u/EasygoingEnigma

Cheng Lei, Leizi, Leilei...these are the names I most often see and hear from other people when they're referring to or speaking with him.

My thoughts--and some questions--about the nicknames he mentions in the clips above.

Yang Huixiang. I presume he's referring to this when he says "formal name." The recent Chinese government rule requiring productions to use actors' real names is wild to me. I guess CL is getting more accustomed to having his real name used in his professional life. It's one thing if friends use it; having others say it seems to disconcert him.

Dongdong. This is cute! I've seen his assistant and studio refer to him this way on Weibo.

Lei zi/Leizi. Used by friends and fans. I haven't seen anyone call Wu Lei this, but technically he can also carry this nickname, right? Same question about Lei ge.

Lei zi ge. Song Yuqi addressed him this way in a 2025 episode of Keep Running (around the 1:39:00 mark). I like this! It's cute and respectful.

Leilei. CL's laughter when he says this always makes me smile. I wonder if he thinks it's a silly nickname.

General manager, boss. Haven't heard him called these, but I can see it happening.

Sagittarius 181 fighter. What the --?😵‍💫

Xiao Cheng. It isn't in the clips and I can't find it anymore, but I saw or read about someone calling him this--or was it Xiao Cheng Lei? In any case, I've seen Cheng Lei using xiao to refer to others, e.g., he has called Bai Lu's Mo Li character Xiao Ye Li.

One last thought, this one about titles. Cheng Lei seems to be uncomfortable with the thought of being called a photography master. I hope that our appreciation of his photos and talent doesn't put any undue pressure on him. It would really suck if it ever comes to a point that photography becomes more of a chore rather than something he loves to do.

Sources: 1 | 2 | 3

The quotation marks are there because Cheng Lei's latest profile picture on Weibo isn't actually a new photo. It comes from a Bottega Veneta event at Hangzhou in September 2025.

His last avatar was a cartoon of Mo Xiuyao (Mo Li/The First Jasmine). I wonder, will we see Yu Changxuan next (The Lament of Autumn)? He doesn't always use images of his characters as profile pics on his social media accounts.

Sources:

Clip | Photos | BGM

A June 2026 article, published by Vogue Taiwan, describes Bai Lu's career journey, as well as some aspects of her everyday life.

A few highlights:

- She speaks very affectionately of her most recent characters, Ye Li and Li Peiyi.

- She underwent rigorous training many hours a day to improve her swordsmanship and horse riding skills.

- She once aspired to become part of a girl group.

- Her Douyin has amassed 800 million likes and 37 million followers.

- She shares her skin care regimen.

- Her health is important to her, and she makes her own special soup and "health-preserving water."

Source: Vogue Taiwan

It's actually a haiku.

Two moles on your face
Defy the filters sometimes
Making me happy

All photos (except for the Mo Li screenshot) are from Cheng Lei's Weibo.

Let your inner poet shine (like CL's moles) and drop a heartfelt verse, along with the image that inspired it. Whether it's Leizi himself or a character he's portrayed or anything else relating to him, feel free to share a couplet, sonnet, haiku, limerick, free verse...anything goes. Just no AI-generated shit, please. No judgment here, it's all in good fun. <3

From Cheng Lei's Weibo

I was all excited because I first thought he was referring to The Lament of Autumn. Then the name Cheng Zhuo kicked in. Still, glad to see The Leading Stars will probably be on iQiyi.

Waiting for CL's actual announcement to drop. The man knows how to tease.

The other day, I posted a clip of Cheng Lei reading a poem and wrote that his voice could lull me to sleep.

Well, ☝️this clip here☝️ is going to get me up in the morning because I'm setting his unabashed singing of this oldie as my alarm tone. Waking up with a smile on my face because of Leizi isn't a bad way to start the day.

Seeing and hearing him belting his heart (and vocal cords) out is so funny! He must be a blast at karaoke. And that smile at the end, too cute.

Cheng Lei being hilarious is hilarious. He's such an adorable goofball.

Here's him singing the same song on stage. More composed, still so lovable.

Source

Cheng Lei singing the line "who says I can't get stoned" wasn't on my bingo card today! But I'm not complaining. It's from the song Who Says, by John Mayer. Coupled with Nirvana's cover of the Terry Jacks classic Seasons in the Sun as the background music for most of this vlog -- so trippy! -- I'm now itching for a peek at his playlists. I wonder if much has changed in his musical preferences over the past couple of years.

I'm not sure exactly when he made this solo cycling trip to Ningbo, but he uploaded the 6-minute video to his Weibo two years ago. I added some stills to the clip above: the photos he took along the way, the time and distance (a little over eight hours to cover almost 168 km), and his helmet hair.

In an interview, he talked about this trip a bit. The feeling of freedom he mentioned stands out, and I hope he gets to experience it again soon.

