JJJ

Just started this and WOW, the chemistry between SL and WKR are on fire. I haven't reached the full red flag parts yet, but it is already so interesting seeing signs of it even in episode 1. LL making it seem like he set boundaries by calling a car for YL and seemingly not doing this just to get her WeChat (while he still ended up getting her WeChat as she had to pay him back for booking the car). It was so quick too but just goes to show ingrained these types of techniques are for him.

Li Landi is Hui (minority) who is playing a Han character here. Based on the main cast list I have seen, I did not see any Han actors/actresses in real life that is playing a character that is Uyghur character in this drama except for potentially Qiu Tian who is playing Lai Li (but the family in this drama might be a mixed family of Uyghur and Han with the intermarriages until Lai Li's generation). She is the only one I am unsure about as she might also be the investment cast (she generally does movies).

This cast is a full mix of Han and Uyghur, majority of the actors/actresses for Ughur are not listed on mydramalist as they don't have profiles on here or relatively new to the scene. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Party Committee had a hand in picking this cast.

I was addressing the original OP's claim that Li Landi, who was Hui, was "foul" for taking this role when again, her role is HAN character. It is not the case of a minority "stealing" a role from another minority.

I was speaking of Han in historical dramas (who are usually inspired by actual historical figures), not modern-day Han people (in which the background of the characters doesn't matter as much and can be changed).

Han in historical dramas in different dynasties all have different cultural nuances (the Han of the Ming dynasty are different than the Han of the Qing dynasty, we tend to just say Han to address the entire group but culturally, there are too many differences due how the lands were split/which part was invaded/who were occupying at the time, etc.). The conversation was based on one ethnic group playing another ethnic group shouldn't happened due to the encroachment of cultural nuances and appropriation. I was making a comparison that in that case, a lot of our ethnic minority actors/actresses would NOT be playing any of the Han characters in historical dramas if they were to use that as a reason (and we DON'T want to use that as a reason because most would be severely limited in the roles they played if that was the case).

I was just saying this line of reasoning (that we often used in the west with POC playing characters that might have originally been white) is valid in the west but is not a reasoning to use with C-ent because C-netz view race/ethnic groups differently than how we do in the west. It would be a slippery slope of "The Han ethnic group doesn't have a culture so anyone can play Han for historical dramas" or "Han invaded all these ethnic groups and need to pay restitution so they are the white people of China and thus anyone can play their characters".

I do not care about who plays Han characters in modern dramas because modern-day Han is a lot more homogeneous and they are considered the majority group in China along with most of the roles being Han. I agree with ethnic minorities playing characters of the same ethnic minorities for representation and to allow for more job opportunities. I was just using the Han characters in historical dramas to say that shouldn't be the "line of reasoning" when it comes to C-ent roles because it doesn't work as well with China's history.

The drama successfully passed the airing review. It is rumored to air around the beginning of 2026 either in January or February.

There are a bunch of Uyghur actors/actresses that are not listed in the cast/credit because I don't think they even have profiles here on MDL:

1) Mukeremu Kaisaier (木克热木·开赛尔) - she is playing one of the main roles: Minawaer
2) Ailaiti (艾来提)
3) Hurxida Turdi (胡尔西德)
4) Abulizi Abudurexiti (阿不力孜·阿布都热西提)

These are some of them but there are more. Please correct me if I translated any of their names wrong!

Yes, thank you for having a great back and forth with me. ✨ I definitely see your point and your worries about it removing any cultural nuances. I have seen clips from fans/people living in Kashgar and they have shown the cast speaking the Uyghur language for certain scenes, major involvement in Uyghur dance, etc. I have submitted a new summary on MDL for this drama so hopefully they accept because I think the drama summary would make the direction of this drama more obvious.

And I agree. This drama is one of the dramas the State Administration of Radio and Television is trying to develop to introduce people more to the different ethnic groups in different parts of China (because the ethnic groups living in Kashgar are different than the same ethnic groups living in other areas of China). Part of this is to also increase tourism to these places and increase funding to these locations/population.

1. I mentioned the United States because it is the most common example when it comes to not having great rep with media with POC and because I live there and experienced it firsthand.

2. I only brought up Reba because she was the rumored person people have been pushing for this drama when they haven't followed the development process at all.

