It's going to be xukai Vs tan song yun this time both of their costume drama are going to broadcast at the same…
I just happened to notice that too. ATC is rumored for Sep 10 or 11, so it seems the only two historical period dramas in Sep will be airing days of each other. ATC is 40 episodes though while SOTB is only 30 episodes. ATC’s heat is concentrated on Tencent, while SOTB’s heat will be split between iQIYI and Youku
Xu Kai in 2019 for iQIYI: "Hello iQIYi viewers, I am Xu Kai. Thanks for the support from fans all over the world. I'm waiting for you at iQIYi. I love you all." Afterwards, he bursted out, "fans all over the world. I almost laughed just now. I don't have foreign fans."
His last drama with iQIYi was in 2022. With SOTB, he returns to iQIYi, and of course, they send him to Thailand. Thailand is the top‑earning overseas market for Chinese streaming platforms — highest revenue, strongest VIP subscriptions, and the biggest demand for Thai‑dubbed dramas. Tencent and iQIYI invest heavily there because it performs better than any other region. Indonesia is the fast‑growing second market.
In 2023, Tencent added its first-ever overseas award category, Most Popular Overseas. Before this, they only gave awards for popularity in China. Xu Kai and Zhao Lusi were the first actors to ever win this new global honor. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tLAGKu87ScY?feature=share
In 2024 and 2025, Tencent changed the award to Most Overseas Influence, reflecting the international business performance of dramas airing that year rather than pure fan voting. That’s why WHD and YSX won in 2024 for GOTD and EGF, and why DYZ and MZY won in 2025 for EGF and Blossoms.
But the original 2023 award was entirely based on the size and dedication of an actor’s global fanbase. My guess is that ZLH and TXW will win it in 2026 for POJ.
History: Xu Kai became one of the first modern C‑drama actors with a big international fanbase. His global breakout came fast through SOYP (2018), which hit 90+ countries and over 15B streams. At that time, WeTV and iQIYI Global hadn’t fully built their overseas platforms, so his early international popularity helped show how large the global market really was.
He became one of the first young actors proving that new stars could drive overseas traffic, which pushed Tencent, iQIYI, and Youku to expand internationally in 2019–2020.
Yanxi Palace was the trigger for launching the international apps. The platforms had talked about going global for years but never acted, and its explosion was the event that finally pushed them to do it.
Cui Lin and Li Ni both have the same goal (they want peace for the country so the people can have a good life) but they fight intensely because they have their own way of thinking. Because Li Ni yearns to go back to Laolan Pass, he gives in to his heart. Cui Lin grew up on the battlefield with a tough general for a father, and she learned that winning is the only way to survive. Li Ni has to suffer greatly before he finally understood he has to take up the responsibility of crown prince. This is what Cui Lin had been trying to make him see. One has to understand Li Ni's childhood how he was abused and got kicked out of the palace to the border as a young boy and how the gentle and wise Bao taught him everything. Li Ni: "Now I get it. What I want to go back isn't Laolan but the simple and happy days without the schemes in the past. We both want a peaceful era so everyone may have a good life. Since no one else can, I shall take the responsibility. There is a chance for me to save more people." Realism forces Li Ni to face his responsibility, which forces him to give up his personal freedom.
Cui Lin's mother died fighting to protect others, She told Cui Lin she must survive and use her life to save as many people as she can. This is why Cui Lin is so driven. So, both Cui Lin and Li Ni really do share the same goals.
Their differences: Cui Lin is a realist because she was raised by her father, a very tough general. Li Ni just wanted freedom because his childhood was spent escaping his toxic family in the palace. Hiding out at the border with his soldiers gave him a false sense of security, making him believe or pretend he could ignore the empire's dangers forever.