Rocky Mountain, by DengDeng

The twilight deepens in the evening breeze. Temple. Lake. Sky. Like searching for eternity in boundless blue. I stand atop a high, rocky mountain, feeling myself at the center of the wind, at the center of twilight, unbothered by the weight of the rocks, unconcerned by the passing of time. The wind blows. The clouds move. I am here. Here… My body gradually becomes transparent, forgetting everything beyond the valley. (Excerpt from Echoes, China Youth Press)

The video clip is from a Weibo post of 为你读诗; the translated text of the poem is from the page for the same ZLH reading on their website, The Poem for You. You can toggle between Chinese and English to read the site's content; however, the readings are only in Chinese. But this is to be expected. After all, its goal is to spread awareness about Chinese poetry and culture.

It's wonderful that ZLH and many other big names in the Chinese drama world are on board with this. I think he sounds so chill in the way he reads this poem. I also find some actors' voices to be so alluring that they can make a grocery list sound like poetry. (I'm looking at you, my dearest Cheng Lei!)

Poems and other types of literature on the site are read aloud by a great variety of people, including voice actors, athletes, and other personalities in the performing arts such as dancers. The following are some of C-drama's familiar names.

(Keep in mind that the written content seems to be auto-translated, so we probably shouldn't expect a 100% accurate translation. Which is such a pity. I'm envious of those who are fluent in the language because they get to fully understand the poems' nuances that tend to get lost in translation.) The links lead to thepoemforyou website or its Weibo account.

• Wang Duo: here and here

• Cheng Yi: here

• Tian Xiwei: here

• Xiao Zhan (with voice actor Lu Zhixing): here

• Zeng Shunxi: here

• Song Zu'er: here and here

• Wang Xingyue: here and here

• Xu Kai: here

• Li Yitong: here, here, and here

• Wang Anyu: here and here

• Ou Hao: here

• Dai Xu: here

• Chen Duling: here and here

• Li Landi: here and here

• Chen Xingxu: here

• Ding Yuxi: here, here, and here

• Zhang Ruonan: here

• Zhai Zilu: here

• Zhao Lusi: here

• Li Yunrui: here

• Shen Yue: here

• Song Yi: here

• Michelle Chen: here

• Tan Jianci: here, here, and here

• Jing Boran: here

• Bai Yu: here

• Yu Menglong: here

I may have missed some because there are so many poetry readings on the site. Besides Cheng Lei, I also liked listening to Chen Xingxu, Ding Yuxi, Song Zu'er, and Zhang Ruonan here.

I hope that Liu Yuning, Yang Yang, and Bai Jingting also lend their voices to poetry readings like these. They have such beautiful speaking voices!

也许是一次合唱
吕德安

在房间里，窗帘的颜色
能改变一切。就像白昼
光线下的一棵树影
而我的耳畔只听到:
如果你爱我就要有勇气
把我带入这样的房间

唯一的变化是那幅窗帘
在房间里，它是我心灵的慰藉
那棵树也一样，它让小鸟
浓荫下唱得更炽热:
如果你爱我就要有勇气
把我带入这样的房间

许多年过去，换过多少房间
窗帘依旧，只是更加稀薄
树也不复存在，但是风中
一个声音时远时近:
把我带入这样的房间
如果你爱我就要有勇气

(Translation via Deepl)

Perhaps a Chorus
Lü De'an

In a room, the color of the curtains
can change everything. Just like the shadow of a tree
in the light of day,
and all I hear in my ear is:
If you love me, you must have the courage
to bring me into a room like this

The only thing that has changed is that curtain;
in this room, it is a comfort to my soul.
Just like that tree, which makes the little birds
sing even more passionately beneath its dense shade:
If you love me, you must have the courage
to bring me into a room like this

Many years have passed, and I’ve moved through so many rooms
The curtains remain, only now they are thinner
The tree is no longer there, but in the wind
a voice comes and goes:
Take me into a room like this
If you love me, you must have the courage

(From Evening Rain: Forty Years of Poetry by Lü De'an: 1979-2019)

==========

Cheng Lei lent his voice to "Reading Poetry for You," a platform to promote Chinese poetry and culture. I would be happy to listen to the man read anything, but I'm even happier to hear him read a poem. His voice is so intimate -- the way it rises and falls, almost whispering at times, gives me goosebumps. I know whose voice I'll be falling asleep to tonight.

Source: Reading Poetry for You on Weibo

Busy as he is filming The Leading Stars nowadays, Cheng Lei still makes time to support his friends and colleagues. He bought cloud seats as a sign of support for Hou Ming Hao, Ai Mi, Meng Ziyi, and He Yu.

For those unfamiliar with the cloud seat buying practice, here's an explanation.

