Frost_edelweiss

Can't because I am not signing up on Twitter.. . But the fact they are there and reposted to Weibo is fine and heart warming! ( Do you have the Weibo link btw? )
I don't do much social media....
Admiring you guys who have time to keep track of it.
Maybe I got to wrapped up in Hidden Love and some other dramas.
Spend too much time here and thinking about it, but that's me, when I like something I don't hesitate to rave about it to friends and acquaintances.

MikaM : I posted a question that's been in my head about where Yihe and Nanwu are modelled from. Got the answer that shooting location was Xiamen, but was Xiamen intended to be the model of Yihe and if so, where was Nanwu 500km away, university city with flight connection. Checking on a map from Xiamen, I found Shenzhen and vicinity to the south (even HK but I think that does not look likely) and Wenzhou to the north. But since some people say the story is based on true memories from the author, I wonder if they modeled it on the city/cities they came from and/or studied in, so I'm also curious about that. - Perhaps you have clues about that?

yes

I have some questions about book/drama setting and possibly additional shooting location.

We know the drama was shot August 2022 -Nov 14th, 2022 in Xiamen, Fujian, and that knowing about this has boosted tourism to the pleasant city, special island, and even to the Xiamen Science and Technology Museum (not sure if that was also the case for the Hao Jiu Bu Jian bar after the livestream ;-) perhaps too... Many must have at least gone listening to the Eason Chan mandopop song, I think.)

So, Yihe is modelled on Xiamen, but then, Nanwu "500 km away" university town, with direct flight links to Yihe would be where : Shenzhen in the south ? Wenzhou north of Xiamen ?

Given that some who read the story say that it is based on true memories, where was the author from and where did they study?

oooh! these are nice testimonials from the non c-drama habitual audience ! 🤞🥰
(even if I don't use Twitter myself, I was pleased to watch that from your links)

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Jiaxu is unique. But there are nice 愛人 out there to be found too, I'm sure, just don't go expecting everyone of them to be that good !

From what I heard and read, it is better not to focus on Douban scores which can be wildly off, esp when water armies of paid haters are at work, and we know for a fact that ZLS dramas often are targeted by such.
Gen Z was fine for me although I'd term it as non-romance; the "ML" Luo Yizhou filled in for an actor who could not make it, and he is primarily a young idol rapper dancer (hence the very good song he did for GenZ) but this was his first acting drama experience, and I think he was overwhelmed by the stars he featured together with (Wu Gang, ZLS...) and somewhat unprepared to pull off a role where he was supposed to be 1/pissed and jealous of the stranger who suddenly was brought into his home to take his expected place as heir of a sect ; 2/ protecting a mental basket case; 3/somewhere along the line "falling in love" with FL (to satisfy the part of audience that can't do without love and kisses?) and having a long distance (but can we even really call it that) relationship : it is more a hiatus away, in plague times. That was a tall proposition even for seasoned actors, so I will not hold it against young Luo Yizhou that he did not manage to shine like most of ZLS other "leading men" did in her romance dramas. Some have harshly criticized him for lack of "emotional milk", but to my mind it is unfair to double down on him that harshly. He was playing an unsure young man full of prejudices and self-doubt, with a proud front, and did that OK.
But Wu Gang, ZLS and a few others made the story very interesting for me, and I looked at this drama from the point of view of an engaging introduction to Daoist thinking, with lots of small touches of traditional culture (solar terms, amulets and superstitions, symbols), Qigong, DDJ culture, and TCM, and how they fit in the modern world. It was very unusual, not at all like mainstream c-dramas. But tailored to people interested in culture more than romance, and perhaps better appreciated by those who have some previous knowledge about the arcane stuff of Daoism, or at least of practicing Qigong and Taiji, and using TCM, herbal remedies, and acupuncture, even if the drama does not take place in a martial arts school but in a traditional pharmacy and TCM school with ties to a modern university and hospital.
I have been treated successfully by the TCM specialist in a modern hospital for some complaints, so I did watch this in light of my memories.
The GenZ drama felt rather realistic despite the sect angle which goes beyond what I know about (although I am not a healing practitioner myself, and only did a relatively short stint practicing in a Wudang shan martial arts school, way back) ; the persuasion angle I can relate to, so the "witch doctor" remedies can have value, just like elsewhere placebo effect has been proved sometimes valuable. Of course, they should be taken as more humorous than serious (but I was amused to find a reference to a similar "remedy" in the beginning of My Fireworks on Earth!! those who watch/watched both will know what it is :D )
Also, as Emmaline Zhang put it, it can be considered as an "educational family drama", where the real (non romantic) ML Wu Gang is a teacher and leader in education who applies unusual methods but knows how to assess interest and gain respect even from the apparently catnapping student. Such teachers are rare and admirable.

