Michelle Topham

It's so great, isn't it? I must have watched it 100 times.

He's from a very poor rural family, and he and his sister basically brought themselves up in extreme poverty from being very young children (grandparents dead, parents working away in a city).

I read that he had been invited to audition for the show by the director who had heard him singing but, because his voice sounds like a woman's, he turned the director down as he thought people would laugh at him.

She persisted for two seasons before he finally agreed to be on Season 3 of The Voice of China, and that audition was his first performance.

Surprisingly, he was knocked out in Episode 7, but has now gone on to be one of THE most successful singers in China, with a huge international following as well.

It's now a battle between him and Liu Yu Ning who gets a drama's theme song it seems like :)

And it was many months before I realized EVERY theme song performed by a female singer that I loved was actually him :)

I only learned that a few days ago when I was looking for info on his acting training, found out he graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, and then that popped up about his marriage to Zhao Li Ying. They were only married two years, though, so not a very long relationship but yep probably explains their chemistry in Minglan :)

Yep, he was a perfect example of book smart but foolish :)

Thanks for the info. And also just remembered the ML and FL were married at the time that drama came out, so their chemistry MUST be superb.

I did watch Ep 1 this afternoon, btw, and it's very interesting so far -- excellent writing and more realistic than the usual over-produced dramas we get. With it being a looooong drama, I may watch an episode a day over the next few months :)

I may be in the minority here, but I loved the OST for this.

Here are the links to the full album on YouTube Music and Spotify, if you're a fan and have missed it :)

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kMQKMzg0CkKletzBc0cqjby2P539oH_gk&si=5qcrOGZ7rrBhzTYI

https://open.spotify.com/album/1VjO2OFTKrtIpb1Ct2mzYI?si=xzOcf5ezRdCZ0FDViXVcHw

That gorgeous ending theme song is performed by Zhou Shen, who is racking up as many drama theme songs as Liu Yu Ning :) (and if you haven't seen his audition video for The Voice of China before anyone had ever heard of him, it's a thing of beauty - especially when the judges realize he's not a woman :) (And, if you do watch it, the judge who hits the buzzer first, is the brother of the woman who made that song famous).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-x1l6mqTwU

The orchestra, btw, is the International Chief Philharmonic Orchestra of Beijing, who also performed the music for 'Lost You Forever', 'Story of Yanxi Palace', 'Eternal Love' etc.

Just don't read comments on this page :) I avoided it completely until I'd watched every ep. Just prepare yourself for Eps 38 and 39. :) Two of my favorite episodes, with PHENOMENAL performances by Ci Sha and Winwin.

Love, love, loved her in The Longest Promise and, as usual, her ML Xiao Zhan is amazing as well.

Keep watching. He turns out to be one of the best characters in the entire drama, and Winwin gives one of the best performances. He must be so proud of himself, as he's an actor with not that much experience yet he turned in THAT performance :)

Watch it. You're missing the 3 of the best episodes of the entire drama, and you'll regret it if you don't. And if you've had a bad day, watch it on a day when you haven't :), as God knows we've all had those kind of days. Hope you feel better :)

Been avoiding that one as it's 78 episodes, but may just have to bite the bullet :) as it's also Zhao Li Ying, and she's wonderful. Does the pairing work well in that, because it's an interesting one?

I swear, by Episode 19, she was saying 'Wang Ye' 3 times in 3 sentences. Wanted to physically jump thru the screen and throttle her :)

I'm such a glutton for punishment though, I'll probably come back and watch the other 21 episodes at some point -- hahahahaha -- as I do like Feng Shao Feng, just think he was miscast in this.

And yep, ASM is easily my #1 drama of 2026 so far. Loved it beyond anything!

I rewound this more than any other C-drama I've watched in ages as the subtitles just fly by :)

Best Chinese drama of 2026 for me so far :)

Gorgeous, isn't it? Both beautifully designed and animated.

First episode is incredibly high quality for a short drama. Stunning visuals, costumes and sets, the cast features some of C-dramaland's best veteran actors, and the plot is intriguing. Feng Shao Feng is also the perfect Di Renjie.

If it continues in this vein, the series will rival Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty for epic story-telling, cast performances and all around fun. 10/10 for Episode 1. Now let's see if that quality remains throughout :)

Literally only 2 minutes into Episode 1 but, Ye Gods, that opening credits segment is absolutely stunning. One of the most beautifully designed I've seen in any Chinese drama.

And now off to watch the episode :)

This is one of the worst C-dramas I've watched in 20 years of watching them.

Jing Tian cannot act, Feng Shao Feng is severely miscast, the chemistry between the two, especially as they become closer, is creepy, the plot is "meh" (I've seen it a thousand times already) and the screenwriter should never work in the industry again.

I mean, how do you write an FL whose every other sentence starts with 'Wang Ye' (王爷)? Jing Tian must have been saying it in her sleep by the time she'd finishing filming this.

And don't get me started on the nonsensical story arcs that drag and drag and drag.

Struggled up until Episode 19, and I absolutely cannot watch another 21 episodes of this .Dropped.

If you want a superb romance drama, watch A Splendid Match. That Ming Dynasty-themed drama's quality is on another level than this drivel.

Couldn't be happier about shorter dramas. YOUKU is seeing the writing on the wall. People are not watching long dramas as much as they used to (only 20% of Chinese viewers finish long dramas), while shorter dramas are much more popular, and so production companies are spending money on long drama episodes few people watch.

Plus, most of the time, the longer dramas (35 episodes plus) have plots that are dragged out just to fill those episodes. Thanks, but I'm sick of them.

I've now struggled through to Ep 18, complaining about the FL all the way :)

Bawled like a baby through most of the episode :), and yep, the cast, director and staff did a superb job with that entire episode.