Still in the middle of watching ep 7.What kind of parents arrange a marriage in behalf of their son without telling…
drama trope. There always has to be one, or a few. Haven't we gotten used to that ? However realistic it looks, in any drama, it is still not reality. At best it is playing on archetypes, since the distant mythological stories...
If you really love Jerry Yan, you should have put your remarks about your rejection of his latest drama in spoiler tag.
Also, bear in mind that Jerry Yan does not look his age, and is not playing the overbearing middle aged CEO lusting after a nymphet in that drama, so age difference is not what comes immediately to mind when you watch the first episodes without having your view tinted by other people's reports and prejudices. I try to always watch a drama without reading anything about it or even watching trailers : that's how I stumbled on this one, which to me is a real gem. The young woman character can be irritating in her bluntness and urgency, but it is totally her free choice to pursue a more experienced and delicately considerate lover, even though not in her age or social group (she is rich but does not care for money since she is aware about her probably very short life span, so to her, love and art are her only life driving force) He is not poor, but not very affluent, likes to do handiwork and gardening as an art, almost without a care for money reward either. They both need to be loved, her more than him, but they end up head over heels while the secrets around them are randomly revealed without any fanfare but accepted as privacy. They have no time for lasting anger and even jealousy. It is a really beautiful melodrama, so you probably would suspend your bias if you like love stories, details, art, an excellent OST with carefully chosen songs, and if you like Jerry Yan. I am not part of his fandom. I actually did not particularly like his Daoming Si in MG 2001 (preferring the Hua Ze Lei character; and I also preferred the corresponding Hanazawa Rui, Jihu, Ren or Tenma Hase in the other variations on the hana yori dango story that I all watched to get an overview of the BOF/MG phenomenon. Well, OK, I may have "second lead syndrome" since I was also rooting for Luo Yunxi's Runyu in Ashes of Love lol, ). So I only watched the other main dramas of Jerry Yan after a few episodes of TFF, but even though they are nice, I still think TFF is his best role. Albeit I am not really into actor or actress worship, I am amused by the phenomenon of fandoms around the younger actors. This is btw one subject tackled in the currently airing New Vanity Fair drama that I also started this weekend. That one features Huang Zitao in possibly one of his best roles too.
I did but how come rating came down in a day is some doing some mischief.
Same thoughts. Well, I'll be off to watch Z.Tao in New Vanity Fair over the weekend, then. My tastes are eclectic, but I also like the Kungfu Panda, hehehe. And Chen Feiyu from L&P, and Jerry Yan from TFF, and Wu Lei from LLTG, and Dai Gaozheng from Maid's Revenge, and Yang Yang from The King's Avatar and You Are My Glory, and Li Xian from Meet Yourself, and Wang Hedi from LBFAD, and Xu Kai from Arsenal Military Academy, and Bai Jingting from Reset, and Ren Jialun from One and Only, and Luo Yunxi from Love Is Sweet, and (list incomplete)... Ok, I will have to fill a book with nice young actors details : definitely adding Jing Boran. Focusing on my best loved dramas of post 2020.
btw I know some will say they disagree with throwing 10s to show appreciation, but that's what I already did, to be one who counter the trolls. 10 for Gui Lu from me at ep10 and unless catastrophe, I will leave it at that.
haah it had sexual frustration, to much for public tv lol
Hm. Ashes of Love was a TV drama (Jiangsu TV) and featured a very funny nosebleed scene that stayed in my memory ; after that one, I always chuckled when I saw such nosebleeds in other c-dramas. Although the trope may be traced further back, perhaps even to non fantasy Meteor Garden and dramas inspired by the rather violent love and bullying there (which was the one where the FL got her nose smashed by a basketball and ML or SML helpfully came to rescue with a handkerchief while she was washing the blood away ? That was substitute "arousal nosebleed" too, of course.)
