misslux

I can’t remember the last time I came across a drama with 60 episodes in recent years. The only drama over 40 episodes that I’ve actually watched is the 2018 Story of Yanxi Palace (70 episodes), which I absolutely loved but that’s a costume drama. I don’t watch many Republican-era dramas, but War of Faith was really good, in fact, I’d even call it a masterpiece.

I’m both worried and excited at the same time. Worried because it’s incredibly hard to keep the storyline engaging for a full 60 episodes, excited because 60 episodes of Bai Jingting, probably showing sides of his acting we've never seen before, is going to be absolutely delicious. He as a law student from a well-educated upper-class family is something to look forward to!

I've heard mixed reviews about the director's latest drama, The Legend of Magnate. The production quality is solid, the cinematography is beautiful, but the writing gets inconsistent especially in the second half. Still, the drama was quite well-received in China and consistently held the #1 spot during its run, so I'm hoping this new one will be just as successful.

Wishing him all the best regardless!

It's because he took a 5-month-long break in early 2025, something he hasn't done in a really long time. It's totally fine though, he's not in any hurry since he's already pretty well-established in the industry. Plus, he owns his own studio/company, which gives him way more freedom to choose his projects — unlike a lot of younger actors who have to work back-to-back without any real rest due to pressure from their agencies to make profit for them.

Yes, TFF is one of the biggest hits in China this year! It consistently appears in either the Top 5 or Top 10 of year-end annual rankings across multiple platforms, including Yunhe, Maoyan, Datawin, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu.

So happy to see it achieve huge success both domestically and internationally~ ☺️

Yes, so happy to know that a lot of his dramas were very well-received in China. Even Mobius was doing pretty well on its own. I'm surprised to see its average views are higher than many dramas with popular cast/big budget.

Even though I'm a romance drama enthusiast, I'll always be a fan of his acting first and foremost. So I'll support whatever project he takes on and look forward to his growth as an actor and the fresh sides he brings with each new project~

"From 2021 to 2025, over five consecutive years, Bai Jingting has had six works ranked in Yunhe V30’s Annual Top 10, demonstrating an exceptionally high return rate and strong drama-carrying ability" (as noted by a drama blogger)

2021 – You Are My Hero — No. 6 of the year
2022 – New Life Begins — Yearly Champion (No. 1)
2022 – Reset — No. 3 of the year
2023 – Destined — No. 4 of the year
2024 – Always on the Move — No. 10 of the year
2025 – The First Frost — No. 7 of the year

Yunhe is a Chinese third-party data analytics platform that tracks “effective playback”—focusing on actual viewing quality and duration, not just raw clicks. Because it estimates real audience reach, Yunhe data is often used to judge whether a drama is a genuine hit (爆款) rather than inflated by platform or fandom traffic.

Dengta / Lighthouse 2025 Annual Rankings — The First Frost (Youku)

*Overall Performance (TV + Web Combined)*
#7 – Most-watched drama of the year across all platforms (the only idol drama in the Top 10 list)
#8 – Highest single-day view count across all platforms
(70.589 million views)

*Web Dramas Only (Online Series)*
#2 – Most-watched web drama of 2025
(1.751 billion total views)
#2 – Highest average views per episode among web dramas
(52.579 million per episode)

*Market Dominance & Consistency*
#6 – Number of times drama ranked No.1 in daily viewership
(21 days at No.1)

Congratulations to the TFF cast and the whole team! 🎉🎊

I wish I had a goldfish memory so I could forget everything and watch this again like the first time 😩 Even though I still have so much fun rewatching some of my favorite scenes to this day, nothing compares to those "first-time" feelings 🫠I still vividly remember the overwhelming emotions I felt while watching this drama the first time, and the one phrase that kept coming out of my mouth was basically "Damn.... that's insane...." Romance so good it had me shook lol like the chemistry?? the acting??? the dialogue??? the voice??? 😵‍💫 When I thought that day's episode was the best one yet, and then the next one came out and it was even better... and this kept happening until that final memorable proposal scene, in the last episode. It was such a happy time for me, like it was just PEAK ROMANCE one after another from start to finish💕 I fear I'll never find another romance drama that hits me with the same excitement and overwhelming feelings like this one did 😞

No, not necessarily. They can be watched as a standalone. They're plenty who watched TFF first then HL. Their story not really connected.

