Oh yes! That one was ..... 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 yummy! Esp taking in the cut scenes!! But don't go there if you have a strong bias and prejudice against age difference, against Jerry Yan, who is a fine actor there, or against dramas with open or sad ending. Personally, I loved that drama and its haunting OST songs. I only watched JY dramas after TFF except Meteor Garden 2001-2002 which I watched long time ago and rewatched (together with the J, SK, PRC and Thai variations and spinoffs, to appreciate the "phenomenon") in early 2023. I now believe JY's role in TFF was his best one: nobody could have played "Xiao Han" better. Not even Wallace Chung. For those who like beautiful places, art, colors, steamy melodrama, that one is a must!
Having traveled the roads to Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and in Gansu + Xinjiang (Turpan-Ürümqi highway, and Kashgar-Karakpram highway, Altay-Kanas lake...) I can say that it is totally impossible to drive overnight (furthermore with one driver only) from Beijing to northwest Xinjiang. With a flight from Beijing to Dunhuang and catching in a remote station a train to Turpan, next driving the Turpan Ürümqi highway, and flying Ürümqi to Kashgar, it was a 6 days journey (with one day spent at destinations to explore interesting archeological and other interesting places, so "chabuduo" 2 days with flying and bus stretches + 1 night travel in sleeper train. Of course, there are bullet trains? No, there is no bullet train connecting the Beijing and Ürümqi yet ; the two overnight trains Z69, Z179 depart from Beijing West Railway Station and arrive at Urumqi Railway station and the duration is about 31 to 38 hours. Despite the possible Lanzhou-Ürumqi bullet train stretch, it does not reduce the duration much bc of interchange. Flight from BJ is the more reasonable option.)
The novel put the border city where LYC was stationed at Erenhot, which is much closer to Beijing, but in winter, and with the rather low speed limits on even the most modern highways, it would take quite longer than an overnight journey. BJ Erenhot is quite a drive. 663 km / 412 miles, 7+ hrs drive estimate without pause (but one at least is needed),
But BJ -Kanas or Hemu (as in the drama, if Qining was Altay/Hemu) is a different proposition : China is a very big country and roads are not all on flat terrain, too...
Beijing to Kanas Lake by car is about 3500 km / 2145 miles and the estimated 39 hrs journey is only an estimation. Professional drivers are not allowed to drive more than 10-15 hours a day. So: that journey would be 3 days minimum with minimum 6 sizable stops. Lu YanChen may be an experienced driver who does not fear doing "truckers duty" driving long hours as sole driver, in all kinds of weather, including black ice and heavy snow, but I doubt he'd have taken the risk of hauling GX on such a harrowing and long journey!
Besides, speed limits are not high : Speed limits on national highways are 80 Km/h (50 Mp/h), or 40 Km/h (25 Mp/h where the highway is single lane). The G100 series indicates national highways radiating from Beijing, the G200 numbers are highways that run east to west, and the G300 series from north to south. -- On motorways, usually toll express ways , speed limits are generally 120 Km/h (75 Mp/h) on city-to-city routes, while on express routes within cities the limit is 100 Km/h (62 Mp/h).
Friends who flew in 2019 from Chengdu to Altay drove from there to Kanas Lake in a 5+ hrs journey: they would not have attempted the complete 39hrs car driving time non stop from end to end. (about same distance as between BJ and Kanas Lake, but different terrain).
I like to nitpick, lol! Nonetheless, I vastly enjoyed ep11!!
Did GX get pregnant before marriage according to novel??
Without a birth permit the child's name could not be included on the family's household register (Hukou system). So, the child wouldn't be able to register to school, get train or plane tickets, apply for ID card when it grew up, etc. Recently, because the family planning policy relaxed, it is said that the obtaining of certificate could be done after giving birth to baby.
