Frost_edelweiss

Part 2 of the Ride Now to Vanuatu has been re-posted to X and YouTube with subtitles by Wu Lei Galaxy. A short but colorful holiday !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU3e6PssdY4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCVAqlybDwc&t=287s (episode 1) 19.50 minutes full screen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU3e6PssdY4 (episode 2) 19.08 minutes, mobile phone screen format in the beginning, to get in the mood of the mobility
both subtitled or double subtitled Hanzi + English.

It feels like a while now since episode 1 was out, I was almost despairing to get to see episode 2. At last, it dropped on screen today :-)

I love this feeling of traveling by proxy with a smiling and humorous travel companion ! Islands, markets, volcanoes, and now underwater : exhilarating! I too used to collect postcards to send souvenirs including to self, and visited some unusual post offices, that had unusual stamps, but did not know about this one which makes the trip particularly interesting.

And a beautiful sunrise on June 29 (2023, presumably), after the time stamp 5 am on the phone's screen,, so we know when that was filmed : did "post production" take that long that we only got to see it now?

That episode 2 outing to discover another island in the archipelago felt like best of holiday making : dream like accommodation with a pier, dancing on old music, night sky illuminated by fire eaters to remind us of the previous episode where the Earth itself blew fire.

Wu Lei stated in another video (the one about Xiamen in the Marvelous City series), that he had a fear of the sea ; yet, he pushed his limits and overcame it, even diving under potentially dangerous rocks or hard coral : he admitted he was a little scared, but curiosity drove him to do it anyway. He got a reward from the lofty sky down to azure stellar life of those clear waters.

Short episodes but so nice to share his view of the world he travels to!
"best supporting actor goes to the mouse" :-D

There was not much music there. Since this is French speaking islands, I would have suggested Polnareff's "Holidays" song, an oldie but goldie : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oTIf6AvsaY (especially the hook and riff with the last chorus)

That will be my review, then, in waiting for further micro adventures.

A short video (7+ minutes) of BTS footage focused on Yosh was posted to the drama Weibo today. Here's the link, also preserved through a new Gif in the "Production and Reception" section of the Notes housed in the Discussion section.
https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:5034308293820462?from=old_pc_videoshow

Yes, I think you're right, it looks like a circle "of life", with the young writer still living her experiences after her first adventures, so the prologue with the snow could well be tied to end scenes when she starts to break through as an essayist. When I first watched, I assumed it was the year before she left to try her luck at supporting herself as waitress in Ürümqi, with an eye to follow classes or lectures at the local college as non degree taker auditor (possible, from my experience in Beijing universities), to make up for her perception of scant schooling. Your understanding of those scenes makes the mini series even more poetical. :)

PS I added some more pictures and links to my long essay, but will stop now, except for the missing OST recordings if ever they surface on YT. ;) I love this "My Aletai", but I'd like to watch other series as well, and there are so many hitting screen now, it's an avalanche, I start some and skip to others, difficult to decide what to stay with ! Too much, too much. Perhaps I should just pack my bags and travel to Habahe County to clear my head and find the "TV set" with the "agriculture channel" and chicken clucking on the prairie, lol.

No problem. Nothing that can't be watched by young people, no nudity and no explicit sex scenes, not much violence. Except for the tragic death of a loved animal in the end, perhaps. You can skim through my Notes in Discussion to get a quick idea of what this mini series is about. It is more ethnological and showing the growth of a storyteller amidst nomads than hot romance. Very beautiful cinematography, good acting, interesting introduction to the vanishing lifestyle of Kazakh herders on the remote prairies.
https://kisskh.at/discussions/my-aletai/125351-to-the-wonder-notes-about-the-slice-of-life-tv-series

Thanks for liking!
I am still adding some stuff, so that "Discussion" thread had to be re-organized yesterday because mdl has length limits for posting. Therefore, I added a Table of contents with crossed links, to navigate more easily the linked posts. I still am keeping an eye and an ear out for the missing OST recordings, and other music featured in the miniseries....

Yes, this miniseries is exceptionally rich in beauty and meaning, so I am not surprised it rose to 8.7 on Douban, yesterday, which is exceptionally high for a TV drama.

Although it felt "niche" and was so short that it did not last enough, it still featured among the "top ten" watched in China last week, as Marcus Sim reported in his Sunday c-drama news vlog. This despite competition from big artillery : thrillers like just airing Regeneration, etc, and still airing Men In Love, which imho is too lengthy, + the shortened version of Joy of Life to refresh memory in view of Season2 upcoming on May 16.

I have too much on my personal tentative "plan to watch" list! So, I will try to refrain from diving into too many other "Notes" to dramas again. I enjoy researching, illustrating and writing them, even though they take time. But I am glad that they are useful and appreciated by readers!

Thanks for this ; I'm adding it into the Music section for the Notes about the drama ; still awaiting to find links for the recordings of part of the official OST.
I still have not found the "Hey Hey Tomarey" love song, though...
https://kisskh.at/discussions/my-aletai/125351-to-the-wonder-notes-about-the-slice-of-life-tv-series?pid=3051065&page=1#p3051065

The popularity index rose so quickly that Baidu first recorded 7000 before adding the 6500 one on same day!

