ChineseDramaFan

Is the actor playing the character Thirteen/Stone Mountain a man or a woman?

After reading @darcy's comments, I realize I maybe wrong. She makes a lot of sense in the choice of the female lead. It's going to be good!

Absolutely right. In "Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms", I didn't like Mo Yuan in the beginning, but later, I was head over toes for Ye Hua. I'm sure this drama is going to be like that too.

Now that makes a lot of sense about using Ni Ni for the Ling Xi character. I didn't realize this drama is produced by the same director and team as "Ten Miles Peach Blossoms". Now I'm confident how the whole thing in the end would look like. Yes, you're right. Using a too young actress may mess up the visual in the later parts of the story. Thank you for clarifying this one for me. I think I can enjoy this drama even much more from now on.

@darcy is right. These 2 dramas are not related; they just have similar vibes, like the peach blossoms, all the immortal gods including the heavenly and the hellish (the devils), various realms, their heavenly palaces also look similar. They also have animals that turn goddesses when they undergo "training" (no better words). They have wars and alliances among the realms.

Exactly my thought! It's hard to watch when she tries to act like a silly naive young girl, but she looks through and through so mature and intelligent. That's why I made a previous comment about the age of the actors, maybe I should have said it differently, ... like, perhaps the face or personality of the actress? I don't know. I just find it a mismatch too.

Five episodes in, I'm addicted! It's good. My previous doubts have completely dissipated! It has the feel of Ten Miles Peach Blossoms and Ashes of Love combined.

Yes, yes, yes! You took the words out of my mouth. You put them so articulately. Thanks!

You all are absolutely right about the actors, here, I mean both male and female. Normally, the older an actor is, the better the acting skills. Older actors manage to capture all the important nuances in acting which are sometimes lacking in younger actors.

I know I'm biased when I made my last comment about the ages of the actors. When I first started watching young actors, I wasn't very used to them. Most of them are in their teens like Arthur Chen or in their early 20s like Chen Xing Xu, Wang YiBo or Zhang Min En. As they play more and more roles in the latest dramas, I, kinda, get used to them, and when an older actor comes along and plays a main role, especially a role that portrays a young character (as for the Ling Xi character), I become disoriented. I love all the actors on your list; each has his/her strengths and attractiveness. You're right when you said, "Drama audiences are just way too superficial." Yes, that's exactly it, myself included. These days, we look for the visual effects, irrespective of the actual contents. Oh, my! We're becoming shallow, I realize, and thanks for correcting me.

Yes, I'd definitely give this drama its due chance. I hope it lives up to expectation.

Happy drama watching!

After the first episode, this is my take: This drama has the combination of "Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms", "Ashes of Love", the "Avatar" movie, and the "Transformers" movie. There are longer than normal pauses between each line spoken. I must say, the first episode hasn't impressed me.

OMG! Another xianxia drama. Love it! Just that, I'm so used to watching young, super good looking Chinese actors these days, it's kind of hard to watch a 42 years old playing the character of Jiu Chen, and a 30 year old playing the character of Ling Xi who is supposed to be a very young girl.

I think US has the highest drinking age at 21. I believe it's only 18 in Europe.

I love Zhou Chen Gao! This is my first drama of him, and he takes my heart! He has the aura of a Kpop boy band member. Sweet looking boy!

All these behind-the-scene videos really help us appreciate how difficult it is to capture just a few seconds of the clips. The actors have to be hung in mid-air and to pose and look elegant with their hair and clothing flowing, then fly or land elegantly. Not only it has to be elegant, it has also to be authentic. It is so difficult. I'm not surprised that Chinese historical actors have the hardest acting work compared to their contemporary actors; even Tom Cruise may not have such difficult scenes in Mission Impossible movies.

Yes, I guess they have to make those re-born episodes because many people after watching this drama, feel void. We all need closure and these modern day episodes provide that closure so that we can move on. It has taken me forever to move away from this drama!

At 33, Ray Ma looks more like an 18 year old. I'm always amazed by how the Chinese people maintain their youth.

This is a pretty good story. The main couple have been true to each other from the beginning till the end. Their love for each other never wanes, only stronger. They sacrifice for their country and for each other. They fight all the scheming and darkness hand-in-hand. They are open with each other, never holding anything back. There's never been any annoying misunderstanding between the two (many Chinese dramas love misunderstandings which I hate).

Ye Ning Zi was forced to marry the Emperor for several reasons, but mainly to save General Wei who was at war at the time and needed reinforcement from the Emperor, or else he'd be killed. After she was married, she never ceased to reveal her unwavering love for General Wei, but she had to do it discreetly. She never had any bodily contact with the Emperor. She adopted the most favorite son from an evil consort when the consort was put to death. She loved and taught the child well, inculcating her own values into him. She later distant herself from the Emperor when he fell for another evil and ambitious consort. When the Emperor dropped dead, the Prince was ready to become the new Emperor and she became the Dowager Empress. But to take the blame from the wrong-doings of the previous Emperor, she put herself in the cold palace for 10 years. Later, she asked the Emperor to pronounce her death, and release her to live a common life. There, she found General Wei was still alive, and they live happily ever after.

I love this story and the acting. My heart feels for General Wei, his pain when he returns from war and finds his love gone. But he never stops loving her, neither she loving him. It's a very touching story which you may enjoy.

From your profile, I see that you, like me, like wuxia and historical dramas. I also enjoy watching "The Secret of of Three Kingdoms". I have a few recommendations for you here:

1. The most unforgettable one is: Goodbye My Princess (must watch though it's a tragedy - sad but memorable and good acting)
2. The Untamed (beautiful boys)
3. Princess Silver
3. Young Blood
4. Love Better Than Immortality (cute)

In actual fact, the story in this drama, "Legend of the Phoenix", is not too bad. The ending is pretty good with everyone deserves what they get. The romance is not open but can be felt undoubtedly. I guess you can always skip the episodes and go back to them later if you don't understand why certain things happen. But I can assure you, the later episodes are rather intense. Overall, this drama is not draggy like many others, and there are not that many loose ends.

Enjoy your drama watching!

Love the Chun Hua character played by Zhao Lu Si. She is so cute, innocent and silly. All she cares about is love. She is so funny! This is a wonderful actress!

If you love beautiful Chinese men like I do, you should also watch "The Untamed". Men! Those men are hot! The visual is simply beautiful!