u/Patitoruani

This Behind the Scenes: Director's Edition series was created on a simple idea: following directors' portfolios is one of the many ways to discover new gems and stories.

Once you start watching cdramas, especially non-idol ones, you soon realise that certain stories and overall quality are often linked to specific production teams, scriptwriters and directors. Of course, not every series made by them will be a masterpiece every time, but it’s clear that some align better with your tastes and preferences than others. So, besides keeping an eye on the actors’ projects, following directors and production companies is also a good way to adjust expectations.

Today's entry is dedicated to Li Mo, a director whose portfolio includes very popular and well-loved dramas among international audiences, such as Remembrance of Things Past, Fake It Till You Make It, and Begin Again, mixed with others that have passed largely unnoticed: Song of Life and Me and My Family. It's a mystery why some of his projects are so well known while others remain hidden to this day, given the fact that you can find a common thread among them. It's worth noting that Remembrance of Things Past was nominated for Outstanding TV Series at the 33rd China TV Drama Flying Apsaras Award.

Most of his projects are female-centric, urban and modern, tackling issues where the balance between professional life, personal development and relationships, whether friendship, family or romantic love, is always present. Their characters are mostly young people in their 20s and 30s, and very relatable in their contemporary conflicts.

I’ll leave a link to his MDL profile if you’re interested in digging a bit deeper into his work.

Some of his projects

Director Li Mo: Remembrance of Things Past (2021) - Song of Life (2022) - Fake it Till you Make it (2023) - Begin Again (2024) - Me and My Family (2025)

🎬 Remembrance of Things Past (2021)
 我在他乡挺好的  ‧ Wo Zai Ta Xiang Ting Hao De
Synopsis: The drama focuses on the real life of young people from other places in big cities. Four girls from Northeast China are struggling in Beijing. They have dreams, but they are also forced to drift with the tide due to reality. They have their own life trajectories, and under certain special circumstances, their lives intersect.
 [More info]

🎬 Song of Life (2022)
三悦有了新工作   ‧ San Yue You Le Xin Gong Zuo 
Synopsis: Song of Life takes on the perspective of young individuals born after 1995. After a series of events, Zhao San Yue finds herself working as a mortuary makeup artist at a funeral parlor. The story tells the journey from when she first starts and doesn’t understand much of the career, to when she becomes serious about doing makeup for the deceased as she comprehends the matters of life and death.
 [More info]

🎬 Fake it Till You Make it (2023)
装腔启示录 ‧ Zhuang Qiang Qi Shi Lu
Synopsis: It tells the contemporary love story of Tang Ying and Xu Ziquan, who are struggling in the workplace of a big city, from testing each other to taking off their masks, and then to building trust and regaining themselves.
 [More info] - Review here

🎬 Begin Again (2024)
 灿烂的风和海 ‧ Can Lan De Feng He Hai
Synopsis: The play revolves around three adventures in Macau, a city where modern prosperity and ancient charm intertwine. The main story tells of Chen Jiahui, an art gallery curator with an outgoing personality, who meets Han Junhao, a race car driver who comes to Macau Grand Prix, and begins a romantic love story that combines speed and passion.
 [More info]

🎬 Me and My Family (2025)
 180天重启计划 ‧ 180 Tian Pei Chan Ji Hua 
Synopsis: Twenty-eight-year-old Gu Yun Su, facing heartbreak and unemployment, returns home to her mother, Wu Li Mei, who is unexpectedly pregnant at 48. As Wu Li Mei’s caregiver during the high-risk pregnancy, Gu Yun Su navigates life with her determined mother, new stepfather, and non-biological brother. Over 180 days, mother and daughter develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for each other.
 [More info]

Upcoming dramas

Li Mo - Simple Jane

🎬 Simple Jane
 简单的人生  ‧
Synopsis: The drama tells the story of a 35-year-old woman who gets caught in a loop of life. Through experiencing ordinary life, illness, and the pursuit of dreams, she eventually realizes where the meaning of life lies
Currently, there isn’t any info on MDL (not a surprise, and not the first time it’s happened...)

