Sound of the Desert

I definitely love this series. I like how the story progressed. The story is well written and the cast did an incredible job.
I've seen several of Cecilia Liu's series and I like her acting because she always has depth in her portrayal of the characters. Though as always there's this typical Chinese style of acting - to be childish. But she only does it either on the start of her series or very minimal.

This is the first time I fell in love with Hu Ge. He's so handsome and excellent in his portrayal of the character. And he always look more stunning in historical outfits.

Eddie Peng - well I was surprised! He's incredible in this series and this is the first time I've seen him. I find him charming actually.

Now the female antagonist is so annoying which means she's effective. But I did not like her.

With regards to the background music, most of it were alright. But I detest the piano background because it sounded more westernized. The creators could have chosen the traditional Chinese sound to have more of an exotic appeal since the story is also unique.

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Da Mo Yao has long been one of my all time favorite novels (such a pretty name, too: Ballad of the Desert). I read it years ago and fell in love with it and when I heard there was a live-action in the works I got super excited. I remember initially being disappointed with the cast and then worried it would spoil my love for this story so I held off watching for a while. Finally, I have completed it.

Having the distance from the novel helped me appreciate this more, for sure. It’s been so long that all I can remember are important plot points and not the finer details so I never felt like things were left out or wrong. I did end up enjoying the cast for the most part, although I never felt Hu Ge was a good fit for Mo Xun (Meng jiu).

Eddie Peng did well with the cute, playful side of his character but we didn’t really get to see the portrayal of his colder/intimidating side. Since he did such a good job of showing all the love and affection Wu Ji (Huo Qubing) has for Jin Yu though I was okay with that.

The writing for this story is amazing in how it tied actual historical events and characters together around the fictional story of Jin Yu. Of course, names and such were changed in the drama because of Chinese censoring but if you’ve read the book, you know who they represent. It’s a brilliant tale and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Plus, CUTEST COUPLE. Ugh. So cute. Love it!

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Unique Story Plot that Keeps Drawing Me Back

I watched this when it first aired and have rewatched it so many times to count. It’s always that one drama that’s just stuck on my mind. So I’ve decided to write the review and recommend others to watch too. You will not regret it!

In this drama we have a good number of big name actors FL(Liu Shi Shi), 2 MLs(Eddie Peng and Hu Ge), this should have been high budget drama, but don’t know why it was filmed with the quality that made it seem like it aired in the early 2000s.

The premise of the story is that we start off with love triangle between the FL and 2 ML where FL (Xin Yue) likes ML (Mo Xun) and didn’t like the other ML (Wei WuJi). Now why I don’t refer to them as ML and 2ML is because they are both equally tied in screen time and as ML quality like neither of them are trash which makes us wonder who FL will choose in the end. The drama showcase both their personalities and qualities as a man that FL would choose from and as a viewer it was interesting to see what qualities of these MLs that drew FL in. I will try not to spoil too much.

FL (Xin Yue) acted by Liu Shi Shi:
She was raised by wolves and so she developed a more eccentric personality is not prone to following etiquette set by society. She is carefree, smart, and bold which made her stand out from other FL. She is daring and makes risky decisions which allowed her to become a successful boss in the capital. She has a past which she has let go and moved on to the 2 ML. When she is in love she chases wholeheartedly and she falls deeply. Some may find her annoying when choosing between the 2ML, but that’s also cause we don’t really see the inner dialogue as compared to the novel, so it really relies on the actress to portray certain emotions and Liu Shi Shi definitely did not fail in that aspect. There are some struggles between her decisions, but she is a person who knows what she wants in life, the things really conflicting her are external factors. Once she moves on, she moves on, the only reason why the love triangle thing came into conflict is for political reasons and her own gratitude and sympathy. Even when she was having internal conflict it wasn’t for long, and the drama didn’t drag it.


Mo Xun acted by Hu Ge:
He is of royalty descent and has hold immense power over merchants. While he was born sickly, he is smart, kind, empathetic, and more soft compared to Wei WuJi. FL falls for him first, as he was the first she met when she came to Capital and he also helped her a lot during her business ventures. He also came to love FL, as her eccentric and carefree attitude brought life into him. He was born sickly and so he instinctively pushes people away from him as he does not want to have too much impact on their life when he might die any day. People it’s Hu Ge, you cannot expect a bad acting out of this guy. If yall don’t know who he is, I suggested watching Chinese paladin remember to carry a box of tissue with you.