The horses weren’t listening properly, and Xu Kai even fell off his horse. Jing Tian had been hurt multiple…
They did use fake horses in some scenes. It’s completely normal and part of standard safety measures, especially when a real horse would have to move through tricky terrain and deal with cameras and equipment overhead. Horses get spooked easily. This isn’t the first or only drama to do this — it’s standard practice. Look at what happened to Xu Kai, he now has a permanent back injury that prevents him from doing certain activities in sports and probably limits him from certain action scenes that might throw his back.
I've seen other actors in BTS where the horse goes wild — it’s pretty scary. I remember the one with Zhao Lusi and Leo Wu; she was terrified and crying. Bai Lu also had a quite a scare not crying as bad. There was another popular actor who fell off and could’ve been stomped on, but he got lucky, the horse didn't stomp him. There are a lot of near misses.
In classic Hollywood Westerns, especially from the 1930s–1960s, productions used fake horses. Old fake horses stopped being used a lot after the 1960s, but movies and shows still use safer, modern fake horses today when real ones might get scared or the scene is dangerous.
Xu Kai did ride that imported wild horse, which was especially tall and not fully tamed yet. In the scene where he shouts to Cui Lin that he’ll marry her; he was actually riding that same horse before it had been fully broken in. You can see the horse acting up in the shot, but Xu Kai didn’t stop filming. He even extended the moment by shouting the line three times, even though he only needed to say it once. I’m not sure if they paused afterward to settle the horse, but based on the footage, it looks like he was controlling the horse and acting at the same time.
In their livestream, they explained the situation with those two wild imported horses. In the intro, yes, they’re on fake horses — maybe it could’ve looked a bit better, but honestly, it’s just an intro. The real issue is the terrain. They’re riding through narrow paths in the hills, and if a real horse gets spooked, the actors could fall down the slope with the horse.
I guess they wanted these horses because they had the look they wanted.
Xu Kai has a deep, rich, full‑bodied voice that’s velvety, gentle, and soothing — like hot chocolate on a winter day. Ever since I heard him speak Cantonese, I haven’t gotten over how handsome his voice is. In SAHPH, it was his first time using his real voice, and Yang Hua has that relaxed, everyday way of speaking. SAHPH was also live‑recorded, which makes his delivery feel natural. In Han Ting and Yao Zhiming, he adjusts his manner of speaking, so each character ends up sounding distinct. Han Ting is refined and elegant, and his vocal delivery matches that perfectly. In Yao Zhiming, the richness of his voice comes through even more because he is less guarded. In ABAY, it was Xu Kai’s only second time using his voice and first time doing studio recording. In BCE, his third time using his voice, at the end during the puppet scene and that speech he gave, YZM’s formal lines have a professional, polished quality. That’s why I’m so excited to hear Xu Kai use his own voice for the first time in a costume drama, because costume‑drama delivery will be different from modern drama. Just like each of his characters feels different, he keeps mixing up how he delivers his voice. Shen Run is an interesting character I don't know him yet.
So far, Xu Kai has stayed true to his goal of using his own voice since ABAY except in Moonlit Reunion.
Xu Kai does not have a professional background in voice training, but he delivers with emotion. You can have perfect voice delivery and still lack expressiveness. You can learn voice delivery, but you cannot learn a naturally handsome timbre. I can’t pick out the Chinese accents or the technical voice control, but I just like the sound of his voice and how expressive he is.
Han Ting and Yao Zhiming are completely different, not just in mannerisms but even in how they speak.
I really like seeing him in scenes with longer dialogue. That’s why I like Episode 20 of Eight Hundred so much. I feel they don’t need loud music when Xu Kai delivers his lines, because his voice already carries the emotion. I understand why they add music to heighten the scene, but his voice already has the right amount of expressiveness.
New article about Xiao Zhan's work for Gucci:Gucci Primavera Campaign: Kate Moss, Tom Brady, Xiao Zhan, and More...https://shopping.yahoo.com/style/clothing/articles/gucci-primavera-campaign-kate-moss-154924852.html
This is region specific FYI. I don’t get Court Lady in my region but I do get BCE, FIYS, Autumn Fairy Tale and…
You mean You Tube. Yes, I can see Autumn Fairy Tale on You Tube too. I can watch 12 Xu Kai dramas for free on YT. For some reason, I can't find all the episodes for AMA anymore, but that one is still free on Viki. I'm just saying that if I'm going to pay for iQIYi (for 2 months) might as well try to catch the two I haven't been able to find anywhere else.