Now about Hidden Love, to me there is no doubt that it is the best c-drama youth/coming of age romance that I saw. No clingy FL, no overbearing ML, no whining except from the obsessive one (thankfully not there much), whose presence also showed the contrast and the difference between wholesome and genuine care vs mental case obsession.

Oops sorry I offended you. And I ought to have remembered to put my thoughts in spoiler since they were not for everyone.
But you don't know me either to target me ad hominem as a "Karen" and that's where I would be unhappy with you for using that line. Me a "blonde racist soccer mom"??? Not at all, and I would never call other people names anyway: basic respect.
I'm happy you liked the drama, even if it was less than I did.
Of course you are entitled to rate as you feel like. And 8 is not anything to be ashamed about.
I noticed you rated some other c dramas as high or higher than I did, so thought you were appreciating some things more or less like I did, but truth is that everyone indeed is different, and if it was not so, the world would be boring wouldn't' it ?
I'm deleting my previous answer to you, since you took it personally so bad, although I never attacked you as if you were a hater.
Case closed for me. Have a a nice end of day.

I am very happy to have guessed you'd like it !!

To me that one felt like climbing ever higher peaks from episode to episode and I was glued to screen, raving about it, throughout its airing... Despite I started lukewarm because of the triggering family and apparently abusive mom. But since you are at ep8, you have overcome the most difficult entry gate point. I had needed help from the esteemed MDL stalwarts to not fly away in horror. I took their suggestion, started a few episodes in, got hooked and went back to start to admire General Ling Buyi (Wu Lei) perusing the slender hand pointing to the haystack, and following the carriage while pronouncing in a wondering and appreciative tone the name of the young lady Cheng (ZLS) whom he still had not seen the face of.


About Hidden Love, I pinned and contributed some infos on my now sprawling Discussion piece which you might find interesting, as a goodbye to the drama : https://kisskh.at/discussions/hidden-love/109103-shooting-locations-and-dates-misc-other-links
(Readers of Discussions are welcome to react there too and/or add information related to it, btw)

Chen Zheyuan has been a somewhat underrated actor dismissed as "idol" since he started in a boy group and despite he himself does not like singing or rapping that much and clearly prefers acting. He knows how to portray conflicted characters with swift and smooth body and eye movements. (Remember ZLS asking "where is he?" in the livestream after she taunted him with the Hao Jiu Bu Jian song of Eason Chan?)
I like him since Handsome Siblings. But now at last, he gains international fame.
He is now firmly in my long list of preferred Chinese actors of the GenY Digital natives or GenZ Zoomers 1990s generation.

He sure is a walking advertisement for nice prescription glasses!
But I was also laughing my head off at Sang Yan's asymmetric sunglasses. Found similar ones on etsy, but it is a little complicated to picture them in the wardrobe items listed in the link for that on my https://kisskh.at/discussions/hidden-love/109103-shooting-locations-and-dates-misc-other-links
If I do find pictures that can be added there for both those glasses, with their brands, I sure will ! Or, if anyone finds them, they are welcome to add them in answer on the Discussion! :)

If you are curious about some infos about characters names meaning, ages CZY, film set, location, dates of filming, wardrobe, car, songs featured in the drama, recipes and handicraft related to Hidden Love drama, try looking up the Discussion item I started : https://kisskh.at/discussions/hidden-love/109103-shooting-locations-and-dates-misc-other-links
I've added some more there today and in a few related pinned discussion items, so they can be found more easily for those who know how to navigate the Discussions board

(Navigating Discussions can be done either through clicking on the name of latest Discussion in the box above, when such name appears, or, when it doesn't and states "be the first" etc, just click on that and that takes you to the drama Discussions menu that was kept hidden. Or, quite simply use the gateway through the direct link I gave you).

Jiaxu is 5 years older than Zhi, they have birthdays about two week apart, hers before his, in the late spring hot months. (she turn 19 in episode 15, and he turns 24 in episode 17)
Sang Yan is one year younger than Jiaxu. (mentioned in ep13)

Since you hated Love Like The Galaxy and consistently disliked most C dramas you tried, I'd say don't torture yourself, leave here, forget HL, and find some K dramas that are better to your taste.