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Female-centric dramas aren’t really my thing, so it was only to be expected that I haven’t had much luck with Li Mo’s dramas, although I might give Begin Again a try at some point. I noticed and particularly like though, is that the Chinese names of their dramas are quite descriptive of their main topics, contrary to some of the English one that loose that flair.

But if you’re on the other side of the experience, you can surely add more insightful thoughts about Li Mo and his dramas. What can you say about them? Have you seen the less popular ones? Would you give them a try having watched the more popular ones?

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If you tap in the flair etiquete of this post, you'll find all the previous Director's Edition Series, or just check the WIKI

The Long Watch (交锋, Jiāofēng) is a modern spy drama, currently airing, that is inspired by and set against the backdrop of the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, and spans 20 years of cross-Strait espionage.

This is an ensemble drama, with young, mature and seasoned actors covering both sides and different kinds of national security work, but I'd say the novel time setting gives it a fresh feel in such a familiar type of story.

Accordingly, the news covers the impact it is having on both the mainland and the island, and the events that serve as both background and inspiration.

An article on the real events that inspired the story and the reaction among audiences on both sides of the Strait. (you´ll have to use google translate)

An article on the drama, the themes it tackles in relation to the real situation, and background on the series itself. (you´ll have to use google translate)

Article about the cast and the characters, with words from director Yao Xiao Feng and Wang Kai (you´ll have to use google translate)

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You can watch it on WeTV or Linmon Media Official Channel on youtube, for free.

The Chinese name, 交锋 (jiāo fēng) can be translated as "confrontation".

Remnants of Gold revolves around 300,000 taels of gold suddenly appearing in the desert of Northwest China during the early years of the Ming Dynasty, with rumours saying that those seeking it become vengeful ghosts, killing each other. When the Zhang family's escort agency was wiped out overnight, the daughter ventured alone into the desert to seek revenge while an imperial investigator was sent to solve the crime, marking the starting point of a tale of revenge, greed, loyalty, brotherhood, friendship and justice in this far, desolate part of the jianghu.

Gu Long (the novelist) and Xu Bing (the screenwriter and director) set the distinctive tone

This 13-episode drama is an adaptation of Gu Long's novel “Flying Eagle over the Great Land” (大地飞鹰 - Dàdì Fēiyīng.) by Xu Bing, who is also the director.  These two aspects are important when it comes to Remnants of Gold, as both the style of the novelist and Xu Bing's strong signature in his dual role, impact the type of wuxia you see on screen.

Let's start with Gu Long. I haven't read anything from him but the classic literature says his style in its mature period, to which the source material belongs, is known for having a distinctive minimalist prose with extensive dialogue like a script in a play, complex character psychology and Western literary influences, highlighting aspects of human life, intelligence, poetic philosophy and mysterious plots.

You can trace all the above in Remnants of Gold, where fight scenes are there but scattered and used more as a device to tell us something than as mere inevitable confrontations to showcase martial arts skills: unleashing the plot, revealing characters' positions and agendas, marking the climax both for the characters and the main story arcs.

Remnants of Gold (2026) cast: Xin Zhilei, Yin Fang, Chen Kun, Gao Weiguang

In fact, fight scenes were in general lacklustre, with few exceptions.Even when I wasn't expecting highly choreographed fights such as in Side Story of Fox Volant or Blades of the Guardians, considering Xu Bing's previous Eastern Heretic and Western Venom wuxia (2025) or Fearless Blood republican road trip (2023), they felt bland for his standards.

Xu Bing's style is also evident. This is the fourth drama I saw by him as screenwriter and director – the only one who managed to reach this achievement – and loved all of them. They're not for everyone's taste as they're full of personality, but they align with my sensibility.

Since the first episode of Remnants of Gold, a lot of things happen while apparently nothing is happening; the drama might feel slow sometimes but a lot is conveyed under this apparent pace. The story builds in arcs that increase the tension slowly until it explodes, then starts again from a slow pace to repeat the cycle but now with an evolved context and new characters, while the ending always leaves a bittersweet taste.

You could say that his usual big trademarks fit perfectly with Gu Long's soul, while also bringing his own flavour through subtle touches of dry humour, random characters showing up to distort plans, absurd situations that test your patience, simultaneously contrasting dynamic scenes in a sequence. All characters, even the smaller ones, are well fleshed out too, and all are entertaining and interesting in their own right.

