Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island

beautiful, melancholic and atmospheric

I've heard good things about this series but I was a bit skeptical before going in. I'm not the biggest fan of the movie Call me by your name (unpopular opinion I know) and it seemed to share a lot of similarities.
But I thought this was absolutely BEAUTIFUL, while it does share a lot of similarities with CMBYN it executes it MUCH better in my opinion. Their age gap is not very bad, it seems the main character is 17-18 at the start and the love interest 21-22 and while it's a more "slow " series I was super engaged the whole time. The cinematography is STUNNING, the actors do an incredible job, the script is well written and the music is really good and atmospheric. I am really surprised at how an "indie" Chinese series managed to deliver Hollywood movie quality while surpassing the clear inspirations that influenced it.
Absolutely recommended

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This glorious visual feast should not be a secret.

“Secrets Happened on Litchi Island” is a remarkable series, sustained by a firm creative vision that runs with unerring determination and artistry through every scene, through all the dialogue (delivered by a uniformly strong cast), together with shot selection and framings that are paradoxically economical yet fully immersive at the same time. 

It's no accident or coincidence that the two leads are reading Aciman's "Call Me By Your Name" in Extra Ep 2. Writer/Director/Creator-in-Chief Lizzy reshapes Elio's journey of self-discovery in 1983 to this decade today, and in today’s socio-political climate. Here, Nie Xiaozhi is a far more aware version of Elio, albeit wracked by the same feelings of shame characteristic of many emergent young gays. Elio's grief for the loss of Oliver at the end of CMBYN is reshaped in this series by Lizzy into a terrifying alcohol-fuelled rage of self-recrimination by Xiaozhi, performed with considerable force by Ha Yichen (an actor I could find little online about, but whose maturity and talent belies his boyish looks). 

Lizzy acknowledges the homophobia in China today, such as the misguided efforts of Xiaozhi's brother to "rescue" Xiaozhi from his unhappiness. But Lizzy succeeds, I believe, in rewriting the ending of CMBYN to the happy ending we all seek and wish for. 

“Secrets Happened on Litchi Island” deserves to be seen in feature-length format to appreciate how rich and complex and satisfying this is, and also to avoid the narrated splash screen episode introductions, probably the only misjudgment in the whole production by this formidable creator.

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Subjective Gut Rating: 8.25

“Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island” is a different kind of BL drama from China. Since this is an independently produced web drama, it can avoid censorship and actually gives us some passionate kisses. This short drama has garnered great reviews on MDL, so I wanted to check it out.

The setting is beautiful with nicely shot scenes, great cinematography and the sounds of nature. Most of the drama happened on the island and It feels like a quiet slice-of-life drama. Viewers have the front row seat to the leads’ special summer on the island: exploring, frolicking, tasting delicious lychees, and most importantly, getting close to each other.

It took me a little bit to get used to this way of storytelling. It feels slow and weird, yet also feels different and interesting. The two main leads have great chemistry and the acting is solid. Plotwise, not a lot happened, to be honest: just falling in love, being brave and accepting of oneself. This drama reminded me a little of “I Told Sunset About You”.

I generally enjoy “Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island” except for the preachy island aunty. I am still not quite understanding who she is and why the boys seek her out for advice in life. At times, I like the prologue voiceovers, but other times I find the talk of the deep stuff a little pretentious.

I might not love this drama as much as many others, but I acknowledge its uniqueness and challenge of Chinese censorship. I still have a good time watching it and I love the chemistry between the leads in the last scene. I also really like the song that Chen Li was listening to, but I couldn't find it on Spotify.


Other Weird Observations:
1. The boy just put on a face mask, yet he washed off all the serum!!!
2. Rosemary is a mosquito repellant?
3. It was hard to tell how old Xiao Zhi was. Then I realized he’s a college student.



Completed: 5/10/2025 - Review #573

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Friendship to undeniable connection—where emotions speak louder than words.

I absolutely loved Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island! The chemistry between the two leads, Liu Yi He and Hu Yi Chen, was off the charts. Honestly, I didn’t expect such a spicy BL coming out of mainland China, and the fact that they pulled it off was a huge surprise (I heard they sent the footage to Taiwan to be aired/streamed to get around certain restrictions, but don’t quote me on that). It’s a legit romance, no bromance nonsense, which was refreshing.

The two leads shared a very close friendship with an undeniable romantic chemistry that you could genuinely feel through the screen—it made every interaction compelling and emotionally charged.

The only downside was that the episodes felt a bit short—I just wanted more! But that’s honestly a small complaint because the whole series felt like a well-made film. The pacing, the build-up, everything was just spot on. Plus, it has a happy ending, which is always a win in my book. If these two actors ever team up again, I’d be all in. Highly recommend this series if you’re looking for something spicy, heartfelt, and genuine.

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Touched my heart and made me laugh

„You are the best in your own world“ (quote from the final sequence)
Wow, this (series + 3 special episodes) is one of the best things I have watched for a long time and it’s joining a place in my heart next to Love in the big city. I came across it by coincidense and I am glad I did. It made me feel everything, made me smile, laugh, feel anxious, happy, helpless and shed a few tears. I loved the vibrant green, the nature setting, the real rain (yes, finally some real rain and not some fake rain with sun in the background!), the summer energy, the story, the acting, the cinematography, the fact that we didn‘t hear the characters‘ thoughts, that some things were not explained, but we could still understand them (like the bathtub scene) if we switched our brains on, that the characters were not bland, that both of the leads had realistic human feelings and struggles and that both leads were equally strong and equally weak. The series and episode 6 especially had some very beautiful and poetic insights on life. I‘ll definitely watch the show again.