Of course, it gets better, but I wonder if you could appreciate it, if you can't see that the first episodes are precisely about a child...
You might jump directly to episode 8 skip the first "coping with heartbreak" 9 minutes and start at the university part, but you would be puzzled about why Sang Zhi is so shy, so defensive about Duan Jiaxu who is accommodating but clueless about why Sang Zhi acts like he's hurt her before (it is due to a misunderstanding).
Perhaps if the story finally gets to your liking, you'd go back to the parts you did not feel attuned to, at first, and see how well the story was woven from start to end (some do indeed prefer starts in media res and use flashbacks to explain, but the scriptwriter did not choose so in this drama and preferred a linear timeline).

You'd like to watch an only "adult" story? Try Road Home instead then, but since it is a c-drama, perhaps you'll find ML and FL baffling and the story too slow or something.

If you are into gritty stuff and adventure, although it is not fantasy but close kin as historical costume, if you are not afraid of long dramas, you might try Love Like The Galaxy.
To me, like this one, it was 10/10 because of the stellar pairing of Zhao Lusi with Wu Lei. The story features two other suitors, one who will set wonderful jealous sparks for the other two, as funnily depicted in this short humor fanvid : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYd8dENwbFI
There is a nice balance of humor, dark drama, mystery and love story in this drama that has a rather complex, even triggering beginning. It takes some episodes to get used to Zeng Li, Shaoshang's mother there, polar opposite to her role as mom of Sang Zhi. But after some time, her behavior can finally be understood and forgiven. The BTS with the director and cast relaxing are also interesting to check out, on the way.
But if you dive into that drama, be prepared to spend at least one month on it, or prepare enough food and drinks and cushions for several sleepless nights. :D
You might have a look also, on the way, at the Discussion items posted on the MDL page, and at videos such as the ones here that give clues to the historical backdrop : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ahZC1fiOqA&t=17s (click on the name of the author C Drama to find 3 other videos related to LLTG of particular interest to understand some fine points and better admire some details).
LLTG is on YouTube (amputated of some sound at times), full on Viki, on Tencent WeTV original platform (needs subscription after ep4), and on the kiss, cool, and similar sites well-known to the economically restrained or georestricted audience who don't mind less pix definition. I'd recommend Viki now, or WeTV, or Netflix if it still is there.

Can relate, but then why so stingy? Do you really think it is not as great as Meteor Garden?

I copied this post for you into the pinned Discussion https://kisskh.at/discussions/hidden-love/108799-book-vs-show which already had another translation of that chapter, posted by HanyVu.

It is interesting to compare these versions of the steamy chapter.

Still, language-wise, I fell they could be much improved. Of course, it is not easy to translate, and the first version by HanyVu which is not worse than the other one, came with a clear warning that it was machine translated. For a good translation, a human touch can do away with some things that feel not fluid of even grammatically incorrect, and translation being adaptation, it is not necessary to keep original text directly, when it can be explained in footnote if there is a joke, a double entendre, that sort.

So, to me, these two chapter translations are interesting as drafts, but not final translations.
Personally, to carry the weight of the repeated "gege" word, I would not have hesitated to translate it as "bruv", "old bruvver", "big bro" or something of the sort, or even "coach" if the meaning of elder tutor and educator was to be included :D

Just to remind those of you who watched the episode 25.5 : you can rate it too, on MDL. Here : https://kisskh.at/755511-hidden-love-special

It is nice that they release these BTS which are both fun and lovely. I was amused by the candles that did not want to go out : happened to me once too !!

Also check here : https://kisskh.at/discussions/hidden-love/108799-book-vs-show

Thanks, but no. Checked three times rather attentively now. There was no special lag around lip movement or movements that did not conform with what was said from what I heard, in the exchange between parents and daughter until she left the table. The movements with no sound when opening and closing mouth were normal hesitation ones to me, not missing words or sound; although perhaps the similar quick movement of lips from the mother could have lacked sound as in gasp or be similar hesitation.
So, that was not an issue that would ruin the drama for me and start gunning it down for consistent and constant bad editing with the voice-overs.
-- Were you really bugged by feeling the voice-overs were too annoying? Haven't we got used to them anyway because of the bgm, which is nice but always (in every drama), somewhat distracting until mentally edited out since this is the conventional way to make them, as opposed to stage plays.
I am not going to nitpick because of dramas or movies are not like stage plays.
It is not as if we had a long moment of mouth movements with no sound, or completely disconnected to speech (even not being a lip reader, it did not look like they were saying something else, like spewing subliminal, charged messages ; that was a tall tale about some American dramas, btw). Besides, the dialogues to my mind, were not politically or otherwise so controversial that they needed to be overdubbed by something radically different . The censoring authorities did not have much work to do on this one. Hence the laudatory piece published in the Beijing newspaper that unusually came to rebut some haters stirring up unfounded rumors.