Frost_edelweiss

The Dongguo city parts were specifically built for the drama in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture ; modern Chinese city parts such as road, parking, office, apartment were filmed in studio in Chengdu. Other outdoor sites were used in Leshan and Zigong from what I read elsewhere: Leshan and Zigong are also in Sichuan province, the first is a town world famous for its giant Buddha on the edge of the river and is close to the site in Liangshan where the Dongguo city was built, the second is a smaller city famous for dinosaur finds and for a big a waterfall but also for its chemical factories (episode where Song Ran takes the shortcut to Happo/Hepu).
Some pictures and GIF of the building of the hilltop Dongguo city are in my Companion piece : https://mydramalist.com/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/123595-shooting-location-cast-and-crew-and-more

The latter footage is an extended cut from the beginning of ep12, when Luo Zhan comes to take Li Zn from the local hospital to bring him to Liangcheng hospital. It is also typical of the body building routine Chen Zheyuan had to prepare for his role. Indeed, contrary to previous roles where "slim" and "slight" were favored by productions, he was allowed to develop muscles according to his own wishes, so he did not need shoulder pads, lol.

(I am adding a GIF of this footage to the Companion piece, below the one showing his overall preparation for the role).

He has been noticed by several drama watchers. Excellent actor indeed, who can take on totally different roles and stand out with them.

well, you know, in the end, there's only one certainty in life : that is that it is going to end in death. Even if some would like to believe in after life or transmigration... So any story will, in the utmost end, be one of "going away to die", just that, novels and dramas seldom go that far, except if there is a more acceptable reason: old age, heroic deed sacrifice, accident, etc. We prefer to stay with happier memories of course, such as Big S (Barbie Hsu, r.i.p. Feb.2, 2025) remaining forever the undying Shancai in Meteor Garden.

But there was a promise somewhere that The White Olive Tree would be adapted so as not to go till bitter end. Adaptation was discussed carefully, also to be able to pass review with authorities which would not condone totally depressing subject matter when the role of dramas is not just to get a written story "come to life on screen", but also adhere to some official moral guidelines (not that dramas should always be taken as a blueprint for behavior, of course ! ).

The characters in his name. 李瓒

PTSD and depression are mentioned (as survivor guilt) are mentioned in the drama tags. (And iQiyi does warn that this is not a kids or family cheer programme, so tag it as unsuitable for children under 13 years old). The subject matter is very much in the drama news, both for real life events of a well known actress, and for triggers in another drama (Drifting Away, that one from a true story). The causes of the mental wounds are not one only.

Although she is not in many episodes, Song Ran's mother is also a bitter one who wounded her daughter mentally, but realized in time, perhaps, how flawed her parental skills were. The causes of Song Ran's mental trauma were not only from the deadly events in Dongguo.

Check out the 12 lyrics MVs posted to YouTube by Peachey Blossom. Links in Discussions. 😊
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/134834-the-white-olive-tree-full-ost-with-eng-subs
The Spotify link is also in my Companion piece, music section, there. 😊
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/123595-shooting-location-cast-and-crew-and-more

Condolences for the loss of sister Barbie Hsu (famous for the role of Shancai in 2001 Meteor Garden)

Dee Hsu notably reprised the role of Shancai's elder sister Daoming Zhuang in the 2018 PRC version of Meteor Garden. On February 2, 2025, Dee lost her two year older sister to pneumonia as a complication of influenza, during their family trip to Japan.

Rest in peace. 🕊️ 🤍 Barbie Hsu also known as Big S (大S) died on February 2, from pneumonia complications of the latest strain of influenza.

Those who come here probably remembered her as "Shancai" from 2001 Meteor Garden, the Taiwanese adaptation of the Japanese franchise Hana Yori Dango of the 1990s that made waves almost as a cultural phenomenon throughout East and South East Asia from the late 1990s to twenty years later (South Korea adapted it as Boys Over Flowers in 2009 ; it launched the career of PRC young star Dylan Wang Hedi, in the PRC 2018 adaptation where Shen Yue reprised Barbie Hsu's role as Shancai ; and there even was a Thai adaptation in 2021).

"Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣)" wrote on social media. They had traveled on January 29 to spend the Chinese New Year in Japan, and Barbie Hsu died there on February 2 after a few days struggle with influenza...

The sad news rippled immediately throughout Asia and beyond. More than 30 articles have already been written to commemorate her iconic career and smiles, her love story in drama and real life ; "she is survived by her South Korean husband -- singer and DJ Koo Jun-yup -- as well as her 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, whom she shared with ex-husband and Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei (汪小菲)." And by her younger sister, whose show Barbie was a producer of in 2021. Dee Hsu "more commonly known as Xiǎo S or Little S (小S), is a Taiwanese television host, actress (she played the role of Shancai's elder sister in 2018 Meteor Garden), and singer, also formerly a ballroom dancer." Barbie also had an elder sister, Hsu Si-hsien.

Despite not starring in recent dramas or movies for the past 13 years, Barbie Hsu remained an iconic name and face and was remembered fondly, mentioned on and off. She will not be forgotten even after she has left this earthly plane.

The novel is long, and I haven't read it till end. Now, I prefer to watch the drama before finishing, just riding along and not trying to anticipate, especially since it is a known fact that because of the sad end of the novel, the drama will not follow it exactly, and be more of a happy end one. But it you want to read it alongside the drama, the translation into English is available through Discussions or through the link in my Companion piece. 🙂

Behind the Scenes : In fact the tying shoe laces were on another set with a different child ; Chen Zheyuan is always attentive to the kids on sets 😁. In Liangshan, it was a little girl with a broken coat zipper whom he helped. Her name was revealed to be Mimi and there was footage I remembered, not an official BTS but pieces which circulated on Tiktok, that I found again and turned into a GIF for the Companion piece, so now you can watch it here :
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/123595-shooting-location-cast-and-crew-and-more

Did I correct something?? Ah yes, back in comments for LSIW, the funny mixup with the name of the actress of My Girlfriend is an Alien - it's true that it was mischievously tempting for you to exchange two letters and wait to see who would notice your joke ! 🤣 -- we both enjoyed LSIW.

Sure, this drama has a lot of extras in the crowd scenes. And even bit roles including for children, many of whom came from the local area. There was an endearing BTS when Chen Zheyuan helped a little girl tie her shoes laces she was the daughter of people living in Liangshan who appeared in the kids crowd scenes... Some kids even performed some more like the one in the car bomb scene who had picked flowers before.

My "意思" was: the scripts you see in the bars, hotels, market, are neither Arabic nor Cyrillic nor any true language, but just an impression of "foreign writing" like Klingon in Star Trek but written in a way that give an impression of using a different alphabet, and I think there were some Arabic signs at times (but it may be just an impression). The whole story and drama are non realist impressions of "foreignness".
What do you mean by "statists"? I don't know that word.

The novel is a hefty tome which is almost a cult one for its many fans in China and has poetic qualities that are difficult to translate in other languages.
You may remember the joke of the early machine translations of a certain quote from the Bible (“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”) that, when translated into Russian and then translated back into English came out as “The whiskey is strong, but the meat is rotten.”
And indeed TWOT is not a documentary nor a case study of sentiments and reactions of people faced with anguish and war, but impressions and imagination.