Wei WuJi acted by Eddie Peng:
My favorite character to date and the most realistic General out of all actors that acted as generals in drama. Born in a family of generals and illegitimate son to his father, he started out as a stable boy and slowly climbed his way up to the position of general. His uncle is Hero General, aunt is elder Princess, aunt is Empress and the emperor is his uncle. With this kind of connection, he is always embroiled in political matters, because he is part of Wan Family which is the Empress Natal family. We are first introduced to him, when he becomes recognized by his general uncle and emperor and given an opportunity to go on the battle field. He is a person who knows what he wants and willing to make efforts to get what he wants. He is childish, strong, shameless, and *patient*. FL liked Mo Xun first and he knew it, but he likes FL a lot and until they were together he was never gonna give up. He used military tactics to chase a wife and understood, while he is using military tactics, this was the woman to become his wife and he was never gonna do anything that she didn’t like. He understood FL and knows she’s the type to love wholeheartedly, so he established his presence to FL and slowly wiggled his way into her heart. All the other actors should take note, this is how a general should be like, tanned and brusely, refined because he’s a noble but has an air of murderous intent around him that scares people away accumulated from the time he was on the battlefield. Eddie Peng Brought a general character to life!!! After so many years, I don’t think I’ve seen a proper general character besides his. His one glare/look can kill someone.

In the beginning of the drama, you may lean towards Mo Xun, after all who wouldn’t. He’s nice to FL and refined/noble, and a caring person overall. He was an ideal that some girls want from men. While Wei Wuji is what we call a bad boy, seemly bad boy, but actually very caring someone that loves with his whole being. He could be your friend, someone you confide in and someone you could call home. So it becomes a very difficult decision XD! Ngl, if I was in FL spot I have a difficult decision too. They are both strong contenders and neither over shadows another, they each have their pros/cons. So it really came down to chances, the MLs efforts and what FL really needed from her significant others.

What I also really liked from this drama is how well established the other characters are. We have the Wan Family, emperor and Qin Xiang. The drama established their story backgrounds and how their personalities came to be. What influences their decisions and the political turmoils that embroils between them. Some don’t really like political dramas and also me, but this is definitely a well explained political battle going on. This doesn’t even touch surface of some political dramas, but it is well set up stage and not confusing compared to others. This drama also really establishes some interesting points about what being a general means, a subordinate and how does an emperor keep balance between officials and generals. I will never forget a quote from this drama something along the lines of “Military books teaches generals how to win wars, but it doesn’t teach a general how to survive the emperors suspicion from the immense political power they have gained after winning a battle”.

This drama would have been a 10/10 for me if not for the ending, the ending is fine, but what led up to the ending definitely felt a bit rushed. I wish it was longer and well written out like the rest of the drama, but there was probably some issue that went on that led to that decision. I remember how I was waiting for this drama to release for so long, so it might have been censorship that came into play. I was actually surprised this drama didn’t gain the popularity I expected, this drama is really a lot better than a lot of dramas I watch. It doesn’t have the usual damsel in distress saving stuff or extra women coming out of nowhere to want to fight for the guy, those extra acted drama stuff that would have drew peoples attention. But something about this drama just keeps drawing me back to it. It is definitely unique story out of all the dramas and I highly Recommend.

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Keeps you guessing her final choice

The story is intriguing and acting was excellent. Throughout, I was left wondering what would be the heroine's eventual choice.

Being a sucker for the underdog, I was rooting for the 9th lord. He was rich and powerful but had obvious inferior complex because of his disability. Hu Ge has this doleful look that melts one's heart - he is an incredibly outstanding actor. Not many actors can match up to that standard.

I did not rewatch this drama like I did for the Nirvana in Fire, Ten Mile Blossom and Fu Yao, but I would certainly recommend watching for the first time.

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Award-winning performances all around....

This was excellently written and directed, superb cast performed by the main and support characters.

A lone female and her wolf clan run free in the Gobi Desert...earlier the female has been captured by a human and exposed to human ways and lived briefly with the Tartars, until her "Papa" is killed by a greedy warrior who wants to become king of the desert Tartars, and she returns to her wolf pack.

A chance meeting with Ninth Lord and his caravan while stealing from them, our lone beautiful lady, Jin Yu, and the wolf that follows her, are let go. The Lord gives her a dress and salt, and bids Jin Yu goodbye. The lady changes into the dress and the next day she runs into a group of men, whom she later observes as being trained in martial arts, being attacked by desert pirates...after calling on her wolf pack, the pirates decide to abandon their attack on the foreigners.

The foreigners thank Jin Yu for her help and ask her for guidance through the desert; since her dead "Papa" has planned on taking her back to his home, the city of Jain-an, before being killed she guides them safely through the desert and remains in the city. Amongst the foreigners is the dashing General Wei Wu Ji.

What follows is a rapid advancement, after being drugged at first, of Jin Yu into being the House Manager at a dance theater/house; her wit, intelligence and {sometimes} unseen support from Ninth Lord's Shi Shipping business, lands her into profit and some prestige, yet also unneeded attention from the Palace hierarchy.