The result is an atmospheric, moody drama which focuses on the characters' inner world and their interactions with each other, where the pursuit of gold is more of a test to reveal the real essence of those searching for it than a classic action-packed wuxia with heroes. If you like this combination, you’re in for a ride. 

Production with Xu Bing is always very solid, although this time the other aspect that was underwhelming besides the fight sequences was the cinematography. To clarify, the drama has texture, but the combination of studio settings and real locations (Dunhuang’s Mingsha Mountain, Guazhou, and Aksai) downgrades the final result somehow in my opinion. I wrote a post talking about it here, so I won't elaborate further now. I'll just say it wasn't a dealbreaker for me, as I was enthralled by the general mood, and after an initial adjustment, it became secondary to the whole experience.

The Gold and the Desert will test who you really are

Friendship, loyalty, justice, corruption, what's right and what is wrong are the underlying topics, as expected in all wuxias, but in this jianghu there's no hero, or at least the classic ones you could call such. The far desert land with its infinite sand, constant wind, desolate conditions, scorching sun and unbearable heat forgives nobody and pushes everybody to their limits: the decisions they make along the way will show who they've become and who they truly are, whether they like it or not. Some characters have more arc development than others, but they always remain coherent within their logic.

Every character can be defined by their relationship with gold: a tool for freedom and a life of pleasure, a tool to gain and have power, simple greed, those who don't care about it at all for several reasons, those who are bound to it due to loyalty and brotherhood, an excuse to accomplish revenge. But they're also defined by their relationships with others: the most important things are those that sometimes are kept unsaid, while other times are said directly; on other occasions, what is said opposes what is done,, and for others, both words and actions match.

The desert is the omnipresent character that determines everyone's fate, and from whom they can't escape: For some, it's a trap; for others, a choice; in other cases, it's part of who they are and what they value; it can even be freedom for a few.

Remnants of Gold (2026) - characters

I had fun with all the characters without exception, including endearing or remarkable smaller ones. Among the main ones, my favourite is the complex and conflicted Yu Hou. It's been a while since I liked a character so much, and it's definitely because of the writing and the excellent performance by Chen Kun, really fleshed out but restrained. And I also ended up liking Yu Ping quite a bit, played by my hit-and-miss Yin Fang - this time on the bright side. As for the secondary ones, I was particularly entertained by the coroner and the bandit Tie Futu – whose actor happened to be the director of Side Story of Fox Volant!.

For me, Remnants of Gold is a very engaging human study disguised as a gold treasure hunt in a far and harsh jianghu, with a very distinctive personality, well written, well executed, well acted. I was thrilled to have a wuxia with this flavour and this mood set in these desolate locations, a breath of fresh air I truly appreciate. Without doubt, it has cemented Xu Bing as one of my favourite cdrama screenwriter-directors for his latest projects.

EDIT:

• non-Mandarin source for the style / resonance: wuxiasociety.com
• after the exchange I researched further. a paper translation of Gu Long's own words about how he understood what wuxia should be (coinciding with my own reading of what I saw in this Xu Bing's audiovisual adaptation). Author: Yan Wang Title: My translation of Prologue of Gu Long's martial arts novel "End of the World, Bright Moon and The Blade (1974)" Platform: Academia.edu

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FACTSHIT

- Original Chinese Name: 金色 (Jin se) translated as "gold" (edited: golden)

- Episodes: 13

- Production: Tencent

- Director: Xu Bing (What a Wonderful World, Fearless Blood, EasternHeretic and Western Venom)

- Screenwriter: Xu Bing (What a Wonderful World, Fearless Blood, EasternHeretic and Western Venom)

- Cast: Xin Zhilei, Yin Fang, Chen Kun, Gao Weiguang, Ken Wu, Bu Guan Jin, Yin Zhu Sheng, Lian Yi Ming

- Broadcast: Tencent, WeTv

I’m loving Remnants of Gold, and the joy it’s brought me so far just solidifies Xu Bing as one of my favorite cdrama screenwriters/directors. So, while (im)patiently waiting for the last third of the drama to unlock past the Express Package wall, I decided to fight the urge to binge by researching the only aspect that struck me at the beginning and made me adjust my expectations (nothing deal-breaking, though): in many scenes, the desert setting didn’t feel real to me.