I think it was a good move for Xu Kai to take Best Choice Ever and As Beautiful As You. He had only a week between shoots — he finished Han Ting and then stepped straight into Yao Zhiming. You can really see the contrast between Han Ting and Yao Zhiming when you watch them back‑to‑back, which is why I’m glad they aired that way. I just finished rewatching them. BCE gave him his first and only CCTV‑8 visibility, and ABAY put him back on Hunan TV since Royal Feast. TDYWL will also air on Hunan TV. Eight Hundred gave him Jiangsu TV visibility, adding another slice of the mainstream audience that streaming doesn’t fully cover. Xu Kai has broad appeal, and TV visibility adds older, family, and rural viewers to his reach.
I think he ended up back on iQIYI with SOTB because Huanyu has a long history with them. Tencent has loved Xu Kai ever since ALP. From 2021 through 2026, every single year, he had dramas landing on Tencent — 12 out of 14 (the 14 excl FI and TDYWL), and 8 of the 12 those were Tencent exclusives. I find it interesting he is the only actor with this pattern.
2 
1 
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4m7GKaN1qM0?feature=share
His last drama with iQIYi was in 2022. With SOTB, he returns to iQIYi, and of course, they send him to Thailand. Thailand is the top‑earning overseas market for Chinese streaming platforms — highest revenue, strongest VIP subscriptions, and the biggest demand for Thai‑dubbed dramas. Tencent and iQIYI invest heavily there because it performs better than any other region. Indonesia is the fast‑growing second market.
In 2023, Tencent added its first-ever overseas award category, Most Popular Overseas. Before this, they only gave awards for popularity in China. Xu Kai and Zhao Lusi were the first actors to ever win this new global honor.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tLAGKu87ScY?feature=share
In 2024 and 2025, Tencent changed the award to Most Overseas Influence, reflecting the international business performance of dramas airing that year rather than pure fan voting. That’s why WHD and YSX won in 2024 for GOTD and EGF, and why DYZ and MZY won in 2025 for EGF and Blossoms.
But the original 2023 award was entirely based on the size and dedication of an actor’s global fanbase. My guess is that ZLH and TXW will win it in 2026 for POJ.
https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Tencent%20Video%20Starlight%20Award/652632
History:
Xu Kai became one of the first modern C‑drama actors with a big international fanbase. His global breakout came fast through SOYP (2018), which hit 90+ countries and over 15B streams. At that time, WeTV and iQIYI Global hadn’t fully built their overseas platforms, so his early international popularity helped show how large the global market really was.
He became one of the first young actors proving that new stars could drive overseas traffic, which pushed Tencent, iQIYI, and Youku to expand internationally in 2019–2020.
Yanxi Palace was the trigger for launching the international apps. The platforms had talked about going global for years but never acted, and its explosion was the event that finally pushed them to do it.
https://youtu.be/HmQS_PaoXpc
Cui Lin's mother died fighting to protect others, She told Cui Lin she must survive and use her life to save as many people as she can. This is why Cui Lin is so driven. So, both Cui Lin and Li Ni really do share the same goals.
Their differences:
Cui Lin is a realist because she was raised by her father, a very tough general. Li Ni just wanted freedom because his childhood was spent escaping his toxic family in the palace. Hiding out at the border with his soldiers gave him a false sense of security, making him believe or pretend he could ignore the empire's dangers forever.
I've seen other actors in BTS where the horse goes wild — it’s pretty scary. I remember the one with Zhao Lusi and Leo Wu; she was terrified and crying. Bai Lu also had a quite a scare not crying as bad. There was another popular actor who fell off and could’ve been stomped on, but he got lucky, the horse didn't stomp him. There are a lot of near misses.