The second male lead, General Wei Wu Ji of the Nan Dynasty, saved by the wolf pack and our heroine, tries to find the wolf lady; however, while Wei Wu Ji is looking through the city for Yin Ju, , Ninth Lord has already found the wolf girl and is supporting her as much as possible (even staying with him part-time). Still Wei Wu Ji attempts to woo her, only to find her already in love with Ninth Lord.

A one-sided romance develops between our heroine Jin Yu and Ninth Lord, but as Ninth Lord continues to ignore her advances, Jin Yu is heartbroken, trying to be a 'tree' as Ninth Lord is, and also support him instead.

Jin Yu finally works up the nerve to directly tell Ninth Lord her feelings, but Ninth Lord still rebukes her and her love advances...this causes Jin Yu to abruptly leave Jain-an, leaving letters for her able house assistant, Ms. Hong, and Wei Wu Ji.

General Wei Wu Ji finds Jin Yu at a travel station along her route back to the desert, and abducts her to his military camp. After returning home with Wei Wu Ji, Jin Yu moves back to the dancing house, but later goes to live with Wei Wu Ji...Her emotions are set on a roller-coaster ride as she finds out the trouble that Ninth Lord went to trying to find her but he still rejects her Significant Other advances...and also troubling is the fact that Wei Wu Ji lied to Ninth Lord about knowing her whereabouts earlier...

Political intrigue enters the scene upon the two returning as 1) Wei Wu Ji becomes a pawn in the Court power struggles, especially with his adopted family, the Wan faction, and 2) the concubine, Qin Xiang, that Jin Yu trained so that she would be accepted into the Palace harem, rapidly gains power in the harem but turns on Jin Yu, causing her misadventure in the later episodes.

Although Jin Yu promised not to reveal the real reason for Madame Xiang's presence in the harem (vengeance, although others figured it out by themselves), she becomes the target of the Madame, partly for her being free and able to travel outside the palace and live her own life, a life that Madame Xiang begins to covet!

What started out as to men fighting over Jin Yu becomes a loose partnership between Ninth Lord and
General Wei Wu Ji , both supporting Jin Yu as she is attacked and placed into captivity by forces of the Wan faction, and both Yin Ju and Wei Wu Ji being poisoned. Both Yin Ju and Wei Wu Ji feel trapped by the political warfare in Jain-an City, and seek to stay apart from political intrigue; however, the Wang faction first tricks Wei Wu Ji in killing the head of the Li power faction, General Li ji, who happens to be the only supporter of Madame Xiang in the palace (besides the Emporer) while the Wan family plans a more morbid future for the General.

Thus, a plan is hatched to free them from Jain-an and service to the powerful Emporer; unfortunately, one of them does not know about it.

Al the actors and actresses, both main and support, performed their roles brilliantly...

Main Roles:

Shi Shi Lui, as Ying Ju, portrayed a cornucopia of emotions as she portrayed the female lead...going from chlld-like innocence in one scene to intelligently fending off attackers in the next. Especially dramatic was the two episodes of her childbirth and the following one: even though I know these are scripted series, I momentarily forgot this during the birthing scene and the two episodes after that....fantastic acting from a great actress!
I also especially loved Jin Yu's dance in the palace as the Tartar girls are performing and one is about to steal her man!

Hugh Hu, as Ninth Lord, portrayed a Stoic benefactor to the female lead, time and time sacrificing his money, and later his health, in supporting both Yin Ju and General Li Ji; many comments on the CN Drama (YouTube) site wish that a spinoff movie would be made in the future to have Ninth Lord finally find his love!

Eddie Peng, as General Wei Wu Ji, perfectly portrayed a platonic supporter of Yin Ju until he saw her response after Ninth Lord's last rejection of Yin Ju's love, then he easily portrayed Yin Ju's lover and supporter as well afterward.

Supporting Roles:

Han Dong, as General Li JI, was superb as a cohort of General Wei Wu Ji, and also as someone who tried to talk sense into Madame Xiang and save her from herself and the Palace harem she foolishly sought entry into...performing as well as he did in his roies in 'Love Lost In Time' and 'Scarlet Hearts'.

Fala Chen, as Madame Xiang, went from a level-headed sister to her episode brothers Qin Yong (Qin Yuan Chao) and
Zhang Xiang (Qin Yuan Qi) to a vindicitve but suffering madame in the harem of the Emperor...I personally saw her ending way before the final episode.
I think that she would be more than able to play a lead villianess in a major movie or series if given a chance!

Deng Li Min (Uncle Shi) and Han Zhen Hua (Uncle Chen), among the many other support actors/actresses that I do not have the time to mention here, put on superb roles as supporters of their respective houses in the series.

