Min guo seems heavily leaning towards Chinese fantasy wuxia or related style, these years, with the "Candle in the Tomb" series, and "Thousand of Years for You" + "Lost in Kunlun mountains". The ones that did not rely on fantasy were either ok for me despite being in no way historical ("City of Streamer": I loved the tango and arrow shooting scenes, among other ones like the Nanjing room scene) or huge disappointment ("Love in Flames of War", where I ended up positively hating the female protagonist embodied by Chen Duling's excruciatingly cold act. The only thing I saved from that one were the references to classic Tang poetry which I brushed up on, along the way in the first part, and re reading Tagore's beautiful auto translations of his Stray Birds that so influenced the Chinese intellectuals of that time period.)

I am still watching “Thousand of Years for You”, but same way as I also watch “A Romance of the Little Forest”: both have fine actors that are not used to their best potential. AROLF is the one that grates more on my nerves and the one I don't find much to reflect on. I'm Ok with Allen's voice and cool stance as a general not completely sure of how to fit in 3000 years later and how to recover his lost lover-who-acts-weird : DengDeng (Li Qin) was bizarrely thick-headed, stubborn and bossy.

I also love Ren Jialun's voice in the theme song (and many other songs unrelated to this drama, , such as his first concept music album " Thirty-two Li" (三十二·立 or 32 Stand, in reference to his birthday) of April 11, 2021 - yes he's 33 now, happily married with a growing family that he takes good care of: I like that sort of persons). For the curious minded and Hanyu students there is an interesting video called “Learn Chinese with Allen Ren (任嘉伦 Ren Jialun)” on the EverydayChinese YouTube channel, posted in May this year by teacher … Deng Deng! (using recorded interview snippets that date back to 2017).

(Spoilers ahead for those who have not reached episode 26 of 36, but if you can bear them, my findings may add some interest to watching the drama for you)

The republican era style has nothing to do with realism: the story is set in an alternate world of "nine continents" which were invaded 3000 years earlier by a spirit tribe fleeing desolation in their home world and set on conquering a new one, like space travelers who would conquer new lands on a faraway planet. After long battles between humans and spirit clansmen, a general who was the champion of the humans accepted the peace offerings of the spirit clan's Saintess. They became lovers and she sacrificed her inner energy core to save his life. But her spirit was saved in a golden crow feather, and the general, having new magic powers, rested inside a mural painted in a sealed tomb, for 3000 years, waiting until she would totally recover in transmigration; DengDeng's intrusion in the tomb, Lara Croft-style, woke him up.

The “marriage” of DengDeng with her rooster had me wondering when we would watch the poor hungry denizens of her Qingquan Stronghold partake in a symbolic cannibal feast of gongbao ji ding (宫保鸡丁 – literally 'The Palace Guardian's Diced Chicken' : Look up the easy recipe to make the dish yourself, or purchase a portion at your local take-out, if you are not a vegetarian Buddhist who cringes at the idea of taking a life to sustain your own). Of course it served as a reason to have Master Lu be nicknamed funnily ‘concubine Lu”. In episode 17, Lu Yan mock seriously criticized DengDeng for not having respected his “honor and chastity” when she brought him to the stronghold as “heroic husband”. But DengDeng insisted to use those jokes to introduce Lu Yan in strange places, after the clownish gender swap method by which he was "acquired. (gender swaps seems to be trending in c-dramas since 2021 "Eternal Love III" with Xing Zhaolin and Liang Jie and other ones, including the literal "The Day of Becoming You" with Liang Jie and Steven Zhang). Btw DengDeng later told Lu Yan she had eaten the golden crow when she was sick in childhood and this had healed her : but this looked like a tall tale devised by her father, as we still later found out when the real origins of DengDeng were revealed.

The journey from fort to city and visits to Mysterious Market and the lingering hostility towards pointy-ear alien spirit people "monsters" evidently mirrored the deplorable discriminations that are found in many human societies : caste system, scorn of immigrants or bumpkins or "other races" or lesser able bodied people, fear of witches. Lu Yan’s heartbreak and his shedding a tear in episode 14 at his failure to convince DengDeng that she was his true love, the transmigrated Saintess Yunxi from spirit tribe, was quite moving -the prior story of Lu Yan and Yun Xi was told in episodes 12-13.

Next the angelic transformation was very dreamy and heroic to look at, but the ensuing episodes left me perplexed that DengDeng could so easily become prey to the demonic antagonist Zhu Rong (Leon Lai) when almost omnipotent general Lu Yan with magic powers was watching over her. Yes I know, the antagonist was siphoning their magic qi, but still, Lu Yan did win battles against Zhu Rong in the past, and valiant DengDeng seemed undeterred and quite recovered from her magic core depletion, after a short rest while traveling to "ancient Shu". After being separated from the general who seemed strangely trusting in the loyalty of his treacherous former second in command who's become immortal, she was undeterred by the prospect of exploring yet another Tomb-like underground palace with a small tinder (for which I found an interesting recipe * based on a mix of white phosphorus, pine resin and sulphur which when put inside a bamboo tube can indeed ignite when blown upon). What Zhu Rong was doing meanwhile is not clear: waiting to be beaten again?

The supporting cast has indeed some annoying characters and filler feeling side plots. But Deng Deng’s trusted Peng Dahai (Chang Long) who becomes a pretty girl when he drinks alcohol, is often quite funny.