In classic Hollywood Westerns, especially from the 1930s–1960s, productions used fake horses. Old fake horses stopped being used a lot after the 1960s, but movies and shows still use safer, modern fake horses today when real ones might get scared or the scene is dangerous.
Xu Kai did ride that imported wild horse, which was especially tall and not fully tamed yet. In the scene where he shouts to Cui Lin that he’ll marry her; he was actually riding that same horse before it had been fully broken in. You can see the horse acting up in the shot, but Xu Kai didn’t stop filming. He even extended the moment by shouting the line three times, even though he only needed to say it once. I’m not sure if they paused afterward to settle the horse, but based on the footage, it looks like he was controlling the horse and acting at the same time.
In their livestream, they explained the situation with those two wild imported horses. In the intro, yes, they’re on fake horses — maybe it could’ve looked a bit better, but honestly, it’s just an intro. The real issue is the terrain. They’re riding through narrow paths in the hills, and if a real horse gets spooked, the actors could fall down the slope with the horse.
I guess they wanted these horses because they had the look they wanted.
Laolan River 💘We promised to go back to Laolan after the war
https://youtu.be/0LQ9ieZUxds
In Han Ting and Yao Zhiming, he adjusts his manner of speaking, so each character ends up sounding distinct. Han Ting is refined and elegant, and his vocal delivery matches that perfectly. In Yao Zhiming, the richness of his voice comes through even more because he is less guarded.
In ABAY, it was Xu Kai’s only second time using his voice and first time doing studio recording.
In BCE, his third time using his voice, at the end during the puppet scene and that speech he gave, YZM’s formal lines have a professional, polished quality.
That’s why I’m so excited to hear Xu Kai use his own voice for the first time in a costume drama, because costume‑drama delivery will be different from modern drama. Just like each of his characters feels different, he keeps mixing up how he delivers his voice. Shen Run is an interesting character I don't know him yet.
So far, Xu Kai has stayed true to his goal of using his own voice since ABAY except in Moonlit Reunion.
Xu Kai does not have a professional background in voice training, but he delivers with emotion. You can have perfect voice delivery and still lack expressiveness. You can learn voice delivery, but you cannot learn a naturally handsome timbre. I can’t pick out the Chinese accents or the technical voice control, but I just like the sound of his voice and how expressive he is.
https://youtu.be/qADq3gh_jg8?t=1210
https://youtu.be/qADq3gh_jg8?t=2138
https://youtu.be/tA3nfoF2FKI?t=2473
https://youtu.be/fCFj4rWx6jg?t=1583 (this is one of my all-time favorite Xu Kai scenes)
https://youtu.be/vRQrNyViieM?t=717
https://youtu.be/6mbcersEW94?t=1677
https://youtu.be/jyQYH4tNOHA?t=2315 (drunk Yang Hua confessing his love)
Han Ting and Yao Zhiming are completely different, not just in mannerisms but even in how they speak.
I really like seeing him in scenes with longer dialogue. That’s why I like Episode 20 of Eight Hundred so much. I feel they don’t need loud music when Xu Kai delivers his lines, because his voice already carries the emotion. I understand why they add music to heighten the scene, but his voice already has the right amount of expressiveness.
BCE gave him his first and only CCTV‑8 visibility, and ABAY put him back on Hunan TV since Royal Feast. TDYWL will also air on Hunan TV.
Eight Hundred gave him Jiangsu TV visibility, adding another slice of the mainstream audience that streaming doesn’t fully cover. Xu Kai has broad appeal, and TV visibility adds older, family, and rural viewers to his reach.
I think he ended up back on iQIYI with SOTB because Huanyu has a long history with them. Tencent has loved Xu Kai ever since ALP. From 2021 through 2026, every single year, he had dramas landing on Tencent — 12 out of 14 (the 14 excl FI and TDYWL), and 8 of the 12 those were Tencent exclusives. I find it interesting he is the only actor with this pattern.