I just finished Always on the Move, and I love Wang Xin so much!!! He's arrogant, but in a hilarious, cute, and endearing way. I really can't decide whether I love Wang Xin, Xing Kelei, or Ding Qi more. Sang Yan will always be my #1 favorite character of his though 😆. Wang Xin, Xing Kelei, and Ding Qi are all very charming in different ways, each with their own strong suits.

One thing's for sure: BJT has an uncanny gift for transforming every role into someone you can’t help but love. His screen presence is simply magnetic and watching him act is pure joy 🫶🏻

I love everything about this drama!!! It's lovely, funny, realistic and very heartwarming. Despite being a slice of life story, it never felt slow at all. There are a lot of witty dialogues in this drama and overall the characters and plotline are just fun to watch. I finished it in less than a week. If you're a fan of slice of life and period drama set in 70s, this would be right up your alley.

The characters and their relationship dynamics are particularly well-written, especially the bond between Wang Xin and his mentor, Ma Kui. The neighbors are all so lovable and endearing too. Since the drama spans about 40 years, I felt like I was living and growing up alongside them. Honestly, I feel kind of sad and empty after finishing it because the characters feel so real and grounded.. I can’t bear to leave them.

From sets and music to writing and acting, it just screams sincere and quality production. I now understand why it was one of the most-watched and successful dramas of 2024. Truly deserving of its TV rating champion title and all those record-breaking achievements. Thanks to Bai Jingting, I discovered this precious gem. Watching it made me love him even more as an actor. I always say this, but BJT's dialogue delivery and screen presence are truly praiseworthy. He immerses himself completely in his characters and brings them to life. This drama will always have a special place in my heart.

Wang Xin and Ma Kui, you will be unforgettable 🫶🏻

You're right. Romance has the biggest mainstream appeal and is always the most popular genre internationally whether K-dramas or C-dramas. Unfortunately, Chinese production companies or Chinese actors rarely consider international demand when taking on a project. Getting global popularity is obviously great but it's more like a bonus than anything. Ultimately, domestic audience is their priority.

If you didn't know already, romance dramas are usually referred as "idol dramas" in China, a genre typically consisted of young, good looking leads and marketed towards younger demographics with heavy emphasis on sweet romance. There are both modern and costume idol drama but overall, the latter tends to be more popular with Chinese audience.

I think the reason modern idol drama is becoming less popular genre in China is because there are just not that many good quality productions. You can literally count with fingers just how many that are really good and actually became a huge hit. Hopefully, C-ent industry will produce more good romance dramas with original scripts.

For Love (tentative title), a legal romcom based on novel I advise You to Like Me, the last rumor I saw, the drama is gearing up for production soon but there are no news on the cast yet. Bai Jingting was rumored for the drama in 2022 but there was no move on the production side at all until recently, so Bai Jingting probably no longer tied to the drama. Idk how soon that is, but it seems like they're currently in pre-production process and might start filming in the first half of 2026.

I have read the first few chapters of the novel and thought Bai Jingting would be perfect to play the male lead. I would love to see him take the drama since he's never done a pure modern romcom, plus him becoming a lawyer and wearing suits on each episode is one of my dreams but Idk if there's possibility of it. His currently filming drama is projected to wrap in February 2026. If the production is willing to wait for him and manage to convince him to take the drama, there might be hope. I lowkey prayed for it but I wouldn't put too much hope on it.

In case you're curious, novels by the same author, Ye Feiran, that have been adapted to drama is Legally Romance (2022) and My Boss (2024). In terms of success, My Boss is decently popular for its genre (22M per ep during hot broadcast period). Most popular modern romance in 2024 was Tale of Rose (54M per ep) but this is more of female centric social contemporary drama. Second popular was Amidst Snowstorm of Love (31M per ep). My Boss was sixth most viewed of that year. The way I see it, romcom as a genre isn't super popular in China, so while I'd love for him to take it, I also get why he might be wary to take it.

