The Litchi Road (2025)

A kingdom for a concubine's smile.

Adapted from Ma Boyong's novel of the same name, The Litchi Road is a biting satire of a besotted old man's folly; an emperor who squanders a kingdom for a concubine's smile. Set during the twilight years of Xuanzong's reign, it is about Yang Guifei's well known love for lychees. To mark her birthday, he orders fresh lychees ferried 2,500 miles from Lingnan to Chang’an—a fool’s errand, as the delicate fruit spoils within days, dooming the 5,000 li journey.

Enter Li Shande, a humble Shanglin Bureau official, gifted in mathematics, poetry, and botany but too scrupulous and apolitical to climb the ruthless Tang bureaucracy. He’s the perfect patsy, duped into the role of “Litchi Envoy” for this impossible mission. Written with dark humor and irony, Li’s stoic resolve—“I wish to live”—resonates with powerless commoners who rally to his cause, aiding his experiments in preservation and test runs. They are aided by merchants who see a profit opportunity in an ancient cold chain logistics network that transports this prized fruit inland to Chang'an and beyond. Yet bureaucratic hurdles and corrupt officials thwart them at every turn. The narrative sharply critiques imperial excess and elite callousness while quietly celebrating the “ants”—individually inconsequential people whose collective efforts achieve the unthinkable.

Zheng Ping’an’s parallel espionage arc, clearly not Ma Boyong’s creation, feels extraneous, though Yue Yunpeng’s comedic flair—obsequious groveling masking seething resentment—adds humor and depth to Li Shande and Xiu’er’s characters. His grudging aid, driven by his affection for Xiu’er, is touching, but a sharper writer might have made his plot arc more relevant and ended his and Gouér's journey in a more fitting way. Lei Jiayin shines as Li Shande, a relatable and at times frustrating anti-hero; a well-intentioned person who makes promises he can't keep and whose forbearance is ultimately exhausted by the iniquity around him.

Fans of Longest Day in Chang’an will spot familiar faces in new roles, with similar aesthetics and themes as this story unfolds over a dozen years later. The emperor, still smitten with Yang Guifei, balances power between the Left and Right Chancellors. The prose sparkles with wit, weaving classical phrases, puns, and Li Bai’s poetry for layered meaning. Lingnan’s sun-drenched palette and tropical costumes showcase the vastness and diversity of Great Tang. While Longest Day is a higher budget and more polished production, Litchi Road is a more fun watch. The sharp social commentary and heavy profound moments are balanced by levity and memorable hilarious scenes—like the uproarious, very 1990s cockfight (no animals harmed) that had me in stitches.

The ensemble, villains included, earns applause. He Youguang, the petty tyrant, and his scheming secretary Zhao Xinmin deliver comic gold, their fowl play both hilarious and menacing. The evolution of the ancient cold chain, aided by foreign merchants’ spice-transport methods, fascinates, while diverse characters add exotic richness. Amita’s strory ends abruptly, likely due to actor Nashi’s controversy, which taints the drama’s reception. However she landed the role or got where she is today, Nashi's acting is solid; far better than many popular leading actresses. Her look is so stunning and exotic it is hard to imagine anyone else pulling off Amita with that kind of boldness and flair.

The finale takes an odd turn, flirting with supernatural elements before winking at its own fictionality—an acceptable, if imperfect, close. The recurring “bad things happen to good people” theme feels realistic but heavy, with two gratuitous deaths and undeserved outcomes (good and bad) for many. Still, many bad guys fall, the good guys score a small but significant victory, and and fresh litchis are enjoyed by the story's true beauty in a poignant reunion. Despite a strong start, it misses a 9.0 but earns an enthusiastic 8.5/10.0.

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Love the family line!

I cried so hard when Li Shande reunited with his daughter. It’s been a long time since a family storyline moved me like this. 🥹 Every tear was worth it. The emotional buildup was so natural—there were no over-the-top monologues, just raw, quiet pain and love. You could feel everything in their eyes and silences.

But beyond the touching father-daughter bond, I also really enjoyed the journey of delivering the lychees. It was unexpectedly intense and full of challenges. Who knew delivering fruit in ancient times could be such a dangerous, emotional ride? It gave me a whole new respect for ancient “working people”—they really had it tough!

The costumes are absolutely beautiful and full of historical detail, and the cinematography is stunning. Each shot feels carefully crafted, and the pacing keeps you hooked from start to finish. I didn’t expect to get this invested, but now I’m fully in.

Highly recommend it to anyone who loves stories that touch the heart while keeping you on the edge of your seat.

I watched it on Kukan Drama’s YouTube channel, so glad I found it there!

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Started Strong

Although a very different plot, this has the same essence as The Longest Day In Chang'an and not surprisingly, it turns out they both had the same director. Unfortunately, they both also have similar flaws with how they wrap up the ending.

A few episodes in and I was hyped about the fantastic dialogue and actors. It has become very rare to come across series that actually has you intellectually stimulated where you feel the need to hang onto every word. The Litchi Road starts off very strong in the first 1/3 of episodes with a very natural plot flow and great introduction of multiple characters. The 2/3 of episodes is when it started to waver just a tad with slightly choppier shifts between different scenes. And the final third of the episodes (particularly when Eunuch Yu enters the plot) is when it really starts to descend into the abyss. Almost as if a completely different director stepped in and was pressured to just complete it, one way or another.

It is really quite aggravating because there are so many things done well. The charisma between the actors, the main plot, the costumes, the background, the subtle humor, and most importantly, the naturalness of the dialogues. But when the plot starts to lose its way toward the end, so did the charm of our main character, Li Shan De. While he's portrayed as a kind and honest man, he doesn't have much character growth at all throughout all his ordeals. It's one thing to stick to your nature and beliefs but it's another to stay ignorant to the harm it causes those around you. He ends up being another one of the individuals who selfishly wants (with good intentions), would never survive or succeed without having the heavy support of those willing to do the dirty work behind the scenes, but would irritatingly judge those who aren't as righteous and honest as himself.

Another flaw with the plot is how they halfheartedly highlighted those who sacrificed themselves. It was done so poorly that they shouldn't have even tried. There was a really good buildup of relationship developments between the characters and they did a pretty good job with highlighting the history and background of many, but then these same characters would just suddenly be written out of the story altogether. And man, what they did with his brother was just completely absurd because he was a fantastic character.

Nevertheless, compared to many other series that focuses on distracting us with over-dramatizations, long-winded romantic triangles, and other fluff, this one was still good enough for me to write a longer than usual review lamenting about how they completed it.

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