I knew the drama was filmed in real locations, as stated in promotional material. The crew spent nearly two months in uninhabited areas of Dunhuang’s Mingsha Mountain, Guazhou, and Aksai. Conditions were harsh: daytime temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius and nighttime temperatures dropping drastically, with frequent sandstorms and nowhere to hide from the scorching sun.

Why, then, does the drama have all the right texture but still feel like it was filmed in a studio? Why didn’t the sun blind my eyes? Why didn’t the heat seem excruciating in what I was seeing, except for a few characters? Why couldn’t I feel the untamed, implacable roughness of nature?

Cdrama Remnants of Gold, by Xi Bing (2026)

I vividly remember the opposite happening with the film Ashes of Time Redux (2008) by Wong Kar-wai, and with the drama Born to Be Alive (2026), directed by Li Xue. The first one was filmed in the sand deserts of northwestern China under similar conditions, while the second was filmed on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the largest and highest plateau in the world, over 4,500 meters above sea level. This high-altitude cold desert lacks oxygen and brings extreme, unpredictable weather, high solar radiation, and drastic temperature swings between day and night as well.

Ashes of Time Redux movie (2008) by Wong Kar-wai

Cdrama Born to Be Alive (2026) by Li Xue

So I juggled a few different theories, and after researching a bit, I concluded that what we see on screen is the result of a combination of factors: filming techniques, settings, color grading and lighting, and creative decisions about all of them. If there’s a specialist in the room, I’d love to hear their perspective, since I’m just an inquisitive watcher writing about what I learned and understood (using AI to check the correct processes and terminology).

The First Theory: Film vs. Digital

Ashes of Time was shot on photochemical film, which reacts to overexposure in a very specific way: highlights burn gradually and organically, with halos and bloom spilling out around the light source. It comes down to a chemical process in how the film stock responds to light.

When the sun hits directly, or there’s strong backlight, film lets that extra light spill gently outward into a warm halo, almost like it’s bleeding across the frame. That’s why those scenes make the viewer physically feel the glare, as if the sun were hitting them too, not just the characters on screen.

Plus, cinematographer Christopher Doyle shot it with very long lenses that make the desert look bigger and closer than it really is. And because they were filming in that insane heat, the hot air literally warps the image on the lens. That shimmering you see? That’s not an effect added later; that’s actual desert heat bending the light.

Ashes f Time Redux movie (2008)

Digital cameras, on the contrary, often produce a flatter look than film because of how they’re built to capture light. A digital sensor usually records footage in a deliberately low-contrast, muted way at first, leaving room to adjust color and contrast properly later, in editing.

In other words, film’s contrast and color response are already baked in chemically the moment light hits it, so there’s no separate flat starting point to fix afterward. Meanwhile, in a modern digital production, there’s often a deliberate effort to stop light from fully blowing out. As we can see in Remnants of Gold, the result is a smoother, more controlled image: you can show a desert with all its texture, but without the sun’s glare.

Cdrama Remnants of Gold (2026) by Xu Bing

Cdrama Remnants of Gold (2026) by Xu Bing

The Problem with That Theory

Digital cameras are the standard practice worldwide, and in Chinese entertainment too. On top of that, streaming platforms need footage to look watchable on every kind of screen, from a movie theater, to a big-screen TV, to a phone in bright daylight, so a lot of the extreme brightness and darkness gets compressed into a safer middle range during the final color pass.

As someone who grew up watching films and series in the ’90s, and who still watches old movies, the lack of contrast and brightness nowadays feels evident to me.

So this first explanation I came across made sense for Remnants of Gold and how I felt about it, but I still wasn’t entirely convinced. Born to Be Alive was also filmed around the same time, with digital cameras, on natural locations, and the experience was completely different: it felt absolutely real, the contrast was high, and you could feel the sun hitting hard on the screen, and on the characters.