In the days of the one child policy (1973-2013); there used to be hefty fines for lawbreakers who exceeded the number of children allowed But keep in mind that the one-child policy applied to Han, mostly in cities, and did not apply to most minority people: Uighur and Tibetan could have as many kids as they would, (I am not even talking about Ewenki nomads or Hezhe people in Heilongjiang who are so tiny groups that they are almost considered endangered species, so of course no limit applied then and now to their families), Besides, policy did not apply to twin or multiple births, and there were allowances for 2 children if first child was a girl in the countryside, or handicapped, or parent(s) was/were from one child family, or were divorced and remarried to someone with no child, or one parent was minority. There were also local exemptions, such as Han Chinese in southern Xinjiang were allowed to have two children since 2012. And also allowance if second child was birthed 7 years or more after first (some Han friends used this to have a second son in BJ in the early 2000s They would ideally have preferred a daughter, but could not choose since it was forbidden to reveal sex before birth; besides, they were happy enough having a second child anyway.). "Anyway the policy was changed to the 2/3 child policy in 2016 and the 3 child limit in 2021. Currently the 3 child policy is still in effect but in late 2021 all the fines and penalties were removed. That doesn’t mean that the policy doesn’t still exist what has happened is that China is now trying to encourage births and it looks like a lot of these incentives will only apply to the first 3 children but … time will tell if that changes as well." Many young couples in the PRC, esp those raised in cities and so pampered in youth that they are ingrained selfish, are reluctant to have even one child now, because of cost to raise it and inconvenience!! Like in Japan, birth rate has dropped to almost alarming level, so making trouble for those who do have a child and the means to raise it properly is undesirable, and the PRC always having had a pragmatic approach to debatable regulations, there is imo zero chance that an affluent single mom be harassed by authorities.
There's only one episode today (ep11) and the schedule foresees a break until Monday when the airing will resume with two episodes M-Th, one episode Fr-Sat in the week March 20-25, plus two episodes M-Th the week after and final episode 30 on Fr31. https://kisskh.at/photos/0wwJo7_3
I liked in ep.8 the quick glimpse of the emoji star shower when Gui Xiao received the message that Qin Xiao Nan missed her (who missed who, again?)
The falling emoticons are a fun feature of (and exclusive to, I think) Wechat. I's been around for the past ten years and can be addictive, so should be used sparingly. It can also be used to shower love or Christmas trees , CNY hongbaos, birthday cakes and more on the receiver's message with different catchwords and time appropriateness.
Yes it was filmed in Hemu Village:http://www.mnw.cn/tv/guonei/2719857.htmlMy friends are skiing there right now:https://kisskh.at/profile/ywwan/feeds/jBDBmCj
Thanks for the documents and info! Niseko also looks great. But I thought you were based in HK from your description? Myself, I am just an alien in deep space shyly keeping away from crowds or too much social media. I do agree that crowds can be reckless and dangerous.
Yes near "my mountain" (I am actually doing seasonal travels between that place and another, rather distant one, so home is a relative concept for me) it is possible to do things like those : telemark, cross country or Nordic skiing, downhill Alpine skiing, powder skiing, on easy slopes, blue and black runs, off piste and tree skiing, although there are no Super G or big snow park with jumps. It's possible to hike with snowshoes or to go sledding, even husky dog sledding, or ride snowbikes.
But I prefer to move about with caution, to avoid injuries, and these days would rather enjoy sedate horse sleigh rides with or without jingle bells, where available (remembering some special ones, long time ago, on the frozen Songhua river off Harbin - and another one spotted by Gemini 6 in 1965, heh I was not careful enough doing my alien stunts back then... I'm joking oc). Or just enjoy nice hikes on foot, or horse rides, preferably in cool autumn or early spring weather. In fact, I am not really a ski nerd, went along to winter sports places more for the scenery and meeting different people, rather than for the sport. And now, I watch dramas about all that !!! 💀 lol
Yes it was filmed in Hemu Village:http://www.mnw.cn/tv/guonei/2719857.htmlMy friends are skiing there right now:https://kisskh.at/profile/ywwan/feeds/jBDBmCj
There are closer places to go to for skiing when you live in BJ. Traveling to Altay is quite some way away!!! Of course, there must be less people around, so if they like a break from crowds, it must be a good place despite the cost and time to get there.
Btw I did not find developed skiing around Hemu per se, but I see that "The main ski areas in Altay City are the ski resorts General's Mountain – Altay and Altay Tyrol (planned). The ski resorts are located between 2.4 kilometres and 12.0 kilometres from the centre of the village. Altay City is located in Xinjiang (China). " That's where they went? Or are they into the winter sports stations development business to be there more often?