As a romance enthusiast, it's a bit shame bc he's really great at romance. Just that the industry's current state and domestic preference may not align with what international fans hope to see. But if there's anything to look forward to, the production company behind TFF movie version said they're currently in planning process with director Qu Youning. The director once said he'll only direct the movie if it has the same leads from the drama ver, so there's a chance they all have good discussion together and are positively considering it. The only challenge is whether they can free up their schedule at the same time, there's also concern of script quality (historically, movie version rarely does better than the drama ver) and also in case suddenly there are good rare opportunity comes up that appeal to them more than the TFF movie.

I agree. He has a puppy-like face that makes him look younger than his age. But it’s not just his youthful face that makes him believable as a high schooler or college student; it’s how he embodies youth in every essence - through his temperament, body language, speech, walk, and subtle habits and mannerisms.

Other actors may also appear younger than their age but they lack the boyish, youthful charm he possesses, so it doesn’t fully translate into their acting when portraying high school or college characters. In fact, most of the time it can be jarring to see actors close to 30s still playing high schoolers. There are so few exceptions who can capture the essence of youth in their performances as convincingly as he does.

If you’re hoping to see him in more idol romance dramas, I fear you’ll continue to be disappointed. He’s an actor who prioritizes improving his craft by exploring diverse genres and roles than chasing quick fame through 'liuliang' / traffic route.

And the truth is, there are simply not many modern romance dramas with good scripts out there, as the C-ent industry lacks original productions. Majority of romance dramas produced by China in the last decade are based on novels, with many popular novels already adapted.

Good quality modern romance dramas, like The First Frost, are actually quite rare if you know enough about C-ent industry. This is why most actors take on back-to-back costume dramas rather than modern ones. Not to mention, in terms of romance genre, costume dramas have been more well-received than modern ones in the last few years.

The biggest modern hits in China are usually productions from period 70-90s genre like The Thriving Land or crime genre like The Knockout. As far as I know, his drama, Always on the Move was his biggest hit in China. That's just the kind of production that tend to be popular with Chinese general public.

Taking idol romance drama might make fans happy but it's quite a risky move from actor's perspective considering the genre isn't that popular anymore on top of unguaranteed quality of script.

While The First Frost is the most successful and most viewed modern romance drama of 2025 in China, it still can't compare to bigger hits like The Thriving Land, The Legend of Zanghai or Drifting Away.

In fact, his other modern romance drama, You are My Hero is bigger hit than The First Frost. If I remember correctly, according to Yunhe, it had average 54M views per ep during hot broadcast period and cumulative average 66M per ep versus TFF having average 34M per ep during hot broadcast period with current cumulative average hitting 41M per ep.

You can tell the genre is kinda dying considering TFF is the most viewed modern romance genre of 2025 yet the views are smaller from the older romance productions. Fun fact, the second most viewed modern romance of 2025 only has 17M per ep during hot broadcast period and 25M per ep for current cumulative average. Another fun fact, the last time I checked, TFF is the only modern romance that manage to enter top 10 dramas with highest cumulative views in 2025 (at #6) while the rest in top 20 are all from costume, period and crime genre.

If he comes across a good and interesting modern romance script, I believe he’ll consider it, but don’t be overly hopeful given the industry’s current state.

At his age, he’s more likely to broaden his horizons by exploring challenging genres and roles that allow him to grow as an actor. He has also expressed strong interest in doing more films and may transition to the film industry if opportunities arise.

I'm a fan of romance genre more than anything especially modern ones, but I respect his career decision and choice of filmography. Fortunately, I enjoyed his acting regardless of genre.

Ding Qi, you'll be unforgettable to me 🫶 Easily one of the coolest and most handsome police officers I've seen in a drama lol love his goofy side too.

Bai Jingting was perfectly cast for this role. He has the perfect face and physique for the detective/spy/bodyguard look. On top of that, his charismatic acting, exceptional voice and line delivery, add so much charm to the character and made the drama a little more fun to watch.

Mobius wouldn’t have been the same without him.