Oh yes! That one was ..... 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 yummy! Esp taking in the cut scenes!! But don't go there if you have a strong bias and prejudice against age difference, against Jerry Yan, who is a fine actor there, or against dramas with open or sad ending. Personally, I loved that drama and its haunting OST songs. I only watched JY dramas after TFF except Meteor Garden 2001-2002 which I watched long time ago and rewatched (together with the J, SK, PRC and Thai variations and spinoffs, to appreciate the "phenomenon") in early 2023. I now believe JY's role in TFF was his best one: nobody could have played "Xiao Han" better. Not even Wallace Chung. For those who like beautiful places, art, colors, steamy melodrama, that one is a must!
Having traveled the roads to Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and in Gansu + Xinjiang (Turpan-Ürümqi highway, and Kashgar-Karakpram highway, Altay-Kanas lake...) I can say that it is totally impossible to drive overnight (furthermore with one driver only) from Beijing to northwest Xinjiang. With a flight from Beijing to Dunhuang and catching in a remote station a train to Turpan, next driving the Turpan Ürümqi highway, and flying Ürümqi to Kashgar, it was a 6 days journey (with one day spent at destinations to explore interesting archeological and other interesting places, so "chabuduo" 2 days with flying and bus stretches + 1 night travel in sleeper train. Of course, there are bullet trains? No, there is no bullet train connecting the Beijing and Ürümqi yet ; the two overnight trains Z69, Z179 depart from Beijing West Railway Station and arrive at Urumqi Railway station and the duration is about 31 to 38 hours. Despite the possible Lanzhou-Ürumqi bullet train stretch, it does not reduce the duration much bc of interchange. Flight from BJ is the more reasonable option.)
The novel put the border city where LYC was stationed at Erenhot, which is much closer to Beijing, but in winter, and with the rather low speed limits on even the most modern highways, it would take quite longer than an overnight journey. BJ Erenhot is quite a drive. 663 km / 412 miles, 7+ hrs drive estimate without pause (but one at least is needed),
But BJ -Kanas or Hemu (as in the drama, if Qining was Altay/Hemu) is a different proposition : China is a very big country and roads are not all on flat terrain, too...
Beijing to Kanas Lake by car is about 3500 km / 2145 miles and the estimated 39 hrs journey is only an estimation. Professional drivers are not allowed to drive more than 10-15 hours a day. So: that journey would be 3 days minimum with minimum 6 sizable stops. Lu YanChen may be an experienced driver who does not fear doing "truckers duty" driving long hours as sole driver, in all kinds of weather, including black ice and heavy snow, but I doubt he'd have taken the risk of hauling GX on such a harrowing and long journey!
Besides, speed limits are not high : Speed limits on national highways are 80 Km/h (50 Mp/h), or 40 Km/h (25 Mp/h where the highway is single lane). The G100 series indicates national highways radiating from Beijing, the G200 numbers are highways that run east to west, and the G300 series from north to south. -- On motorways, usually toll express ways , speed limits are generally 120 Km/h (75 Mp/h) on city-to-city routes, while on express routes within cities the limit is 100 Km/h (62 Mp/h).
Friends who flew in 2019 from Chengdu to Altay drove from there to Kanas Lake in a 5+ hrs journey: they would not have attempted the complete 39hrs car driving time non stop from end to end. (about same distance as between BJ and Kanas Lake, but different terrain).
I like to nitpick, lol! Nonetheless, I vastly enjoyed ep11!!
Did GX get pregnant before marriage according to novel??
Without a birth permit the child's name could not be included on the family's household register (Hukou system). So, the child wouldn't be able to register to school, get train or plane tickets, apply for ID card when it grew up, etc. Recently, because the family planning policy relaxed, it is said that the obtaining of certificate could be done after giving birth to baby.