3. I am Chinese myself living in the United States and have faced racism here. However, what happens here can't be applied to what goes on in China when it comes to C-ent industry especially when you have some ethnic minorities groups that are disproportionately represented (when it comes to who is considered A-listers and how much money they make) compared to the % in the overall population. This is not a bad thing, C-ent industry is just very different and unique in that sense when compared to other entertainment industries in other countries.

4. Of course there are bad representation, but your initial point was not about this.

You said "Landi is Hui and they even changed the ethnic names...love landi this is just foul and offensive I'm sorry". You made that claim not even knowing the plot of the drama nor who produced this drama.

5. Again, the ethnic minority characters in this drama are played by ethnic minorities. You even have a Han character who is played by Li Landi who is Hui. Your original statement was assumption based on Han Chinese actors/actresses playing these ethnic minority characters when that was not the case and I was trying to explain there are actually way more ethnic minority actors/actresses playing Han Chinese characters instead.

It is another story to say there should be more dramas with characters that are ethnic minorities that are portrayed well in the first place because yes, I agree with that. They are happening beyond the idol genre dramas such as "To the Wonder" last year and CCTV in general has been trying to fund these types of dramas that focus on different ethnic groups in a positive light. This drama is one of them.

Again, it was known for a long time this drama was not like the novel especially for those who actually followed the drama's development progress and not just based on melon rumors. However, fans of actresses like Reba have been spreading that she should be the main character in this drama due to her ethnicity that people assumed the drama = novel when that was not the case.

Ethnic minorities relationships in China are NOT the same as how race works in say United States. You try to bring this type of thinking up in China and with C-netz and they would absolutely tear it apart because the system set up in China is vastly different than the racial tension in the United States with slavery, Jim Crow laws, gerrymandering, etc. You cannot apply what happens in Western countries with POC not being represented enough in media to countries like China where the founding of the country itself is already different. You want to bring up cultural nuances when our Chinese period dramas are full of them and if we want to apply that type of thinking, then non-Han Chinese people should not be wearing Hanfu or any of the Han traditional wears in those dramas at all.

Kashgar has a majority of Uyghur people, and it is reflected in the cast (which MDL doesn't have the full list). Most of the characters are Uyghur and played by Uyghur actors/actresses + those actually living there. One of the main girls is a Uyghur actress, Mukerrem Qeyser, playing a Uyghur character (again, not listed on MDL). However, Kashgar doesn't only contain Uyghur people, they have Han, Hui, etc. (over at least 31 ethnic groups living there). The drama actually reflects how Kashgar's current reality is like.

Lastly, this drama is co-produced by the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Party Committee. They had a part in the script and plot and what they wanted to convey through this drama.

Nope, this is no longer based on that novel (the summary on MDL is wrong). It is considered a separate IP now based on the 2023 iQiyi conference about this. It is based on 3 girls (and I think 1 boy) from Kashgar. One is Uyghur (played by an Uyghur actress), one is Han, and the other one I am not sure yet.

It is the stories of these girls/boy who were friends who grew up in Kashgar but some left as they grew up. They experienced traumas/struggles with different things, and they met again in Kashgar.

The only similar thing with the novel would be the setting in Kashgar but that's it.

And there are literally so many ethnic minorities playing historical Han characters in period Chinese dramas. Reba literally play mostly Han characters despite being Uyghur. If we were to separate these actors/actresses and say they can't play these characters, then most of these non-Han Chinese actors/actresses would/should not be acting in period Chinese dramas (yet they do) or even modern dramas where the characters are Han Chinese with Han names.

There are some! But it is more of skulls and some organs here and there. It is not horror and not jump scares so I think if you can handle a bit of flesh/blood, you should be okay.

Thanks for your hard work!

Congrats. 🎉 CD broke 3000 for Yunhe per episode meaning it reached at least 30M views per episode. It is currently the highest viewed per episode idol period romance drama during the summer slot this year (will probably be the highest in the genre overall soon for this year). The heat period is until the end of this month so the viewership will probably go up and the final numbers should be in by the end of this month!

AJTL is definitely supposed to be FL-centric BUT LSS's character development IMO regressed towards the end due to her relationship with the ML. The 2nd FL's character development in comparison was a lot fuller especially because it wasn't tied to the ML.