Cdrama Born to Be Alive (2026) by Li Xue

So it had to be something else; could it be the color grading? Because in other scenes, the similarities between Ashes of Time Redux and Remnants of Gold were crystal clear for me. If so, why go for a look and feel that kept the texture but downplayed the senses? I kept digging, and that’s where creative decisions and technical aspects collide to end in different products.

Some scenes and characterizations in Ashes of Time Redux (left) and Remnants of Gold (right)

So, What Was I Actually Seeing?

As I said, Born to Be Alive was completely filmed at a high altitude desert, with both outdoor and indoor settings being all real; houses, towns, hospital are all real constructions in place, part of the landscape. Same for Ashes of Time Redux, whose film process is famous for being a living hell for all the crew due to the extreme conditions of the desert. But that’s not the case for Remnants of Gold. Some BTS footage shows that some scenes and locations were filmed at studios, being a mixed production in this regard.

From what I understand, while the first two didn’t need to homogenize the lights and colors to an extreme because they always have the same source of light, unlike Remnants of Gold, which did have to. So, how do you make an even match between a sand desert at midday and a street in the middle of a desert recreated in a closed studio? By color grading and lighting exposure.

While lighting exposure happens during filming itself (controlled through the lights on set, filters, and camera settings), colour grading is the process of adjusting an image’s color and tone after filming, usually to give a project a consistent look or mood.

The movie and the two dramas, all three have different color grading and lighting exposure as a result of a mix of technical and creative decisions. Because there’s another aspect that can’t be dismissed: color grading and lighting exposure are also tools to create a mood, a vibe, adding to the story and what’s being told. And Remnants of Gold is very atmospheric, with a very particular vibe where these aspects definitely play a role.

Please keep in mind that all the above is based on the episodes I saw; I still have to see the final ones, and perhaps things are different there. So far, I have concluded that the overall look of Remnants of Gold is a result of the cameras used, the need to unify real locations with studio sets, and, most importantly, the mood and atmosphere Xu Bing wanted to create. We’ll probably never know for sure the exact weight of each factor in the final result.

Note: I tried to select images that closely resemble the audiovisual projects, because sometimes they’re edited and not faithful to the actual look and feel on the screen.

I'm loving Remnants of Gold, and the joy it's brought me so far just solidifies Xu Bing as one of my favorite cdrama screenwriters/directors. So, while (im)patiently waiting for the last third of the drama to unlock past the Express Package wall, I decided to fight the urge to binge by researching the only aspect that struck me at the beginning and made me adjust my expectations (nothing deal-breaking, though): in many scenes, the desert setting didn't feel real to me.

I knew the drama was filmed in real locations, as stated in promotional material. The crew spent nearly two months in uninhabited areas of Dunhuang's Mingsha Mountain, Guazhou, and Aksai. Conditions were harsh: daytime temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius and nighttime temperatures dropping drastically, with frequent sandstorms and nowhere to hide from the scorching sun.

Why, then, does the drama have all the right texture but still feel like it was filmed in a studio? Why didn't the sun blind my eyes? Why didn't the heat seem excruciating in what I was seeing, except for a few characters? Why couldn't I feel the untamed, implacable roughness of nature?

C-drama Remnants of Gold (2026 - Xu Bing)

I vividly remember the opposite happening with the film Ashes of Time Redux (2008) by Wong Kar-wai, and with the drama Born to Be Alive (2026), directed by Li Xue. The first one was filmed in the sand deserts of northwestern China under similar conditions, while the second was filmed on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the largest and highest plateau in the world, over 4,500 meters above sea level. This high-altitude cold desert lacks oxygen and brings extreme, unpredictable weather, high solar radiation, and drastic temperature swings between day and night as well.

C-Movie Ashes of Time Redux (2008 - Wong Kar-wai)

C-drama Born to Be Alive (2026 - Li Xue)

So I juggled a few different theories, and after researching a bit, I concluded that what we see on screen is the result of a combination of factors: filming techniques, settings, color grading and lighting, and creative decisions about all of them. If there's a specialist in the room, I'd love to hear their perspective, since I'm just an inquisitive watcher writing about what I learned and understood (using AI to check the correct processes and terminology).