In the days of the one child policy (1973-2013); there used to be hefty fines for lawbreakers who exceeded the number of children allowed But keep in mind that the one-child policy applied to Han, mostly in cities, and did not apply to most minority people: Uighur and Tibetan could have as many kids as they would, (I am not even talking about Ewenki nomads or Hezhe people in Heilongjiang who are so tiny groups that they are almost considered endangered species, so of course no limit applied then and now to their families), Besides, policy did not apply to twin or multiple births, and there were allowances for 2 children if first child was a girl in the countryside, or handicapped, or parent(s) was/were from one child family, or were divorced and remarried to someone with no child, or one parent was minority. There were also local exemptions, such as Han Chinese in southern Xinjiang were allowed to have two children since 2012. And also allowance if second child was birthed 7 years or more after first (some Han friends used this to have a second son in BJ in the early 2000s They would ideally have preferred a daughter, but could not choose since it was forbidden to reveal sex before birth; besides, they were happy enough having a second child anyway.). "Anyway the policy was changed to the 2/3 child policy in 2016 and the 3 child limit in 2021. Currently the 3 child policy is still in effect but in late 2021 all the fines and penalties were removed. That doesn’t mean that the policy doesn’t still exist what has happened is that China is now trying to encourage births and it looks like a lot of these incentives will only apply to the first 3 children but … time will tell if that changes as well." Many young couples in the PRC, esp those raised in cities and so pampered in youth that they are ingrained selfish, are reluctant to have even one child now, because of cost to raise it and inconvenience!! Like in Japan, birth rate has dropped to almost alarming level, so making trouble for those who do have a child and the means to raise it properly is undesirable, and the PRC always having had a pragmatic approach to debatable regulations, there is imo zero chance that an affluent single mom be harassed by authorities.
There's only one episode today (ep11) and the schedule foresees a break until Monday when the airing will resume with two episodes M-Th, one episode Fr-Sat in the week March 20-25, plus two episodes M-Th the week after and final episode 30 on Fr31. https://mydramalist.com/photos/0wwJo7_3
I liked in ep.8 the quick glimpse of the emoji star shower when Gui Xiao received the message that Qin Xiao Nan missed her (who missed who, again?)
The falling emoticons are a fun feature of (and exclusive to, I think) Wechat. I's been around for the past ten years and can be addictive, so should be used sparingly. It can also be used to shower love or Christmas trees , CNY hongbaos, birthday cakes and more on the receiver's message with different catchwords and time appropriateness.
2 
5 
1 
1 
Haven't we gotten used to that ?
However realistic it looks, in any drama, it is still not reality. At best it is playing on archetypes, since the distant mythological stories...
Also, bear in mind that Jerry Yan does not look his age, and is not playing the overbearing middle aged CEO lusting after a nymphet in that drama, so age difference is not what comes immediately to mind when you watch the first episodes without having your view tinted by other people's reports and prejudices. I try to always watch a drama without reading anything about it or even watching trailers : that's how I stumbled on this one, which to me is a real gem.
The young woman character can be irritating in her bluntness and urgency, but it is totally her free choice to pursue a more experienced and delicately considerate lover, even though not in her age or social group (she is rich but does not care for money since she is aware about her probably very short life span, so to her, love and art are her only life driving force) He is not poor, but not very affluent, likes to do handiwork and gardening as an art, almost without a care for money reward either. They both need to be loved, her more than him, but they end up head over heels while the secrets around them are randomly revealed without any fanfare but accepted as privacy. They have no time for lasting anger and even jealousy. It is a really beautiful melodrama, so you probably would suspend your bias if you like love stories, details, art, an excellent OST with carefully chosen songs, and if you like Jerry Yan.
I am not part of his fandom. I actually did not particularly like his Daoming Si in MG 2001 (preferring the Hua Ze Lei character; and I also preferred the corresponding Hanazawa Rui, Jihu, Ren or Tenma Hase in the other variations on the hana yori dango story that I all watched to get an overview of the BOF/MG phenomenon. Well, OK, I may have "second lead syndrome" since I was also rooting for Luo Yunxi's Runyu in Ashes of Love lol, ). So I only watched the other main dramas of Jerry Yan after a few episodes of TFF, but even though they are nice, I still think TFF is his best role.
