought could be useful to be pinned in this DIscussion.   I'm off to new dramaland exploring.  Should you think something could still be added here, feel free to do so !    For all who reached this post : happy continued drama watching !     :)

A table of contents with cross links for easier navigation has now been added. Click on  to get what info you would like to find or review!

Postscript of 2023.09.14

Happy to repost this comment from MikaM  from end August :  "1. Maoyan Professional Edition data

HiddenLove's popularity is 9748.46, becoming the most popular modern drama in the summer of 2023!
🏆Most popular urban drama in the summer
🏆Network drama popularity daily x7
🏆Drama series popularity weekly x2""偷偷藏不住

97% liked this TV show (Google : search result for 偷偷藏不住 on Sept.14, 2023, over two months after the drama finished its run!)

My own "review" (I did not bother at first to add it into the avalanche of other reviews in the Review section; since I had already rated the drama and every episode with short reviews for those already) :   https://mydramalist.com/729705-hidden-love#comment-13744641 and https://mydramalist.com/729705-hidden-love#comment-13763921  and incorporated some of these views into my July 7, 2023 review "The perfect feel good summer romance of 2023 (and perhaps, beyond!)".

Breaking news - I am also adding these links to the announcement that Zhao Lusi has been chosen as spokesperson for WeTV : https://twitter.com/leli281119/status/1701960337304490080 

WeTV Weibo : "腾讯视频WeTV 9-12   06:00 来自 微博网页版

“WeTV Always More 2024"泰国发布会将于9月27日举办，将邀请中国女演员@赵露思的微博 作为特别嘉宾亮相泰国曼谷；
更多中剧出海项目，敬请关注#WeTV2024泰国发布会# 。

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