Frost_edelweiss

😂

😂

Maiden Holmes, although I did not list it at the time. Come to think : I should re-watch it. It was fun.

You are right, "Zhang Ruonan and Zhang Linghe performed a duet together at the Hunan TV New Year's Eve Gala on December 31, 2025. They sang Jay Chou’s ballad "Tears of Scattered Emotion", a performance that went viral due to their strong on-stage chemistry, including sustained hand-holding and emotional expressions"
+ "There is no evidence or credible information from the provided search context indicating that Tian Xiwei and Zhang Linghe sang together in a public or official capacity."

Eagle-eye paxxie spotting my mistakes 😂 Arrow hit the target !

😊 Lazily listening to the War Horse song in wait for the weekend 😂

I can relate. I used to abstain from watching a movie or a series adapted from the novels I liked, because the few I saw felt too different from initial feeling. (Dune, etc)
Besides which it is extra time consuming and I am more audience than deep fan of any given story or person, today.
Just liking more or less some stuff, but not to the point of reading a 2000+ chapter book (although I did start on MoLi : so, never say never. I'll probably not finish it in time before the drama airs, though. I'll also "lazily" rely on what more dedicated readers and watchers report, then (like trusty @C-DramaQA and some guys here or elsewhere. Unless I suddenly decide for some reason to gafiate from c-dramas temporarily or permanently).
I know my flaws: fickle and lazy ! Enthusing sometimes like here, taking time to share some stuff once in a while, but also apt to just leave the battle without a word 😊

Perhaps I'll read that Zhu Yun tome, since some readers have managed to whet my appetite. If. I have time for it. These days, after some episodes, I like to relax listening to the music with eyes closed, humming to exercise my voice, although I can't well do the 2026 War horse dance routine,in lieu of qigong, sigh.
(3 versions : 1--- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTFFQ5bgGwo /
2---https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8-Tj1JA_6I&list=RDY8-Tj1JA_6I&start_radio=1 /
3--- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qNDol89beo&list=RD-qNDol89beo&start_radio=1 . The second video fits well with feelings from our drama 😂)
+ complete karaoke of the song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKw3a9fXl4&list=RDUTKw3a9fXl4&start_radio=1

Just came across this recording of ZLH and ZRN (corrected) singing a jazzy song for the new year : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO3RaUVq4aM Not directly related to our drama, but just for a pause and rhythm with the pair (skip the chatter after the song at 6:54).

Here is the song you were wondering about : Paula Tsui's The Season of the Wind. I have added it in the OST and music pinned page, up in Discussions.
https://kisskh.at/discussions/776939-again-my-life/149650-1983-dream-of-golden-years-ost-music

Baidu had it with a more recent cover singer, Wu Keyue, in the other songs for the drama, but I did not find that cover directly. The original Paula Tsui song is very well known and popular indeed.

do you have the title of the song you remember ?

Transmigration to Reform era and/or inspirational dramas about Shenzhen or other booming cities looks indeed very popular! Thanks for recoms. ️🙂❤️

The genre here is transmigration, time skip or time travel, perhaps timeloop if the main female character does transmigrate back.

Slice of life is realistic depiction of here and now people and places. Examples Meet Yourself (soul searching and healing in Yunnan) or 2022 Ordinary Greatness about a suburbian Beijing police station's daily life and work, + to an extent To The Wonder about a girl spending a year among Kazakh herders in the Xinjiang.

I've put up the OST and one popular song heard in the drama, up in Discussions section :
https://kisskh.at/discussions/776939-again-my-life/149650-1983-dream-of-golden-years-ost-music

I plan to add more, but you can suggest the songs you notice too in answer up there, so that I'll hunt up links to recordings for all to enjoy !

She suddenly woke up in 1983 as a bullied 18 years old, when she remembers having slept in as a 30 some from 2026, and she also has strange memories of another childhood when she became orphaned through a car accident. In the drama, the other Xia Xiaolan has a partly dysfunctional family, with her and her mother taking refuge at the farm of her mother's brother, who urges Xia Xiaolan's mother to divorce her no-good husband.
So depending on the episode you've reached, the main time of action is a close to actual different time strand of 1983, or the years of Reform accelerating after she finished her college years, around 1988-1990 when she, as "transmigrated" into another Xia Xiaolan, focuses on building her professional future and relationship with a friend who becomes a lawyer.
The university years were skipped: we just saw her entering, taking part in a debate, and next graduating - the focus was not on college and dorm stories.

Yes, very science fictional concept. Close time strands sometimes overlapping. Not exactly time-travel, even if the 2026 and 1983 to 1990s in the drama look much like actual ones.