Superb writing, superb directing, superb acting....the ingredients to a great series!

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One of the worst things in any drama is when the writers purposely use miscommunication as a plot device. As in, a particular character chooses to remain silent instead of clarifying a dire situation. It's frustrating and needlessly angsty. More than this, I absolutely hate when supposedly smart characters act in ways that are contrary to who they are. This drama is littered with plot holes and deus ex machina moments where either leads walk into traps with eyes wide open yet our ML never uses any intelligent counter measures rather he and the FL just keep ploughing forward with no forethought. Then we have this arrogant FL who thinks she's so smart even though we can see that all she does is blow smoke up her own ar@e. I screamed many times at my screen while raining multiple curses on the writers who chose to give us such situations and characters. Did they think we are all idiots? I would have been content had they given us just one smart character but no, from the Emperor to the ministers and even the main leads....all we got was nonsense.

Lastly, not even the “love story” could redeem this clusterfuck of a drama and I’m only watching this to the end mainly because of the hours invested. Save yourself and watch Yanxi Palace or Weiyoung.

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My favourite drama of all time that I have watched:
Eternal Love, Legend of Fu Yao, Legend of Yun Xi, Ashes of Love, Scarlet heart and The Eternal Love
other is Meteor Garden 2000 and Meteor Garden 2018.
Love all of them.

My favourite Korean drama:
Healer and Strong woman Do Boong Soon

I related to Love story and intense romance. Passionate love. The one that touch your heart and makes you think about it, when you are not watching it and already want to rewatch it when you are watching it.

But Sound of the Desert,
brings to live character that I often find in book love story. General Wei Wu Ji is everything my Alpha hero would be!
He is stubborn, determined, protective, possesive, loving, caring, smart, brave and he loves Xiu Yue to the core!
And all is sealed with passion!

Many episodes make my heart flip, swoon and in Awe!! Romantic scenes is out of the world!
Small things and big things makes me do the, "......whaaaaatttt? " before repeating that many many times.

I feel their love, i envy their love, i cherish their love,
NEVER a boring episode! even if it look steep, they always find their way.

All the cast acted out so perfectly.

Sound of the desert present impossible LoveStory in the most Possible way it is soooooo beautiful!
LOVE iT! It is my whole time favourit as per January 15, 2019, Jakarta Indonesia.

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Main Point - I enjoyed the show. I would recommend it because I'm really glad I watched this. But I wouldn't rewatch. I might just look up clips of them sometime

I loved the music throughout this. I already got the songs on Apple Music! I didn't get tired of the songs. Some moments only needed the soft instrumental instead of the powerful vocals. And other moments worked extremely well with the lyrics. (Some sad and heartbreaking moments were greeted with a smile because I was rocking and humming along haha...) The music was great, as well as the zither and flutes.

The characters were really good. They were actually believable. I could see the bonds forming or the pain ripping them apart. The actors did well with their facial expressions and chemistry. The dub messed up a few serious moments though. But we were able to get so many aesthetically pleasing characters. Everyone looked really good...from the young to the old.

Overall production was pretty good. I've only seen about 7 historical C-dramas so far. I'm still new to them. I loved the outfits, the landscapes, the buildings, the decor, the culture etc. Everything looked really good (especially the food!). The CGI and other SFX were bad, but this is an older show, so....haha yeah......

Story wise,
**Its not a firecracker (big bang) type of show, its more of a sparkler (slow sizzle). There were times where I really didn't know what would happen, so it wasn't a totally predictable story. The twists weren't huge "WTF" moments, so it could seem lackluster to those who enjoy more extreme plots. Especially since its a kingdom show, and those are usually super drama filled and get CRAZY. But this is a pretty relaxing show to watch in between some firecracker shows.
**I originally started this show because I was looking for a strong female lead. I was so tired of the weak, naive, bitter, hopeless females. I was tired of face palming and sucking my teeth every time I started a new series. This FL is witty and can save herself AND save her love interests.
**There were a few times where I was fed up with the love triangle. Its hard when love rivals are both "nice guys". That made the Female Lead sooooo fickle. That was killing me and actually made me vow to quit if it continued.
**The character development was interesting to watch. The changes that occurred just seemed so rightfully done. A few seemed forced, but overall, it was a pretty reasonable development for all the characters.
**I both did and didn't like the ending. I definitely wasn't satisfied with a part of it. I felt like some events were taking the easy way out, but the story has to end somehow. But I, personally, hardly ever like the way shows/movies are ended. But this time there was only ONE thing that stopped me from being content with it, but I don't want to spoil...

Edit: Have to mention my loves. I found a new love in Hong Gu, Wu Ji, and Hei Shi...

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