PeachBlossomGoddess

Indeed the teenagers would be easier.... but I was moaning away to my mom about the actor and she said... well... who would you cast? And I was speechless... I guess not everyone has the destiny to be Qin Shi Huang... and not just anyone can be cast to play him either...

Another question - as we get into S2 soon, are we gonna stay on this thread or move to the S2 page?

LMAO - everyone is using AI now to feed you the same stuff over and over!!!
As for Lao Ai... ahem why is he not drawn and quartered already....????

Re Yin Zheng - I was just gonna post that question to to everyone - if not this dude, then who should play Ying Zheng??? Honestly even if let's just say they roll him out from age 20 onwards, I can't really think of anyone obviously fitting. I mean Chen Kun maybe 10 years ago is the best I can come up with. But I haven't seen Fu Dalong, I am DEFINITELY gonna watch that next. I so regret not doing so when we chatted about it some months back...

I am not in love with how much time we are spending on the Chengmin and Lao Ai arcs. They are important but geez lets get to the more interesting parts of the history.

Its not a hard a fast rule, its just "guidance" that was introduced in late 2018/early 2019. Dramas that were already in production/completed have generally been given some leeway. Some dramas still take a risk by trying to go for up to 49 but it doesn't make commercial sense because the main actors are paid by the episode and they are also sold by the episode to both distributors and advertisers. So if you spend the money to shoot 50 episodes and then only get to "sell" say 45, you make less money. So over time I expect most of them to stay close to the 40 OR if it has to be 70-80 episodes, just go for two back to back seasons like Qin and Sound of Providence. There have also been absolute caps put on lead actor salaries, which also limits the no of episodes they are willing to shoot.

This Qiao Wei character really is a jerk magnet.

Tyvm, I was put off by that too even though his acting is good - think again we on the same page on this one. I will say that the big mystery is very good, it is worth finishing for.

Tyvm, that's very nice of you to say so. :)

If you do plan a trip some day, just message me. I have travelled there extensively and many of my best friends live there. I can give you tips on many things including where to eat.

Yes indeed.. I have done Lv Buwei a grave injustice! :)

I am always so impressed by what you know. :)

Qin is fascinating... I have to keep reminding myself this was more than 2000 years ago... They were already so advanced compared to all other civilisations...
Xian is really amazing there are just so many well preserved artifacts, I also like it better than the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was looted, its just a bunch of spectacularly empty buildings. All of the contents seem to be in the Taipei museum! But the Great Wall is still my favourite place I try to go for a hike every time I am in Beijing.

I was supposed to go to Hengdian this year - it was supposed to be our annual girls trip. :(

Imagine terrorising the people even 2000 years after his death! He may well make King Tut's cursed tomb seem benign...

I have the same question - does he suffer from indigestion? Maybe he is getting a stomach ache at the thought of ceding power to the young but middle age looking king.

Tyvm for the very interesting link, I haven't seen it before. I did watch the Mummy and quite a few others featuring the Terracotta warriors. Xian is still an in progress excavation site every few years there are new things to see. Its one of my favourite short trip destinations from where I live in HK. It is a pity is no plan to open Qin Shi Huangdi's mausoleum itself. It takes so long to dig all this stuff up that I doubt even if they start tomorrow, I will be able to see it in my lifetime. Wu Tzetian's tomb is there too but also there is no plan to open it up.

Its actually excellent, way better than the Olympics opening ceremony because they are all done in a natural setting. I haven't been to them all but I have loved every one I have been to.

I was just visiting, I enjoy travelling through rural China. All those places are quite accessible tourists spots but to get to one of the lakes you have to be able to ride a horse for a couple hours through a hilly forest. The altitude made me dizzy on the way back after my pill wore off it was not fun. The other one is in front of a famous monastery there is road access. There are similar outdoor China impressions shows also by Zhang Yimou in other China travel spots, all reflecting the culture and history of that particular local area.
https://www.chinadiscovery.com/articles/impression-shows.html

I have to say that the attention to detail in this show is meticulous. They even made up many of the side characters to bear an uncanny resemblance to some of the more well known intact terracotta warrior statues. Even the carriages drawn by four horses are so similar to what was uncovered in Xian. I tore my study apart last night unearthing all my old books on the terracotta warriors and just comparing the pictures to the show. It is amazing.

They filmed in Shangri-la or Zhongdian. Its practically in Tibet and looks a lot like Tibet but at a much more comfortable altitude. Its still very high up I needed altitude sickness pills when I was there. You can hire ponies and ride up to that lake. Usually to be visited at the same time as Lijiang, which is a Unesco Heritage Site. The mountain is probably part of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range, you can hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge on the way. On the Lijiang side Zhang Yimou's Jade Dragon Mountain Show features the mountain prominently - looks very similar to some of what he did for Beijing Olympics but this features the ethnic minorities and possibly some of the music you refer to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvNt8T-PFRg

My mom observed that this recorded history of this period was made mostly by Sima Qian who was from Han which had succeeded Qin. History is written by the victors; in this case it is possible they may have relished in slandering Qin Shi Huangdi, his parentage and even his tyranny...