MementoViveri

Seriously? As long as it's between two adults, what difference does age play? I have a big age gap with my husband and we met when I was way into my twenties (not a baby) and it makes no difference if there is love and understanding. And no, it has nothing to do with money (my income is higher than his). One of the most popular Chinese dramas, Eternal Love (peach blossoms), has a female lead that is older by many thousands years. Would it bother you too?

She is almost never mentioned. I think they married her off to another family according to the book. In those times, it was common practice to gift or marry concubines off to other houses. Again, I haven't seen ML to even exchange one meaningful conversation with a concubine.

This is a very controversial topic. I am a product of modern Western society that promotes monogamous relationship. But monogamy in the West existed only for the last 10k years or so.
In Ancient China and many parts of the world, the number of wives depended on the status of the male. The higher the status, the higher wife count. His many children supply him with a labor, and the means, through arranged marriages, to forge multiple economic and political alliances. Polygyny may be costly, but in the long term can make a rich man even richer. The problem is that it was extremely unfair towards female population. But females have always been at disadvantage due to childbearing (it made them more vulnerable and dependent on male support during those ages)

Do you know there are still many villages in Tibet where women have multiple husbands (mostly brothers). This was also forced by economical reasons (no fighting between brothers for land and due to limited resources).
Nowadays, it seems due to decreasing influence of religion, polyamory is getting more popular which overall, does not create inequality between men and women. So, who knows, what will be the standard due to societal, economical and religious influences in the future.

haha true. I didn't expect him going that far too. But they are playing the angle of damaged tortured hero who is redeemed by the love of a good woman:)

I would also recommend Time Teaches Me to Love. It has similar "contract relationship" trope. But main leads are adorable with good chemistry and HEA. The only problem is that only first few episodes were translated into English. My Chinese is very bad (I can only understand very basic phrases) but I could not stop watching it raw because it was so cute. I will rewatch it when English subs are available.

She is not sick. He switched her paperwork in the hospital to entrap her into marriage. They met several times before by accident and then he started following her.

I also hate when there are concubines, multiple wives etc. but it didn't bother me in Ming Lan because ML is only devoted to Ming Lang. He was against having concubines but Ming Lan accepted a concubine into their home (due to her stepmother insistence). The concubine was more like a furniture placed in one of their residences. ML showed no interest in attending to her.

very well made drama. Great acting, cinematography and plot. The production quality is top notch. One of the best shows I saw with zombie theme. Usually, I cannot take many zombie tv series seriously. But this one gave me the creeps due to such a realistic setting.

I will check out Misty! It's being translated on viki now. Thanks for suggestion!

I can only think of some historical dramas where the focus was on female lead and she was someone to be admired - empress ki, Jewel in the Palace, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, The Great Queen Seon Deok. I cannot think of any modern dramas. Well, maybe Secret Garden (she was pretty strong character too). I think @XingBack comment is right on the money.. Usually, female cast is just a support for male lead to shine for fangirls.

In total agreement here! It's so difficult to find K drama with strong smart female lead. I am getting tired of the stereotyped damsel in distress that needs support of the "strong" man to succeed. She is also innocent, shy, clumsy, with lack of self-confidence and has significant tendencies for self sacrifice (she loves everyone but herself). That's the main reason I started gravitate towards Chinese dramas lately. At least I found more Chinese dramas with strong female lead and not as much chauvinism.
Common K-dramas.. it's time to up the game for female leads.

I love the cast for Dong Shan Cai and Dao Ming Si in this version. Although, Jerry Yan is a talented actor, but his persona in original MG I did not find very attractive (they made him too dumb). In this version Dao Ming Si is still immature but he is not dumb at all (paying his own tuition, good student with goals etc etc). I think Wang He Di has a bright future as an actor. His micro expressions are fascinating. In some scenes he looks like a completely different person. Great chemistry too between hh and HH!
Also, I am very happy they did not combine second season of old MG 2 (I thought second season's plot was horrendous).

I am so in agreement with you. I really hope that they are not going to ruin the second part of the drama with ridiculous 20+ episodes of memory loss like they did in the previous version. I am keeping my fingers crossed it's not going to happen as I see they did some changes to the original plot in some parts already.

I've seen different versions of Hana Yori Dango and I can honestly say that Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai from this version are my favorites (I hope it will continue this way as only 6 episodes are out). I really believe their chemistry. I am completely taken by Wang He Di's acting. His stares, expressions etc look very authentic and believable. And yes, they already made many changes from the original. But, would you really like to see exactly the same plot? I actually enjoy it more as there are new nuances or some unpredictability. Loving it so far (mostly due to main actors' chemistry and good acting).