I used to often go ski in Nanshan district of BJ or once in the Changbai region because of a friend who lives in Changchun so we went two families together. At the time, Nanshan was getting very crowded; and the 2022 Winter Olympics were a goal to develop other places not too far away from BJ. Fond memories of not so long ago. Now, alas, I have morphed into an alien sitting in front of too many screens, only occasionally sampling the fresh air, plum flower blossom rain, chirping of birds, cicadas and grasshoppers, flitting of swallows in broad day time and small bats at dusk, on "my own mountain" base. I still heave myself to watch the summer meteor showers...
Yes it was filmed in Hemu Village:http://www.mnw.cn/tv/guonei/2719857.htmlMy friends are skiing there right now:https://kisskh.at/profile/ywwan/feeds/jBDBmCj
Thank you! Also for sharing info and beautiful Altay snowy peaks pictures! Your friends must be happy enjoying skiing out there !
Does anyone know where shooting took place and/or which remote region is the setting for "Qining"?
Beijing is well known, so 5th ring-road despite its staggering length, I visualize alright.
Rather than southern Xinjiang, which did have homegrown or infiltrated terrorism trouble, I would think the northern part in the Altay, perhaps Hemu Village? Hemu village in Tuvas area of northern Xinjiang has lots of wooden houses, forest around and snow in winter. It is one area which is looking forward to develop winter sports too and has a reputation as "most beautiful village in China". The typical wooden houses with nailed planks are partly dug into the ground because of heavy snow and cold in winters. It is the most remote and largest of the three habitats of the Tuvas ethnic group, which are related to the Mongols (the Tuvas claim to be descended from Genghis Khan warriors), but they are not reputed as being particularly exposed to terrorist group threats. Perhaps it could be a place where thieves might steal cars. I really don't know.
I pondered whether it might be in the vicinity of Mohe in Heilongjiang, "China's Arctic Town", sitting on permafrost, close to the Siberian border? The town is not very big and has lots of forests around and more than 100 years of history in gold mining : the "Golden Path" and "Rouge River" are famous gold mining areas. There is also a highway connecting Mohe to Harbin and further all the way to Beijing, since 2019... * Elsewhere? Okay, the clue in the novel was "a certain gas station in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region." Further in the book, I spotted the name Erenhot. Erenhot is "a county-level city of the Xilin Gol League, in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, located in the Gobi Desert along the Sino-Mongolian border, across from the Mongolian town of Zamyn-Üüd. There are 74,197 inhabitants". Its livelihood is derived from foreign trade traffic, since Erenhot sits on the Transmongolian railway since 1954 : it is "the only railway border entrance between the two countries, and it provides a shorter line connecting Beijing with Moscow than the one through Northeast China (Manchuria). " (Wikipedia & Britannica) But still, this does not look like what we see in the drama, so I suppose there's been a change from book to drama?
My bet is on Hemu village, then. Somebody has confirmation ?
Your description is better than MDL. It’s so informative. 😊
Ty, it's just a copy from the platforms, so "authorized info" to attract audience. I find it interesting to compare what two widely used platforms use. 😆
But question yo you or to other music lover : the song that the boy sang in the car in episode 2 sounds familiar to me, but I can't remember title. If someone knows and finds a YT or other recording to enjoy it in full...
2 
5 
1 
1 
1 
But don't go there if you have a strong bias and prejudice against age difference, against Jerry Yan, who is a fine actor there, or against dramas with open or sad ending. Personally, I loved that drama and its haunting OST songs.
I only watched JY dramas after TFF except Meteor Garden 2001-2002 which I watched long time ago and rewatched (together with the J, SK, PRC and Thai variations and spinoffs, to appreciate the "phenomenon") in early 2023. I now believe JY's role in TFF was his best one: nobody could have played "Xiao Han" better. Not even Wallace Chung.
For those who like beautiful places, art, colors, steamy melodrama, that one is a must!
2 episodes a day until Thursday, one on Friday and on Saturday and next 2 episodes M-Th and final on Friday.
Having traveled the roads to Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and in Gansu + Xinjiang (Turpan-Ürümqi highway, and Kashgar-Karakpram highway, Altay-Kanas lake...) I can say that it is totally impossible to drive overnight (furthermore with one driver only) from Beijing to northwest Xinjiang. With a flight from Beijing to Dunhuang and catching in a remote station a train to Turpan, next driving the Turpan Ürümqi highway, and flying Ürümqi to Kashgar, it was a 6 days journey (with one day spent at destinations to explore interesting archeological and other interesting places, so "chabuduo" 2 days with flying and bus stretches + 1 night travel in sleeper train. Of course, there are bullet trains? No, there is no bullet train connecting the Beijing and Ürümqi yet ; the two overnight trains Z69, Z179 depart from Beijing West Railway Station and arrive at Urumqi Railway station and the duration is about 31 to 38 hours. Despite the possible Lanzhou-Ürumqi bullet train stretch, it does not reduce the duration much bc of interchange. Flight from BJ is the more reasonable option.)