Albeit I am not really into actor or actress worship, I am amused by the phenomenon of fandoms around the younger actors. This is btw one subject tackled in the currently airing New Vanity Fair drama that I also started this weekend. That one features Huang Zitao in possibly one of his best roles too.
reached 6 (with subtitles) till now on YT.
reached 10 in RAW (3-10 with no subtitles) on the cool site.
Love his songs, too : One Heart, Alone, Expose, Reluctantly, Rainbow, Cross The Line... .... and now comes a new one from the drama OST here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPS38mAn7rc (Be My Only One) and another non OST new song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m_iWyA08nk (Love Lost)
Translations are here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO_8YtJw9u8 (Love Lost) and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIBnmECUXq4&list=PLtLby4ILL4T71-b4CEAXQ-CYfR373jXUJ&index=2 (Be My Only One)
Well, I'll be off to watch Z.Tao in New Vanity Fair over the weekend, then.
My tastes are eclectic, but I also like the Kungfu Panda, hehehe.
And Chen Feiyu from L&P, and Jerry Yan from TFF, and Wu Lei from LLTG, and Dai Gaozheng from Maid's Revenge, and Yang Yang from The King's Avatar and You Are My Glory, and Li Xian from Meet Yourself, and Wang Hedi from LBFAD, and Xu Kai from Arsenal Military Academy, and Bai Jingting from Reset, and Ren Jialun from One and Only, and Luo Yunxi from Love Is Sweet, and (list incomplete)... Ok, I will have to fill a book with nice young actors details : definitely adding Jing Boran. Focusing on my best loved dramas of post 2020.
btw I know some will say they disagree with throwing 10s to show appreciation, but that's what I already did, to be one who counter the trolls. 10 for Gui Lu from me at ep10 and unless catastrophe, I will leave it at that.
Although the trope may be traced further back, perhaps even to non fantasy Meteor Garden and dramas inspired by the rather violent love and bullying there (which was the one where the FL got her nose smashed by a basketball and ML or SML helpfully came to rescue with a handkerchief while she was washing the blood away ? That was substitute "arousal nosebleed" too, of course.)
But don't go there if you have a strong bias and prejudice against age difference, against Jerry Yan, who is a fine actor there, or against dramas with open or sad ending. Personally, I loved that drama and its haunting OST songs.
I only watched JY dramas after TFF except Meteor Garden 2001-2002 which I watched long time ago and rewatched (together with the J, SK, PRC and Thai variations and spinoffs, to appreciate the "phenomenon") in early 2023. I now believe JY's role in TFF was his best one: nobody could have played "Xiao Han" better. Not even Wallace Chung.
For those who like beautiful places, art, colors, steamy melodrama, that one is a must!
2 episodes a day until Thursday, one on Friday and on Saturday and next 2 episodes M-Th and final on Friday.
Having traveled the roads to Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and in Gansu + Xinjiang (Turpan-Ürümqi highway, and Kashgar-Karakpram highway, Altay-Kanas lake...) I can say that it is totally impossible to drive overnight (furthermore with one driver only) from Beijing to northwest Xinjiang. With a flight from Beijing to Dunhuang and catching in a remote station a train to Turpan, next driving the Turpan Ürümqi highway, and flying Ürümqi to Kashgar, it was a 6 days journey (with one day spent at destinations to explore interesting archeological and other interesting places, so "chabuduo" 2 days with flying and bus stretches + 1 night travel in sleeper train. Of course, there are bullet trains? No, there is no bullet train connecting the Beijing and Ürümqi yet ; the two overnight trains Z69, Z179 depart from Beijing West Railway Station and arrive at Urumqi Railway station and the duration is about 31 to 38 hours. Despite the possible Lanzhou-Ürumqi bullet train stretch, it does not reduce the duration much bc of interchange. Flight from BJ is the more reasonable option.)