pas de souci. Je suis polyglotte... C'est amusant de voir des gens s'exprimer en autres langues sur MDL, parfois avec Google Translate.
Je viens de lire avec amusement un échange entre deux Serbes qui ont remarqué qu'une grand mère parlait en Serbe dans TWOT et que pour rendre la chose encore plus extraordinaire, elle récitait un bout de dialogue d'un dessin animé connu en Serbie!!
TWOT a essayé de rendre l'atmosphère d'un pays "décalé", "étranger", plus palpable sans s'ancrer sur du pseudo réalisme genre Wolf Warriors ou Operation Red Sea, ou Love Is Panacea.
Je pense que l'auteur s'est inpirée de pays divisés comme l'ex Yugoslavie, ou l'Arménie, Azerbaidjan, Karabakh mais ce sont des impressions, pas du réalisme documentaire.
Pour ton information, l'olivier est un arbre qui, comme la colombe, a une connotation très spéciale dans le contexte des pays en conflits apirant la paix. En Chine la chanson ganlanshu est hyper connue, pour plusieurs raisons: les paroles viennent d'un poème de Sanmao, nom de plume d'une poétesse de Taiwan qui épousa un Espagnol avec qui elle vécut de nombreuses années dans le Sahara occidental. Ses oeuvres et poèmes et la chanson sont très célèbres aussi bien à Taiwan que dans la PRC. J'ai ajouté un lien pour écouter et lire les paroles de cette chanson en traduction anglaise, à la fin de la section musique de ma Companion Piece où certains détails sur la genèse du drama peuvent t'intéresser.
Je vais réfléchir à ajouter peut-être une section sur les pays qui peuvent avoir inspiré TWOT et sur la différence ence Huayi et Huaqiao.
En attendant, tu peux lire avec intérêt aussi l'article-interview de Florence Tan, qui joue le rôle de Rina.
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/123595-shooting-location-cast-and-crew-and-more

exactly

I too was thinking the novelist might have been inspired by the coverages of the ex Yugoslavian past conflicts when she wrote her novel about the fictitious "Dongguo".
It is amusing how notions of East and West get turned around in the story. Li Zan stated he was "Huayi" (Chinese descent people who are citizens of another country), from "Xiguo", i.e. West country although he had family ties in China, in Song Ran's home city.
I suppose these East and West countries were the results of the split of another country, like in ex Yugoslavia or in Czechoslovakia, or somewhere like in a fictitious country inspired from similar splits in Central Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Karabakh). Hence the mix of languages and appearances, and some of the scripts that look "alien" but can remind of Arabic as well as of Cyrillic.

In China, there are a lot of people from many countries who can take bit roles in dramas or movies, so it is not surprising they could have found a real Serbian granny to speak in "foreign language", since "Dongguo" is "another country". There are many non professional actors in this drama, also many local ethnic yi and other ethnic groups people from Liangshan.

Because of the concern about the tragic end in the novel, it was decided that the drama adaptation, while staying faithful in spirit to a beloved text, would also introduce differences from the text, and a promised HE so if you liked the beginning, you can stay on for the ride.

Chen Zheyuan has as many micro expressions as anyone can wish for. He is not scowling, looking annoyed or pained here in front of the "crybaby" reporter or colleagues because his role is to appear reassuring as volunteer help worker and bomb specialist.
He does know his character very well, spent hours reading book and script and carefully preparing for playing the courageous 23 year old who put his life on the line to help people around him.
The character has a special aura for Chinese readers of the novel who view Li Zan as a sort of saint. They were very worried about the drama adaptation when they heard of the project, but came round to accept Chen Zheyuan was an excellent choice : neither too beefy nor too thin (he grew muscles specially for this role) and sometimes boyish since he is supposed to act like a still very young person not disciplined in the military. But saints don't act like most people in some circumstances....
If the drama is not to your taste, there are many other options for your entertainment, anyway. And I am appalled at some of your ratings for dramas that you state you did not even watch one episode of?
And what's with throwing a 5.5 here for TWOT if you did not even get through first episode? I watch a lot, but I don't see why I should spoil the pleasure of other people if I can't focus on the beginning of a drama. Then, I don't include it in watch list and I don't rate, and refrain from comments. It is not my life mission to ruin it for other people with comments that may be interpreted as coming from a hater.

Yes, his role as Wen Peng almost stole the show from Huang Jingyu, in LSIW ! such a memorable villain... I was a bit worried to see him in the cast of TWOT, but he is playing positive now.