It is rising again in Douban. 8.6! I documented all that with illustrations and some comments and info compilation in the Notes housed in Discussion section. https://kisskh.at/discussions/my-aletai/125351-to-the-wonder-notes-about-the-slice-of-life-tv-series
OST is being released presently, so I'll add links in the Music table as soon as possible.
As one commenter from Turkey mentioned here in MDL after noticing the similarity with own Turkish language, some people chose not to watch it for political reasons. A pity, since the mini series is first and foremost a fun and poetic adaptation from prose essays depicting real experience amidst the Kazakh, with a glimpse of their cohabitation with the other ethnic groups such as the Mongols. The Han are not all depicted as "good". It is not a Manichean view of the world, but a rather realist one with a tinge of pleasant romance.

This was so good despite being so "short" (after having been used to go through 63+, 36+, 24+..... length dramas, lol). I just loved it, both for story, cinematography, acting, opening for thoughts etc.
There was a live stream between seven members of cast and crew hosted by director Teng Cong Cong with Alima (Tokan), Yan Peilun (Chao Ge), etc, and also showing the Kazakh dombula lute that was used in the miniseries. (I added a description in the Notes above).
I hope the OST will be released as the miniseries is gaining attraction, despite having aired final episode, leaving some leeway for adding more, if ever the author and production decide to do so!
If they do, I would be glad to see those lovely characters again.

And yet it did not get an award in competition against more humdrum painful TV series from Germany etc. :(
This one was too sparkling and simple, perhaps. Or rather, the Xinjiang has to be shown as a place of evil to satisfy some parts of the public...
But it is rising in popularity. Maybe it ought to have been longer.

I could not resist adding a special GIF incorporating the Weibo snippet and the "tree gracious steppe princesses", in the companion piece housed in Discussions :
https://kisskh.at/discussions/my-aletai/125351-to-the-wonder-notes-about-the-slice-of-life-tv-series
enjoy!

I have updated with some more info, links, illustrations and GIF these notes :
https://kisskh.at/discussions/my-aletai/125351-to-the-wonder-notes-about-the-slice-of-life-tv-series
Last episode tomorrow !

I have added some notes and pictures, maps, links to music for this series :
https://kisskh.at/discussions/my-aletai/125351-to-the-wonder-notes-about-the-slice-of-life-tv-series?pid=3048033&page=1#p3048033

I will complete the links to the music later :)
Enjoying this series!

Thanks for reply. :)
At this point, there's so many leaks that it's not useful to suppress it ; besides the short snippet of interview was in line with the show that aired so why not consider this as an unofficial extra ; it's a pity to censor it away. Besides, it's mostly looked at by fans abroad from China on Twitter and Youtube now. Not much to be worried about ?

Thanks for reply. :)
At this point, there's so many leaks that it's not useful to suppress it ; besides the short snippet of interview was in line with the show that aired so why not consider this as an unofficial extra ; it's a pity to censor it away. Besides, it's mostly looked at by fans abroad from China on Twitter and Youtube now. Not much to be worried about ?

Thanks for explanation. I have included the GIF and translation of the short reply to the "What were you at 19" that circulates, into the Conference and speeches section of the ongoing Profile housed on DNAD discussion page for convenience. :)

I have updated the ongoing Profile with some pictures and GIF for
1. Upcoming Variety shows https://kisskh.at/discussions/an-ye-yu-li-ming/119875-profile-of-chen-zhe-yuan?pid=2762101&page=1#p2762101 (Filming dates of New World of Rubik's Cube, Hello Saturday, Travel Any Door in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture)
2. Conference and speeches : https://kisskh.at/discussions/an-ye-yu-li-ming/119875-profile-of-chen-zhe-yuan?pid=2762141&page=1#p2762141 (the snippet that did not get into the CCTV show for May 4 Youth Day)
3. 2024 upcoming dramas -The White Olive Tree : https://kisskh.at/discussions/an-ye-yu-li-ming/119875-profile-of-chen-zhe-yuan?pid=2762099&page=1#p2762099 ( the set become an attraction, and the previews +reservations opening link on iQiyi)

While waiting, I am looking at the special edition of Joy of Life that just came out on Tencent WeTV (some scenes modified : 2 episodes aired already, 1hr+ each) in waiting for JOL S2 that is scheduled for May 16. But that's before May 20 end run of Men In Love on iQiyi, so still time to sample the best of both ancient costume and modern drama before we get perhaps TWOT, lol.

I just noticed 2 or 3 snippets on YouTube about the May 4th event where he sang (although the quality was not good and the recording was from far from stage so he was not seen in close up) and gave a short speech. He looked very thin, and some comments noted that the people on stage with him looked a bit tense. Comments were asking for the deletion of these posts because they had been taken down from Weibo. I am wondering what was the problem ?

there's a movie...
and a vlog