Hou Ming Hao and Ai Mi are the leads in the newly released drama Key to the Phoenix Heart. Cheng Lei worked with HMH in Fangs of Fortune, and with Ai Mi in My Journey to You (though I don't remember them having any scenes together in that drama).

Meng Ziyi and He Yu star in Blossoms of Power, also a new drama. I don't know if he's worked with either of them in the past.

For Mo Li/The First Jasmine, many friends of both Cheng Lei and Bai Lu also bought cloud seats to support their drama. It's just so good to see these actors wishing success for others' works in a tangible way. And the fans who win these "seats" get to experience this goodwill as well.

The images in this post were translated with Google Translate. Sources for the untranslated images are here: 1 | 2

Cheng Lei has said in interviews that he exercises every day, and all those hours in the gym haven't been in vain. I mean, just look at that body! And it isn't just for appearance's sake, too. He's giving those beautiful muscles a full workout in The Leading Stars, immersing him more fully as the strong, dashing rescuer Captain Cheng Zhuo.

We know how much Cheng Lei loves his food. He once said that when he's at weddings, one of the things he thinks about is when they're going to start serving the food. And in an interview, he mentioned eating nine meals a day when he visited Chengdu. This probably isn't something he does on a daily basis, but I'm sure he's taking in all the calories he needs to fuel his body's needs when he's shooting physically grueling scenes.

One teeny tiny nitpick: they aren't showing his tattoos. I hope one day there'll be a drama where he can show them all off.

Videos here.

From Bai Lu's Weibo:

感谢这场过云雨，让命运稍作停留。
我们并肩而坐，潮湿的风从耳边吹过，
故事时而狭窄，时而辽阔。

雨停了。
亲爱的阿璃，我为你高兴，
你可以在林间奔跑，也可以在溪边停下。
这世间所有的悲喜，我相信，你都能坦然面对了。

虽然心中万般不舍，但我也明白，是时候让你从我身上离开了。
就像外祖父说的，“你不能停下来，不要被过去困住。你的路，在前方，不在身后。”

分别在即，送你一朵小茉莉，
祝你一路向山，且歌且行。
合上这幅卷轴，愿我们在更大的世界里相见。

Thank you for this passing rain, which allowed fate to pause for a moment.
We sat side by side, the damp wind whispering in our ears,
our story sometimes narrow, sometimes vast.

The rain stopped.
My dearest Ali, I am happy for you.
You can run through the woods, and you can stop by the stream.
I believe you can face all the joys and sorrows of this world with equanimity.

Although my heart is filled with reluctance, I understand it is time for you to leave me.
Just as my grandfather said, "You cannot stop, do not be trapped by the past. Your path is ahead, not behind."

As we part, I send you a small jasmine,
wishing you a journey towards the mountains, singing as you go.
Closing this scroll, may we meet again in a larger world.

The first part of the video seems to be a promo clip, and I get the feeling of passionate emotion that Cheng Lei's character, Yu Chang Xuan, is keeping on a tight leash. The video's second part is a BTS clip of a wedding scene, which is likely to undergo heavy editing because the appearance of tongue (no matter how brief) may violate censorship rules. Boo.

There are several more steamy BTS kissing scenes floating around, and it looks like there won't be any shortage of skinship and passion in The Lament of Autumn!

MyDramaList synopsis:

>During the period of the Republic of China, amidst the fragmentation caused by the warlords, Ye Ping Jun, a student, takes a job at a meeting house in western Hunan to raise money for her mother's medical treatment. On her first day of work, she finds herself involved in an attempted assassination against the fifth son of the Yu family. Wrongfully accused, she makes a bet with Yu Chang Xuan: he has ten days to find the true culprit. Yu Chang Xuan sees this as an opportunity to get closer to Ye Ping Jun and begins courting her, although he hides his true intentions.

Rumors say TLoA will start airing in September 2026, but we still have to wait for official confirmation. I was planning on reading the novel first before watching the show because possible spoiler alert: >!I want to see just how much of a bloody red flag CL's character is (readers say he did some really terrible things) before the show transforms the color of that flag to green.!< It's also said that the TV adaptation is a HUGE departure from the novel, so I wanted to read the original story first and see how the show changes it.

Another reason I'm so eager for TLoA is because Xu Ruohan is in it. She and Bai Lu are my two favorite actresses, so getting two Cheng Lei dramas back to back with my top C-drama FLs feels like I'm getting my Christmas gifts early this year!

Sources:

1, 2

My jaw just dropped to the floor and I can't seem to pick it back up. Cheng Lei as Cheng Zhuo in The Leading Stars is almost too hot to handle. Look at that physique! So amazing. And him in a tank top, jeans, and this overall rugged look is a visual I'm loving.

This looks like a wrestling scene between him and Shen Yujie. Just wow.

I need to lie down now. After an ice cold shower.

Happy weekend!

Source: XHS