Hey guys, would we enjoy this drama even if we are not the biggest fan of stories who only revolve around romance
Assuming ("biggest") fans of romance don't all think alike & in addition, I cannot read people's minds, I'm afraid I also cannot adequately answer your question.
Either you could wait for a mind-reading MDLer for the answer (which could take a while). Or, you could (immediately) see for yourself.
I know what I would do, but I cannot say for you; mostly because I try not to make general & unwarranted assumptions about people whose minds I cannot read.
you kinda cannot trust MDL ratings at all when it comes to cdramas. too many fans and haters trying to mess with…
If you feel that Viki K-dramas are "losing their soul" by trying too much to appeal to Western audiences, then the fact that you have neither Netflix nor Disney+ is a blessing in disguise because Netflix & Disney+'s audience is much more Western (& Westernized) than Viki's, which is primarily Asian.
"What could possibly happen to have such high ratings," huh?
Ok, I'll take a wild guess. Possibly some MDLers gave it such high ratings.
Both (good/ bad/everything in between) quality and ratings are subjective, so how exactly do you determine whether or not a drama is as good (or not as good) as the ratings show without interjecting your own subjective opinions based upon your own personal, inherent biases?
Basically, you cannot say that a rating is unreliable due to the favoritisms of others when you have your very own favoritisms. In other words, your judgment of the unreliability of the MDL rating system is itself just as unreliable.
The timing of the rating is mostly a "red herring." If "favoritism" is going to be your bone to pick, then you cannot pick on "prerating" too. Because fans are going to play favoritism no matter when they vote. You cannot go double-dipping, in food or...logic.
Of course, you can argue that your opinion carries more weight than the collective opinions of hundreds, if not thousands of other MDLers. Or, you could say that your standard for rating dramas is the gold standard by which others measure theirs. Good luck with that!
Has it ever occurred to you that in a distant time & place, what counted as appropriate contextual cues for…
So? C-dramas have very low budgets compared to Hollywood blockbusters. Still, a decent number of people (including Americans) prefer the former over the latter.
I believe in chinese traditional medicine you can, they can tell if a woman is pregnant too
You were responding to @wintersolstice who was indeed talking about pregnancy & I was reponding to your response.
Again, with the "presentism." I clearly stated in my reply that by present standards, it wouldn't be considered "scientific," but it was sufficiently accurate & effective for ancient eras.
And for the record, because scientific theories are founded upon inductive (as opposed to deductive) reasoning, they can never be proven, but only DIS-proven or falsified.
(Oh, by the way, I studied theoretical physics in school, so I have a pretty good idea how science works.)
Has it ever occurred to you that in a distant time & place, what counted as appropriate contextual cues for…
Coming from you, that's quite the honor! Thank you very much!
Ok, if you don't like Hollywood, then watch German TV instead. But German TV must suck if you prefer to subject yourself to "annoying" C-drama FL's & MDLers!
I know a lot of female watchers love the female lead but damn from a mans perspective she is nothing but annoying.…
Has it ever occurred to you that in a distant time & place, what counted as appropriate contextual cues for determining sex & gender were vastly different?
For example, in ancient Chinese times, long hair was regarded as a dead giveaway that the person was male. In contemporary Western society, not so much.
If you're just going to stick to your present-day provincial perspective, modern Hollywood movies are widely available & accessible.
At the very least, try showing some respect & consideration for other people by stop spamming the comments section with your amateurish critiques that aren't even remotely constructive, not to mention, much more "annoying" than the FL could ever possibly be (except according to latent or blatant misogynistic opinions, apparently).
you kinda cannot trust MDL ratings at all when it comes to cdramas. too many fans and haters trying to mess with…
Not sure, because I'm relatively new to MDL, but didn't it start out as a K-drama site? Even now, MDL publishes more articles about K-dramas than C-dramas plus all other Asian dramas combined. And don't K-drama MDLers easily outnumber C-drama ones?
This would suggest that on MDL, C-dramas are underrated and their ratings more trustworthy (or at least less un-trustworthy).
I believe in chinese traditional medicine you can, they can tell if a woman is pregnant too
A woman's heartrate increases when she becomes pregnant. So theoretically, if doctors know the baseline HR of their patients prior to pregnancy, they could make a good estimate of the (conditional) probability of pregnancy from a Bayesian statistics point of view...along with other priors & contextual cues (such as "morning sickness" or "hot flashes").
Is this "scientific" by contemporary standards? No, but fairly accurate & effective in ancient times without modern technology. This tradition wouldn't have been around for thousands of years if it were a complete "myth."
1 
Either you could wait for a mind-reading MDLer for the answer (which could take a while). Or, you could (immediately) see for yourself.
I know what I would do, but I cannot say for you; mostly because I try not to make general & unwarranted assumptions about people whose minds I cannot read.
Ok, I'll take a wild guess. Possibly some MDLers gave it such high ratings.
Both (good/ bad/everything in between) quality and ratings are subjective, so how exactly do you determine whether or not a drama is as good (or not as good) as the ratings show without interjecting your own subjective opinions based upon your own personal, inherent biases?
Basically, you cannot say that a rating is unreliable due to the favoritisms of others when you have your very own favoritisms. In other words, your judgment of the unreliability of the MDL rating system is itself just as unreliable.
The timing of the rating is mostly a "red herring." If "favoritism" is going to be your bone to pick, then you cannot pick on "prerating" too. Because fans are going to play favoritism no matter when they vote. You cannot go double-dipping, in food or...logic.
Of course, you can argue that your opinion carries more weight than the collective opinions of hundreds, if not thousands of other MDLers. Or, you could say that your standard for rating dramas is the gold standard by which others measure theirs. Good luck with that!
But why the "spoiler" tag?
Add excuses to your repertoire!
Again, with the "presentism." I clearly stated in my reply that by present standards, it wouldn't be considered "scientific," but it was sufficiently accurate & effective for ancient eras.
And for the record, because scientific theories are founded upon inductive (as opposed to deductive) reasoning, they can never be proven, but only DIS-proven or falsified.
(Oh, by the way, I studied theoretical physics in school, so I have a pretty good idea how science works.)
Thank you for again sharing with us your very ethnocentric & provincial
points of view!
Ok, if you don't like Hollywood, then watch German TV instead. But German TV must suck if you prefer to subject yourself to "annoying" C-drama FL's & MDLers!
If "preratings" were an issue now, it was a much greater issue 10 or so episiodes ago, so why complain about it now?
That's MY point!
For example, in ancient Chinese times, long hair was regarded as a dead giveaway that the person was male. In contemporary Western society, not so much.
If you're just going to stick to your present-day provincial perspective, modern Hollywood movies are widely available & accessible.
At the very least, try showing some respect & consideration for other people by stop spamming the comments section with your amateurish critiques that aren't even remotely constructive, not to mention, much more "annoying" than the FL could ever possibly be (except according to latent or blatant misogynistic opinions, apparently).
This would suggest that on MDL, C-dramas are underrated and their ratings more trustworthy (or at least less un-trustworthy).
Is this "scientific" by contemporary standards? No, but fairly accurate & effective in ancient times without modern technology. This tradition wouldn't have been around for thousands of years if it were a complete "myth."
Doesn't 2 or 3 come before 12 or 13?
I see it as somewhat analogous to the Western psychological concept of "flow state," but with a more physical component (e.g. increased blood flow).
Others (including some commentators here) interpret turtle soup as a kind of ancient Chinese "Viagra!"
You asked a question & I gave you an honest (four-part) answer. If you wanted a DIS-honest answer, you should've requested it.