Nepeta 22

Yes, I saw his name on the cast list. Look forward to seeing him.😉

Thanks for letting me know. So basically, he is not linked in anyway between these dramas. I loved his role in A Moment But Forever, so immediately recognised him here!

I noticed Mei's master here was also the chess god in A moment But Forever. If anyone knows, is there any links?

No problem, I will not swerve into politics, but it's a bit hard not to in some cases, especially when discussing what content goes inside newspapers. Even ZLH can be dragged into politics or shall I say used by others for their own gain.

As for popularity, this is just a heat of the moment, viral situation. That cycle happens every year with a new so-called hot male artist. The real test is if ZLH can sustain a legacy and international publications will put his name up there in a couple of years' time.

If China is in an economic mess, of course it will be bigger because of the volume/population. Nothing new though. China is really following the same template as all the other capitalist models. With that, it's the usual cycle of boom and bust. What I meant was China plays hard in that game doing business, and the irony is Europe is more socialist than China if you really delve into the every detail. Only difference is, China can halt and control their economy quickly when they feel the free market gets out of hand. Europe has to go through so many hoops of bureaucracy.

Nah, nothing that deep. Allen Ren is just showcasing the comedy that's expected in this drama. He's the master of dead-pan. But done softly which is even more funny. The other being Cheng Yi that's good as this.

The more nonchalant the better. It's just a send up of a swash buckling hero that's rude and brusque with even his side kick. Luckily for him. That side kick kicks back, which makes for a nice sparring partner.

China was all the rage in the past because they allowed Europe to have concessions. This is evident with Germany and France. China is not in favour with Europe because they are now one big unit and act as a whole country in itself, although it is fractured in Europe. Reality is, France is probably more closer in relations with China than some of the other countries right now because of politics, nothing else.

Communism is also not the real reason, otherwise, France and plenty of other countries will pull up Vietnam more, but note they don't. I bet half of the world don't even know Vietnam's regime. That's the power of the mass media.

The reason is simple. They are threatened by their ability to be more capitalist than the capitalists. That's the irony. If anyone is going to show how business is done, it's definitely China.

This then goes back to my comment about snobbiness. The only 'currency' left to put themselves above China is to hang onto the intellectual properties and hype of 'values'. Those things are free and easy to do.

So far so good. I have high hopes. Loved A Moment but Forever, so I hope this one will be just as good.

BTW, she had a lot of support from other actors on Weibo yesterday, like Lei Jia Yin, Zoey Meng, Chen Duling, Ou Hao, Huang Xiao Ming, Wu Jin Yun & Bai Jing Ting. 🙂

Yes that's correct.

I'm glad too. My estimation of her rose even more after seeing her performance in Footprints of Change. Not an easy role to play.

You need to make sure you have the English app, not the mini drama series app one because the latter uses YouTube translate which can sometimes be unreliable.

I wasn't just targeting France, but Europe in general. I guess, what I am trying to say in regards to snobby is more that Europe still hold on to the idea that they still hold the intellectual properties and still want China to be the manufacturer and they will do whatever they can and will to stop China from gaining any upperhand.

One area is limiting any knowledge about China's arts and culture. That information to the masses would do what you just said about Japan before that. They want to continue to push the stereotype of China only good at copying or making to order something coming from Europe. And if China had come up with something similar, it's usually stolen and never something that organically grew out from China.

Here, we see a change, and this only happened because through an agreement of cultural exchange by both countries last year, we get to slowly see stuff like this. Not all media are natural. In fact, many headlines and opinion pieces are controlled by senior editors link to the government.

These headlines are not accidents or natural. It's all part of a culture exchange between China and France that was signed around a year ago. It includes music, art, film and travel. We're just seeing a snippet because it involves an actor. They are all inter connected with travelling visas, rights to distribute certain films/dramas and this includes subtitling priorities. Luxury brands expanding to put Chinese artists in more prominent positions in their media etc. Europe has always been reluctant to this because they are traditionally very euro centric and snobby, so they have always been guarded with China.

If you need to use a site like Kisskh, I suggest you use something like Librewolf to open it from. As you stated, it is risky in general, and it's better to be safe.

I haven't started this yet but will soon. Speaking as someone who has a relative from my dad's side that was caught dealing hard drugs. He initially had death penalty, and this was around similar times to this drama around 1998 -1999, but after greasing the palms of the local officials (there was a lot of corruption back then), his sentencing got downgraded to around 10 years in prison. I suspect the sentencing could be all over the place. Also, it was a cross border situation too which meant the other side had some influence on leniency.

Well Gentleman of East 8th I think still holds the lowest Douban rating. Unfortunately extreme low ratings tend to be more controversy than the drama itself. That's my opinion.

It's one of the best dramas to come out of China this year for me. It's epic. It's dramatic but it's also understated. Based on a real life story too. Still thinking about this drama today...🙂

Me too. I had been looking forward to this for a long while. Jing Cao in uniform is just too distracting for me!

Whilst watching this I saw the news of current leader of KMT attending some memorial that also included Wu Shi in Taiwan. Yes in Taiwan...How history can be very strange. A hero can turn into a villain and vice versa.

Good luck to the team on this drama, and I hope it will live up to all the excitement. Yes, Lan XiYa is a very talented actress and I'm glad to see her here. I'm not a fan of these vertical dramas either, and probably quite set in my ways to be honest. Dramas need more space and time to develop, but obviously not filled with fillers for the sake of making money through advertising slots.

But, I hear, it's aimed at those that are on the go and still crave a cross between You Tube style lengths with impactful storylines. But, often, it's just sensational almost smutty romances that makes no sense, and only has a place inside those drama styles!

The problem at the moment is fandoms grow ever more demanding. This usually coming from the boyband fandoms and girl-band fandom background. In China, it's transactional. The fandoms see themselves as an extension of the artists' life, almost like a big backer, so they are happy to rally funds to create big flower walls and gestures on opening drama days, but they expect the actor to spend time to talk, sign and accept gifts as well.

They make no secret of this parasocial relationship. I heard some say, they are in a relationship and that it is the "online boyfriend". They do not see this as weird but perfectly normal. So they see fit, it is their place to tell him off, talk about his conduct and demand he expresses himself through things like 'outfit of the day' and some kind of finger dance. This is honestly seen as part of the online culture of fandoms.

I don't like it but, it's just how it has been, because in China, those that end up in entertainment should be held up in high regard. They are meant to set an example to others, especially to the young and impressionable. Which is why cancelling culture is very big and drastic at times.

I'm all for employing from all kinds of backgrounds, but sometimes, I'm in two minds when an idol style actor comes on board, then you need to deal with fandoms that talk about doing data all day long and demanding how their star should be styled rather than leave the production to deal with that. I cringe when I see production fold and change things like hair styles/make up or even how the story should be filmed! That's the part where I don't like and don't agree with.

I can stomach their fandom and star, but I can't stomach their meddling in the production of the drama. I sincerely hope that this part stops because it has been slowly creeping in under the banner of suggestions to now, demanding.

It's coming out on 14th.