The interactions between Ding Qi and Mo Yuanzhi after they were aware of each other's secrets is so unserious. They were so chill and still had the time to chat and joke with each other. It's not your typical police-villain dynamics 🤣

I can't, Mobius is such a balance of serious and comedy

Posting my comment again here~

One thing I especially wanna praise of Bai Jingting is his ability to portray characters at different life stages convincingly. Whether it’s his natural youthful air or his skilled acting or both, he’s convincingly believable as high school or college students.

Like in Mobius, where he perfectly captures the college-boy charm with his lively and goofy mannerisms. And he also effortlessly exudes maturity and masculinity as the adult Ding Qi, while preserving his goofy trait. Similarly, in The First Frost, the contrast between the charming, carefree 17-year-old Sang Yan and the refined adult Sang Yan is striking.

The growth and temperament change in both characters can be clearly felt and seen by the viewers. I think not many actors could pull off such versatility in portraying characters at different life stages as he does. Most just rely on hair, makeup or clothing style change, but besides that, you can’t really tell their younger and adult versions apart. For example, for the younger version of the character, there’s hardly any sense of the teenage or college-boy feels. So the fact that Bai Jingting still manage to pull this off at age of 31 is pretty amazing. Because sometimes, even actors younger than him struggle to capture the essence of youth when they’re supposed to

Finished! Lemme just say, Bai Jingting was made for Ding Qi, and he made the role his own. Can’t imagine anyone else nailing it the way he did. His effortless cool, commanding presence, and natural comedic timing were perfect. If another actor had been cast, I doubt the drama would have been half as compelling.

One thing I especially wanna praise of Bai Jingting is his ability to portray characters at different life stages convincingly. Whether it’s his natural youthful air or his skilled acting, he’s convincingly believable as high school or college students. Like in Mobius, where he perfectly captures the college-boy charm with his lively and goofy mannerisms. And he also effortlessly exudes maturity and masculinity as the adult Ding Qi, while preserving his goofy trait. Likewise, in The First Frost, the contrast between the charming, carefree 17-year-old Sang Yan and the refined adult Sang Yan is striking.

The growth and temperament change in both characters can be clearly felt and seen by the viewers. I think not many actors could pull off such versatility in portraying characters at different life stages as he does. Most just rely on hair, makeup or clothing style change, but besides that, you can’t really tell their younger and adult versions apart. For example, for the younger version of the character, there’s hardly any sense of the teenage or college-boy feels. So the fact that Bai Jingting still manage to pull this off at big age of 32 is pretty amazing. Because sometimes, even actors younger than him struggle to capture the essence of youth when they’re supposed to.

So far, I'm not really sure yet what to feel about the plot. The premise on pilot episode is quite interesting, I love the action scenes but the story flow and execution on the later episodes, from ep 3 kinda felt flat and don't feel engaging enough cause it failed to make me care about the Moma biotech stuff. And apparently this is the MAIN plot. I'm worry how they gonna stretch the storyline till ep 16.

Bai Jingting is the sole reason that push me to keep watching tbh. Without doubt he's the best part of the drama and the most compelling to watch. Idk.. other characters lack the depth/intrigue and strong presence that Bai Jingting infused into Ding Qi. Like when Ding Qi isn't on the screen, it feels a bit bored especially the long business talk between the executives and shareholders. I feel like if Bai Jingting is not cast in this drama, I don't think I'd care enough to click the next episodes, since the genre already isn't what I usually go to for.

I like the chemistry between Ding Qi and An Lan. Visually they look good together but the romantic bgm during their scenes feel a bit too loud and out of place. Like the sudden mood change kinda don't fit with the overall tone of the drama. If this is romance centered drama, I'd find it cute but bc the drama is more of mystery suspense genre, the romantic bgm and slowmo really bothered me I wish it'd be taken out lol. The directing/editing is imo kinda inconsistent on certain scenes.

Even though this genre is not my cup of tea, I'll continue watching for Bai Jingting. It wasn't bad but it also wasn't super compelling imo. Just decent enough. Hope this continue to be watchable till the end and not go completely downhill.

4 eps in and all I wanna say is Bai Jingting is such a charismatic actor. The way he speaks his lines, the way he walks, his mannerisms, he's just effortlessly cool. Ntm his charming voice!!!!! I'm obsessed. There's a reason why he always uses his own voice in his dramas. Also, him in his bodyguard suits >>>>>>>