The novel put the border city where LYC was stationed at Erenhot, which is much closer to Beijing, but in winter, and with the rather low speed limits on even the most modern highways, it would take quite longer than an overnight journey. BJ Erenhot is quite a drive. 663 km / 412 miles, 7+ hrs drive estimate without pause (but one at least is needed),
But BJ -Kanas or Hemu (as in the drama, if Qining was Altay/Hemu) is a different proposition : China is a very big country and roads are not all on flat terrain, too...
Beijing to Kanas Lake by car is about 3500 km / 2145 miles and the estimated 39 hrs journey is only an estimation. Professional drivers are not allowed to drive more than 10-15 hours a day. So: that journey would be 3 days minimum with minimum 6 sizable stops.
Lu YanChen may be an experienced driver who does not fear doing "truckers duty" driving long hours as sole driver, in all kinds of weather, including black ice and heavy snow, but I doubt he'd have taken the risk of hauling GX on such a harrowing and long journey!
Besides, speed limits are not high : Speed limits on national highways are 80 Km/h (50 Mp/h), or 40 Km/h (25 Mp/h where the highway is single lane). The G100 series indicates national highways radiating from Beijing, the G200 numbers are highways that run east to west, and the G300 series from north to south. -- On motorways, usually toll express ways , speed limits are generally 120 Km/h (75 Mp/h) on city-to-city routes, while on express routes within cities the limit is 100 Km/h (62 Mp/h).
Friends who flew in 2019 from Chengdu to Altay drove from there to Kanas Lake in a 5+ hrs journey: they would not have attempted the complete 39hrs car driving time non stop from end to end. (about same distance as between BJ and Kanas Lake, but different terrain).
I like to nitpick, lol! Nonetheless, I vastly enjoyed ep11!!
In the days of the one child policy (1973-2013); there used to be hefty fines for lawbreakers who exceeded the number of children allowed But keep in mind that the one-child policy applied to Han, mostly in cities, and did not apply to most minority people: Uighur and Tibetan could have as many kids as they would, (I am not even talking about Ewenki nomads or Hezhe people in Heilongjiang who are so tiny groups that they are almost considered endangered species, so of course no limit applied then and now to their families), Besides, policy did not apply to twin or multiple births, and there were allowances for 2 children if first child was a girl in the countryside, or handicapped, or parent(s) was/were from one child family, or were divorced and remarried to someone with no child, or one parent was minority. There were also local exemptions, such as Han Chinese in southern Xinjiang were allowed to have two children since 2012. And also allowance if second child was birthed 7 years or more after first (some Han friends used this to have a second son in BJ in the early 2000s They would ideally have preferred a daughter, but could not choose since it was forbidden to reveal sex before birth; besides, they were happy enough having a second child anyway.).
"Anyway the policy was changed to the 2/3 child policy in 2016 and the 3 child limit in 2021.
Currently the 3 child policy is still in effect but in late 2021 all the fines and penalties were removed. That doesn’t mean that the policy doesn’t still exist what has happened is that China is now trying to encourage births and it looks like a lot of these incentives will only apply to the first 3 children but … time will tell if that changes as well."
Many young couples in the PRC, esp those raised in cities and so pampered in youth that they are ingrained selfish, are reluctant to have even one child now, because of cost to raise it and inconvenience!! Like in Japan, birth rate has dropped to almost alarming level, so making trouble for those who do have a child and the means to raise it properly is undesirable, and the PRC always having had a pragmatic approach to debatable regulations, there is imo zero chance that an affluent single mom be harassed by authorities.
https://mydramalist.com/photos/0wwJo7_3
And I agree.
The falling emoticons are a fun feature of (and exclusive to, I think) Wechat. I's been around for the past ten years and can be addictive, so should be used sparingly.
It can also be used to shower love or Christmas trees , CNY hongbaos, birthday cakes and more on the receiver's message with different catchwords and time appropriateness.
Now onward to eps.9 &10 !
... Go die ! 😂 ! lol
I do like the beginning of this drama despite the sometimes puzzling subs.
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/gui-lu/91923-where-was-this-filmed-infos-about-places-where-the-action-is-supposed-to-take-place