Yes, he definitely got a lot more attention after that drama but then TSOPG happened and that one was...

Then there was TPOB where the FL lead doesn't even have a proper name (the novel is just like that though, it is just supposed to be smut and not supposed to be logical) and then there is ADWAD where the FL got bashed due to the decreasing FL narrative and her struggles being portrayed as humor instead.

Within actresses' Chinese fandom circle, most fans don't want their favorite actress to act with him because although his fans will definitely push up the popularity of the drama, they feel like their favorite actresses don't gain anything out of it in terms of becoming better at acting or being able to shine as the FL even if they were first billing.

LYN was already pretty popular from his singing career, and he has a looooot of fans. It is just that the recent dramas now made him more known in the drama circle too. I don't think it is necessarily his team rewriting the script but more so he only accepts the scripts in the first place with MLs like that (so the scripts with these MLs go to him because they know he mostly prefer those scripts). LYN is one of the few actors in the idol genres that are okay with second billing in name so these scripts sometimes "make up" to him by giving his character more weight to make up for it but it ends up undermining the FL who is first billing. His fans are also willing to spend a lot of money on him for his dramas so scriptwriters will try to appeal to him in that way via the ML in order to get him to sign on + just biases for men in general so they focus on making the ML more appealing while not caring for the FL.

I like LYN as a person and think he is funny/good singer but I myself don't prefer seeing him in idol period dramas (modern is okay though). For me, it is not even his looks, but him/his team tends to add in so many scenes for his character in FL-centric idol period romance dramas when the focus should be on the FL. His character gets so much more weight while the FL becomes a side character in her own story. It is a repeated pattern from "A Journey to Love" to ADWAD. Whenever I watch those dramas with him in it, I exit the dramas feeling frustrated because I feel like the FLs' character development got derailed to prop his characters up.

It is an ongoing thing in general with these idol period dramas now where the actors kept on adding scenes in FL-centric stories/weaken the FL, but it is especially severe with the dramas he is in. It is easy for actors to attract a lot of fans from these FL-centric dramas, so they push to add in scenes but then they fail to carry their own ML-centric dramas.

Her comments about certain things on specific dramas (especially the idol genre dramas) are just repeated sentimental from C-netizens so a lot of people on C-side feel the same way. I think some behind the scenes things she comments on such as production is her own though since she said she has some connections to the industry.

But when I watched her videos, her comments are not really new if you ever watch the Chinese bilibili reviewers' videos though she definitely goes lighter on criticisms when it comes to her favs (for example, LYN has been criticized for his acting and him dominating the storyline in FL-centric stories but she instead in her videos implied LSS's team was behind LYN getting attacked and not that a lot of C-netizens just really don't want him in idol period dramas because they don't prefer his looks in idol period dramas nor care for his acting).

Yup, I agreed with some of her opinions and disagreed with others when it comes to dramas, but it is very obvious to see when she has just a straight up agenda especially against dramas that are airing around the same time as dramas she herself like or her fav is in.

She repeats exactly what the antis on C-side say. There are valid criticisms for this drama and even the viewers who enjoyed the drama acknowledge it but the characters being too perfect is nonsense.

I also liked LLTG more than LBFAD but both dramas were big and had their own audience.

But her making an extra review after having done one already and being more hateful about it just shows me she has something against it (because there are way worse dramas than this if it is just production/directing/scriptwriting/acting but I don't see multiple videos on those from her). She sounds exactly like the fans of other dramas on C-side who can't fathom people actually ENJOYED this drama overall. Especially the cinematography, acting, and the chemistry of the leads. LLD and ARP are two attractive people who had great chemistry in this drama and their pairing was refreshing, sometimes that alone is enough to blow up a drama. The scriptwriting was considered the weakest part of this drama and viewers themselves pointed it out, but they also said the other factors made up for it.

Coming back here to drop a comment since I know there had been bitter people (and yes bitter, because I know exactly where this is coming from + even the same talking points since I have been seeing this on the C-side from fans of the cast in other iQiyi dramas) making comments on other platforms trying to say the characters are too perfect = no character development.

Qin Wan and Yan Chi are not perfect, but their flaws are just regular flaws that actual human beings have (unlike very obvious flaws that the MCs have in C-dramas such as being toxic in the beginning). We all have flaws, but our flaws are not going to be in everyone's faces every day.