One clue for me: the electric taser in the beginning. I strongly doubt such a thing could have been found casually and affordably by ML to give to FL in 1983. It was a military tool created in the USA in 1974 and not even seen in Europe in the 1980s! That's maybe why FL was on the lookout for possible other transmigrators, in first episodes.

adding : "Under the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Control of Firearms and Public Security Punishment Law, Tasers are prohibited for civilian ownership in China without an application for a state licence. A weapons permit is required to purchase and own a Taser". Same as firearms are and have been banned for private use in the country for many many years. It is much much easier to get a permit to buy in a market or big tech mall + fly a private drone and film places (outside a certain number of locations specifically banned from filming, such as Tian an men square and vicinity, or military installations, of course!)

yes, those earrings, the designs, ... I miss them. Our times have become so trashy.
Nice reading your appreciation of the drama so far ! ️🙂❤️

I must re-watch this, because I did not pay attention to that mention if it's in the episode.
Anita Mui Yim-fong (Chinese: 梅艷芳; 10 October 1963 – 30 December 2003) was a Hong Kong singer and actress who made major contributions to the Cantopop music scene. She is still very famous.

Oh, don't take your moral and philosophical models from dramas! Just enjoy the fiction and entertainment, and if your fave(s) is(/are) playing in it, admire his/her/their visuals ️🙂❤️

Agree, but it will find its audience, I'm sure, despite the stiff competition of the Reform era themed dramas about youths chasing their dreams that have been showering since February!

I pause to notice that 2024-2025 was a big year for looking back at the Reform era !
At least four dramas were about youths of the period chasing their dreams, so fans of lead actors or actresses could take their pick when they released (one is upcoming shortly*) :

1/ OUR DAZZLING DAYS (filmed May 24-September 27, 2024, in Benxi, Liaoning, 30 episodes, released February 13, 2026, on iQiyi + CCTV, starring Johnny Huang - Douban opening rating 6.5 on March 9, rising to 6.6 on March 20, 2026 "Keep in mind Douban is harsh on dramas : usually they don't get ratings above 7 compared to MDL")

2/ MY DESTINY/MY MOUNTAINS AND SEA (filmed for 130 days from end of Nov 2024 till April 7 , 2025, in Shenzhen and Guizhou, 30 episodes released March 7, 2026, on Youku + CCTV, starring Seven Tan Songyun -no opening DB rating released yet)

3/ DREAM OF GOLDEN YEARS /NI HAO 1983 ("time travel drama" filmed Nov. 2024 to March 12, 2025, in Beijing, Shenzhen, 36 episodes released March 17, 2026, on iQiyi, starring Zhou Ye and Zhai Xiaowen - still airing)

4/ LIVE UP TO YOUR YOUTH /冬去春来 Dong Qu Chun Lai (filmed July 1, 2025 to October 27, 2025 in Beijing, starring Bai Yu, Zhang Ruonan, and Jelly Lin . It is set in Beijing from the 1990s to 2018, for 35 episodes *upcoming on March 22, 2026 for 35 episodes on iQiyi .

I pause to notice that 2024-2025 was a big year for looking back at the Reform era !
At least four dramas were about youths of the period chasing their dreams, so fans of lead actors or actresses could take their pick when they released (one is upcoming shortly*) :

1/ OUR DAZZLING DAYS (filmed May 24-September 27, 2024, in Benxi, Liaoning, 30 episodes, released February 13, 2026, on iQiyi + CCTV, starring Johnny Huang - Douban opening rating 6.5 on March 9, rising to 6.6 on March 20, 2026 "Keep in mind Douban is harsh on dramas : usually they don't get ratings above 7 compared to MDL")

2/ MY DESTINY/MY MOUNTAINS AND SEA (filmed for 130 days from end of Nov 2024 till April 7 , 2025, in Shenzhen and Guizhou, 30 episodes released March 7, 2026, on Youku + CCTV, starring Seven Tan Songyun -no opening DB rating released yet) -edit March 22: 6.6

3/ DREAM OF GOLDEN YEARS /NI HAO 1983 ("time travel drama" filmed Nov. 2024 to March 12, 2025, in Beijing, Shenzhen, 36 episodes released March 17, 2026, on iQiyi, starring Zhou Ye and Zhai Xiaowen - still airing)

4/ LIVE UP TO YOUR YOUTH /冬去春来 Dong Qu Chun Lai (filmed July 1, 2025 to October 27, 2025 in Beijing, starring Bai Yu, Zhang Ruonan, and Jelly Lin . It is set in Beijing from the 1990s to 2018, for 35 episodes *upcoming on March 22, 2026 for 35 episodes on iQiyi .

Direct link to the songs and brief introduction to the musicians : https://kisskh.at/discussions/754307-my-destiny/149548-my-destiny-my-mountain-and-sea-ost

You can sing along some of the lyrics MVs.