The appearance of the kun-peng magic whale in the sky had me number the instances I've noticed it in recent dramas since ‘Time Flies and You are Here” (end of episode 21). At least three times now until here in the beginning of episode 12. The reason for this recurrent motif had me puzzled. Digging further, I found that it ties in with ZhuangZi stories and it is a complicated symbol of the aspiration to go beyond the ordinary, or even for absolute freedom, from what I found in a Chinese Journal of Social Sciences which examined the myth of the kun giant fish from the northern deeps that shapeshifts into an enormous peng bird the wingspan of which covers the sky! "Many Zhuangzi scholars have debated the Peng story. Lian Xinda calls it "arguably the most controversial image in the text, which has been inviting conflicting interpretations for the past seventeen centuries." The character for peng (鵬) was anciently a variant Chinese character for feng (鳳) in fenghuang (鳳凰 "Chinese phoenix"); Kun 鯤 originally meant "fish roe; fry; spawn": both the mythic Chinese Peng and Kun names thus involve word play. Lian concludes the Peng is "An inspiring example of soaring up and going beyond, the image is used to broaden the outlook of the small mind". But the whale in the sky of our dramas is somewhat puny for a full-fledged peng and even for a kun that should reside in the northern deeps until it shapeshifts to fly to the southern deeps, and its role as auspicious omen is perhaps much reduced, although reminding us that indeed, we should look beyond the electric shadows.

I expect to continue watching this drama to completion, as there are ten episodes remaining, but I probably will leave this 3/4 review as is. I like this drama, although it seems to polarize watchers between those who can't stomach Li Qin and Allen's often clashing interaction. Allen's special tone of voice does not agree with all (I even heard an unkind comment that he delivers like reading from a teleprompter with no emotion! I don't agree with that: he pronounces clearly but is more composed, while portraying a timeless general, than the over-enthusiastic Li Qin.) The chemistry is certainly more discreet than in Allen Ren's One&Only/Forever&Ever duology, but the script is weird in slicing away at situations where the couple might be united in peace away from interruptions. Nevertheless, the CGI and cinematography is nice and I'm still interested in the story. It can be watched by everybody younger or older who has a liking for adventure stories.

*) Chinese Fire Sticks (from URL: https://able2know.org/topic/367413-1)
"China saw the invention of the first matches in 577. Northern Qi court ladies needed to start a fire for cooking and heating. They were unable to gather tinder, due to enemy troops blockading their city. So, they used pine tree needles coated with sulfur. They used embers to ignite the coated needles which in turn were used to start a fire.

These were so essential that in 950 AD Tao Gu, a poet and official from the Song court, described the technique for making these sulfur-coated pine needles and called them light-bringing slaves. Later these early matches were commonly known as fire-inch sticks.
~~~ Skipping in time. Here is my take on the fire stick that ignites when you blow on it.
1) Collect pine resin, melt it and mix it with sulfur.
2) Collect urine, then let it sit in an open container for a week. Add some finely-powdered charcoal, then boil until a white waxy substance is produced (white phosphorus).
3) QUICKLY, pour the liquid pine resin and sulfur mix into the white phosphorus and charcoal. Mix well.
4) Put into a reed/bamboo tube and cap tightly.
When needed, blowing on it will cause the white phosphorus to burn. This will ignite the charcoal and sulfur. They will ignite the pine tree resin which will burn for quite a while."
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Post scriptum. Now that I completely watched this drama, I must admit some of the later episodes were a bit draggy. The ancient Shu part was too predictable, and yes, the antagonist was just waiting to be beaten again, leaving another antagonist in his wake to finish the drama with some sacrifices. Since this was an adventure and humans were to be the winners over evil, some happy ending was introduced with the reunion of Gu and Bai Shiqi, although kiss and flowers romance was not there either. Shiqi, athough still swearing her love for Gu remained whole, looked more attracted to her new chosen profession. Likewise, despite the pretty red-dress formal marriage between DengDeng and Lu Yan, there was still not to be much touchy lovey-dovey tenderness, since a more important task needed to be tackled. Thereafter there was "a year" during which the bespectacled Lu Yan aide A'Xin disappeared together with the general. Had he also sacrificed for his master?
In the last pictures from the drama, DengDeng's worried face changes to a smile when she spots someone wearing the boots and the face of Lu Yan (is it him, a look-alike or...?) adjusting a pair of spectacles to his breast pocket . This LuYan has a more relaxed expression in the fleeting appearance before end credits than in his previous ones as stern general.... The ending thus leaves an opening that can either be filled by the audience's own imagination that Lu Yan finally became more ordinarily human, or who knows, there were plans for more episodes or a season 2? But I prefer the first solution.

Given the draggy part, the sometimes annoying features of the script, that had the leads stay almost polar opposites in rashness and restraint, the still annoying side characters (Gu improved somewhat but Dahai suddenly was cured of his alcohol induced shapeshifting and DD's stepfather remained over-the-top meddling) ,and some only parly resolved situations, I will change my overall rating to 8.5 I still found some parts interesting to rewatch and can still recommend it to those who do not crave for chemistry and romance but like mysteries . But Thousand Years For You will not remain for me among the most satisfying dramas that I watched in 2022, only one that I found entertaining while also making me dig for information.