Qin Wan is calm/mature/smart, but she holds a very narrow view of justice in the beginning due to her father's teaching. She had her own impulsive moments too like trying to stab Qin An with the needles or neglecting her own bleeding/injury during the skulls washing scene or thinking Yan Chi was siding with Prefect Huo. But she is able to collect herself, reflect, and even apologize when she is wrong, like a normal person. As the cases proceeded, she recognized justice is not all black and white and although she still upholds Shen Yi's teaching for the greater good, she is able to empathize with those like Qing Niang and established laws that would decrease her punishment.

Similarly, Yan Chi is smart/cunning, but he has his own impulsive moments too like wanting to just kill the perpetrators or neglecting his own injury for the sake of "being a warrior" or rushing to go see Qin Wan despite the weather which resulted in him getting frostbites. However, through the drama, he was able to change due to Qin Wan's influence such as letting himself be vulnerable and not just straight up killing Prince Cheng.

Qin Wan and Yan Chi are actually refreshing because FOR ONCE, we get main characters in idol period C-dramas that aren't full on obvious with their flaws. AND they actually communicate with each other and show visibly how much they love each other. This is absolutely one of the reasons why this drama did so well and stood out from the rest.

We actually get a FL that is written to be smart/mature and not one that is written to constantly make mistakes to push the plot along or prop up the ML's suffering. We actually get a ML that is written to be respectful and not having the defining trait of being an asshole that needs to be changed by the FL. A FL doesn't need to be a bumbling fool in the beginning to then go through "character development" and a ML doesn't need to be trying to kill the FL in the beginning to then fall in love with her and regret his actions (because let's be honest, half of these MLs only regret their actions because they fall for the FL, not because the FL is a fellow person that is actually innocent).

I myself have criticisms for some of the cases too due to the time constraint/episode limits and some dialogues due to the multiple male scriptwriters BUT Qin Wan and Yan Chi are absolutely well written characters. We get their past, their motives, their goals, their ambitions, their relationships with others, and their relationship to each other.

And for people calling Qin Wan a perfect Mary Sue, I want to ask you if you ever called out a ML for being a Gary Stu. Why is this standard not applied to MLs who are prodigies in martial arts and leading troops by their teenage years? Why is this standard not applied to MLs who make decisions over their elders who have more experiences than them? Is it because these MLs come with very obvious personality deficit traits thus it cancels out their sky-high achievements and power by the time they are in their 20s?

And then ask yourself this, is a FL even allowed to have some of the toxic traits MLs are allowed to have in these idol period C-dramas without being bashed and not forgiven by the viewers? How many FLs can get away with attempting to kill a ML who can't fight back, choke a ML who is innocent, or get jealous and harm/shade the 2nd FL (because viewers would not be calling that hot if a FL is doing all that)?

I am not surprised because it is obvious she is a big Liu Yuning fan at this point. His fans on the C-side have been slandering this drama non-stop especially after it reached 10K heat index. Even the fans of the other iQiyi dramas before and after this drama aired have been bitter because this drama is currently iQiyi's period drama this year with the highest Yunhe viewership % this year with over 32%.

Both Qin Wan and Yan Chi are not "perfect" either. Qin Wan has made mistakes and apologized for it and so did Yan Chi. They are just grown people who can actually communicate with each other. Qin Wan's thought process about justice has also changed from the start of the story (influenced by her father) and at the end when she found out the truth (aka it is not black and white).

I really did not like the comments about Qin Wan being too "perfect" because this kind of comment is never made with the male leads with plot armors. You got male leads in their early 20s commanding troops since they are 10-year-olds in idol period dramas and that is seen as normal because it is a man. We already don't get enough smart/mature FLs in so called FL-centric dramas.

I am also tired of needing "character development" from abusive MLs in the beginning to okay MLs in the end. Yan Chi is a great ML and a great human being in general, his flaws just doesn't include him being abusive, like regular human beings.

I dropped ADWAD and I had a ton of criticisms for it too for being overtly ML-focus throughout the story despite it should be about the FL more.

Nah, but it seems like she does have some cultural dancing scenes (probably the characters celebrating something together)!