The novel put the border city where LYC was stationed at Erenhot, which is much closer to Beijing, but in winter, and with the rather low speed limits on even the most modern highways, it would take quite longer than an overnight journey. BJ Erenhot is quite a drive. 663 km / 412 miles, 7+ hrs drive estimate without pause (but one at least is needed),
But BJ -Kanas or Hemu (as in the drama, if Qining was Altay/Hemu) is a different proposition : China is a very big country and roads are not all on flat terrain, too...
Beijing to Kanas Lake by car is about 3500 km / 2145 miles and the estimated 39 hrs journey is only an estimation. Professional drivers are not allowed to drive more than 10-15 hours a day. So: that journey would be 3 days minimum with minimum 6 sizable stops.
Lu YanChen may be an experienced driver who does not fear doing "truckers duty" driving long hours as sole driver, in all kinds of weather, including black ice and heavy snow, but I doubt he'd have taken the risk of hauling GX on such a harrowing and long journey!
Besides, speed limits are not high : Speed limits on national highways are 80 Km/h (50 Mp/h), or 40 Km/h (25 Mp/h where the highway is single lane). The G100 series indicates national highways radiating from Beijing, the G200 numbers are highways that run east to west, and the G300 series from north to south. -- On motorways, usually toll express ways , speed limits are generally 120 Km/h (75 Mp/h) on city-to-city routes, while on express routes within cities the limit is 100 Km/h (62 Mp/h).
Friends who flew in 2019 from Chengdu to Altay drove from there to Kanas Lake in a 5+ hrs journey: they would not have attempted the complete 39hrs car driving time non stop from end to end. (about same distance as between BJ and Kanas Lake, but different terrain).
I like to nitpick, lol! Nonetheless, I vastly enjoyed ep11!!
In the days of the one child policy (1973-2013); there used to be hefty fines for lawbreakers who exceeded the number of children allowed But keep in mind that the one-child policy applied to Han, mostly in cities, and did not apply to most minority people: Uighur and Tibetan could have as many kids as they would, (I am not even talking about Ewenki nomads or Hezhe people in Heilongjiang who are so tiny groups that they are almost considered endangered species, so of course no limit applied then and now to their families), Besides, policy did not apply to twin or multiple births, and there were allowances for 2 children if first child was a girl in the countryside, or handicapped, or parent(s) was/were from one child family, or were divorced and remarried to someone with no child, or one parent was minority. There were also local exemptions, such as Han Chinese in southern Xinjiang were allowed to have two children since 2012. And also allowance if second child was birthed 7 years or more after first (some Han friends used this to have a second son in BJ in the early 2000s They would ideally have preferred a daughter, but could not choose since it was forbidden to reveal sex before birth; besides, they were happy enough having a second child anyway.).
"Anyway the policy was changed to the 2/3 child policy in 2016 and the 3 child limit in 2021.
Currently the 3 child policy is still in effect but in late 2021 all the fines and penalties were removed. That doesn’t mean that the policy doesn’t still exist what has happened is that China is now trying to encourage births and it looks like a lot of these incentives will only apply to the first 3 children but … time will tell if that changes as well."
Many young couples in the PRC, esp those raised in cities and so pampered in youth that they are ingrained selfish, are reluctant to have even one child now, because of cost to raise it and inconvenience!! Like in Japan, birth rate has dropped to almost alarming level, so making trouble for those who do have a child and the means to raise it properly is undesirable, and the PRC always having had a pragmatic approach to debatable regulations, there is imo zero chance that an affluent single mom be harassed by authorities.
https://kisskh.at/photos/0wwJo7_3
And I agree.
The falling emoticons are a fun feature of (and exclusive to, I think) Wechat. I's been around for the past ten years and can be addictive, so should be used sparingly.
It can also be used to shower love or Christmas trees , CNY hongbaos, birthday cakes and more on the receiver's message with different catchwords and time appropriateness.
Now onward to eps.9 &10 !