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Too Short & Too Vague for the Intended Impact

Looking at the high praise for this drama, I find myself wondering if I might have missed something. If you were to ask me to rate this on the cinematography, location, ambience, acting by our 2 main leads, and the music, it'd be an easy 10/10. But if we're going to talk about the plot, dialogue, the coherence of the story being told, that's where you lose me.

These leave me largely confused and disappointed for the following reasons

1. Lack of dialogue - It is no secret that I am not the biggest fan of stories told in silence. I enjoy dialogue in a story. You do not need to explain every sequence of events or every emotion to me. That's not what I need. Characters do not need to talk much, but when they do, it needs to be meaningful.

The use of dialogue in the story needs to tell me who they are, what they are feeling, their motivations, etc. This story lacks that. When our mains spoke, they often made me feel like I was in a philosophy class or something. It's cryptic and almost poetic, which is hella weird when you remember that

a. They are very young - In my head, Xiao Zhi was 16 at most, while Chen Li was 18, maybe 19. Imagine my shock at seeing XZ in uni
b. These cryptic, poetic, philosophical conversations were meant to be everyday, regular conversations. It felt like they wanted to make Xiao Zhi deep and maybe a little angsty, but in the end, it made him and his conversations a bit convoluted.

2. There's a lot of nothing going on in the first 4 and a half episodes - It's all nothing, but it is largely nothing. They spend their time running around in the orchard and the rain, eating fruit, talking about birds philosophically, watching each other swim and paint, and subtly touching. This is great. It shows us how those feelings developed. But it felt like a very drawn-out montage.

Because they do not talk about anything important, I ended up not feeling the impact of these moments.

While some commenters and reviewers say that the latter half was disappointing, I actually liked it more than the 1st half. Because this is where conversations happen. The dialogue that was lacking in the beginning is here, and it helps you feel more. It adds weight to what the show is trying to say. Helps you get into the minds of the characters and understand them

3. The resolution - They get their happy ending, but it doesn't feel earned. Especially from Chen Li's side. He ghosts Xiao Zhi for a year, comes back talking about 'I'm also your brother', ghosts again for 2 years, comes back with lychees just when Xiao Zhi is starting to move on, they have one micro conversation in Chen Li's house, and suddenly they live happily ever after...? Eh? This whole sequence left me with so many questions

a. How did XZ know the area that CL lived in?
b. What was that weird running sequence they showed us? Seriously, does anyone know why XZ was mimicking bike riding while running alongside that one bike rider on the street?

c. Why didn't they go deeper into Cl's struggles with accepting XZ's feelings outside the summer camp? Was it society as a whole that made him scared, or did it have something to do with XZ's weird-ass meddling brother?
d. Why was XZ's brother the way he was?
There are so many unanswered questions and unexplored things for me to be satisfied with the plot and overall progression in this story

All in all, I find myself thinking that 'Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island' is beautiful but empty. Visually, it's stunning, but emotionally, it's hollow. Like a sneeze that never quite materializes

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"That summer was like a dream... permeating my entire youth..."

An artistic coming of age story between a sensitive yet strong Xiao Zhi falling for this caring yet hesitant ge Chen Li. Most of the episodes are short, and are really a perfect example of "Show, Don't tell" cinema. There is great symbolism including nature, fruit, birds, and books. You find yourself constantly reading between the lines and get rewarded in later episodes.
In the beginning, there was a youthful feel to the story, but as the characters interacted more, the vibe shifts to ambiguous tenderness, and there are little touches and eye contacts here and there, and it feels like they live in their own world.

Xiao Zhi is just a beautiful soul. He feels a lot, and is the type to cry over books and movies. But, he's also unyielding when he has to be and I really appreciate that about him. Chen Li cares for Xiao Zhi both physically and emotionally, and you can see how he's always paying attention to him. But, he struggles with his identity and it felt like he was fighting his feelings, so it was really interesting to see them being, and I quote, "suffering, yet passionate."

Huge shoutout to the actors. They communicate a lot with their eyes, and I can tell what they're about to do just by looking at their expressions. They also have great chemistry together. And shoutout to the cast behind the screen, every detail mattered and I could tell they took it seriously.

I really enjoyed the music as well. It was a good fit for the theme of the series.

I particularly loved the story-telling aspect of the show. There were quotes by the characters in the beginning and ending of the episodes. I have to say I was put off by the subtitles because till this day I have no idea what was written in the beginning since the font was really hard to read (If anyone has an idea or link pls let me know), but my favorite was,

"He can understand my paintings,
knows I dislike being defined,
and is always considerate of my delicate emotions.
I wish he were just like me."

There are short special extra episodes that you can find as well. They add a lot to the story, I fell in love with the characters again through them. I wish they were longer but I'm also very satisfied as there aren't really any loose ends.

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Pure Cinematography And Art

This short series is just lovely, love the places it takes place and how each episode is filled with green it feels like you're in there with there, I can feel the rain, the breeze, the scent of the leaves, it makes you forget your even watching a series to begin with, for a second I was like "idc about the plot I'm just here to admire this beautiful scenery in every episode" but the story was also captivating, simple but cute, it's like a coming of age story, with a love thats so pure and wholesome, it's interpreted so beautifully and in such an artistic way I just couldn't stop watching. I also need to appreciate the fact that it's short so everything is balanced super well. I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to watch the special episodes once they're all fully released.

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