... Go die ! 😂 ! lol
I do like the beginning of this drama despite the sometimes puzzling subs.
https://kisskh.at/discussions/gui-lu/91923-where-was-this-filmed-infos-about-places-where-the-action-is-supposed-to-take-place
Yes near "my mountain" (I am actually doing seasonal travels between that place and another, rather distant one, so home is a relative concept for me) it is possible to do things like those : telemark, cross country or Nordic skiing, downhill Alpine skiing, powder skiing, on easy slopes, blue and black runs, off piste and tree skiing, although there are no Super G or big snow park with jumps. It's possible to hike with snowshoes or to go sledding, even husky dog sledding, or ride snowbikes.
But I prefer to move about with caution, to avoid injuries, and these days would rather enjoy sedate horse sleigh rides with or without jingle bells, where available (remembering some special ones, long time ago, on the frozen Songhua river off Harbin - and another one spotted by Gemini 6 in 1965, heh I was not careful enough doing my alien stunts back then... I'm joking oc). Or just enjoy nice hikes on foot, or horse rides, preferably in cool autumn or early spring weather.
In fact, I am not really a ski nerd, went along to winter sports places more for the scenery and meeting different people, rather than for the sport.
And now, I watch dramas about all that !!! 💀 lol
Btw I did not find developed skiing around Hemu per se, but I see that "The main ski areas in Altay City are the ski resorts General's Mountain – Altay and Altay Tyrol (planned). The ski resorts are located between 2.4 kilometres and 12.0 kilometres from the centre of the village. Altay City is located in Xinjiang (China). " That's where they went? Or are they into the winter sports stations development business to be there more often?
I used to often go ski in Nanshan district of BJ or once in the Changbai region because of a friend who lives in Changchun so we went two families together. At the time, Nanshan was getting very crowded; and the 2022 Winter Olympics were a goal to develop other places not too far away from BJ. Fond memories of not so long ago.
Now, alas, I have morphed into an alien sitting in front of too many screens, only occasionally sampling the fresh air, plum flower blossom rain, chirping of birds, cicadas and grasshoppers, flitting of swallows in broad day time and small bats at dusk, on "my own mountain" base. I still heave myself to watch the summer meteor showers...
Your friends must be happy enjoying skiing out there !
Beijing is well known, so 5th ring-road despite its staggering length, I visualize alright.
Rather than southern Xinjiang, which did have homegrown or infiltrated terrorism trouble, I would think the northern part in the Altay, perhaps Hemu Village?
Hemu village in Tuvas area of northern Xinjiang has lots of wooden houses, forest around and snow in winter. It is one area which is looking forward to develop winter sports too and has a reputation as "most beautiful village in China". The typical wooden houses with nailed planks are partly dug into the ground because of heavy snow and cold in winters. It is the most remote and largest of the three habitats of the Tuvas ethnic group, which are related to the Mongols (the Tuvas claim to be descended from Genghis Khan warriors), but they are not reputed as being particularly exposed to terrorist group threats. Perhaps it could be a place where thieves might steal cars. I really don't know.
I pondered whether it might be in the vicinity of Mohe in Heilongjiang, "China's Arctic Town", sitting on permafrost, close to the Siberian border? The town is not very big and has lots of forests around and more than 100 years of history in gold mining : the "Golden Path" and "Rouge River" are famous gold mining areas. There is also a highway connecting Mohe to Harbin and further all the way to Beijing, since 2019...
*
Elsewhere? Okay, the clue in the novel was "a certain gas station in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region." Further in the book, I spotted the name Erenhot.
Erenhot is "a county-level city of the Xilin Gol League, in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, located in the Gobi Desert along the Sino-Mongolian border, across from the Mongolian town of Zamyn-Üüd. There are 74,197 inhabitants". Its livelihood is derived from foreign trade traffic, since Erenhot sits on the Transmongolian railway since 1954 : it is "the only railway border entrance between the two countries, and it provides a shorter line connecting Beijing with Moscow than the one through Northeast China (Manchuria). " (Wikipedia & Britannica)
But still, this does not look like what we see in the drama, so I suppose there's been a change from book to drama?
My bet is on Hemu village, then. Somebody has confirmation ?
But question yo you or to other music lover : the song that the boy sang in the car in episode 2 sounds familiar to me, but I can't remember title. If someone knows and finds a YT or other recording to enjoy it in full...