The First Theory: Film vs. Digital

Ashes of Time was shot on photochemical film, which reacts to overexposure in a very specific way: highlights burn gradually and organically, with halos and bloom spilling out around the light source. It comes down to a chemical process in how the film stock responds to light.

When the sun hits directly, or there's strong backlight, film lets that extra light spill gently outward into a warm halo, almost like it's bleeding across the frame. That's why those scenes make the viewer physically feel the glare, as if the sun were hitting them too, not just the characters on screen.

Plus, cinematographer Christopher Doyle shot it with very long lenses that make the desert look bigger and closer than it really is. And because they were filming in that insane heat, the hot air literally warps the image on the lens. That shimmering you see? That's not an effect added later; that's actual desert heat bending the light.

C-Movie Ashes of Time Redux (2008 - Wong Kar-wai)

Digital cameras, on the contrary, often produce a flatter look than film because of how they're built to capture light. A digital sensor usually records footage in a deliberately low-contrast, muted way at first, leaving room to adjust color and contrast properly later, in editing.

In other words, film's contrast and color response are already baked in chemically the moment light hits it, so there's no separate flat starting point to fix afterward. Meanwhile, in a modern digital production, there's often a deliberate effort to stop light from fully blowing out. As we can see in Remnants of Gold, the result is a smoother, more controlled image: you can show a desert with all its texture, but without the sun's glare.

C-drama Remnants of Gold (2026 - Xu Bing)

C-drama Remnants of Gold (2026 - Xu Bing)

The Problem with That Theory

Digital cameras are the standard practice worldwide, and in Chinese entertainment too. On top of that, streaming platforms need footage to look watchable on every kind of screen, from a movie theater, to a big-screen TV, to a phone in bright daylight, so a lot of the extreme brightness and darkness gets compressed into a safer middle range during the final color pass.

As someone who grew up watching films and series in the '90s, and who still watches old movies, the lack of contrast and brightness nowadays feels evident to me.

So this first explanation I came across made sense for Remnants of Gold and how I felt about it, but I still wasn't entirely convinced. Born to Be Alive was also filmed around the same time, with digital cameras, on natural locations, and the experience was completely different: it felt absolutely real, the contrast was high, and you could feel the sun hitting hard on the screen, and on the characters.

C-drama Born to Be Alive (2026 - Li Xue)

So it had to be something else; could it be the color grading? Because in other scenes, the similarities between Ashes of Time Redux and Remnants of Gold were crystal clear for me. If so, why go for a look and feel that kept the texture but downplayed the senses? I kept digging, and that's where creative decisions and technical aspects collide to end in different products.

Some scenes and characterizations in Ashes of Time Redux (left) and Remnants of Gold (right)

So, What Was I Actually Seeing?

As I said, Born to Be Alive was completely filmed at a high altitude desert, with both outdoor and indoor settings being all real; houses, towns, hospital are all real constructions in place, part of the landscape. Same for Ashes of Time, whose film process is famous for being a living hell for all the crew due to the extreme conditions of the desert. But that's not the case for Remnants of Gold. Some BTS footage shows that some scenes and locations were filmed at studios, being a mixed production in this regard.

From what I understand, while the first two didn't need to homogenize the lights and colors to an extreme because they always have the same source of light, unlike Remnants of Gold, which did have to. So, how do you make an even match between a sand desert at midday and a street in the middle of a desert recreated in a closed studio? By color grading and lighting exposure.

While lighting exposure happens during filming itself (controlled through the lights on set, filters, and camera settings), colour grading is the process of adjusting an image's color and tone after filming, usually to give a project a consistent look or mood.

The movie and the two dramas, all three have different color grading and lighting exposure as a result of a mix of technical and creative decisions. Because there's another aspect that can't be dismissed: color grading and lighting exposure are also tools to create a mood, a vibe, adding to the story and what's being told. And Remnants of Gold is very atmospheric, with a very particular vibe where these aspects definitely play a role.

Please keep in mind that all the above is based on the episodes I saw; I still have to see the final ones, and perhaps things are different there. So far, I have concluded that the overall look of Remnants of Gold is a result of the cameras used, the need to unify real locations with studio sets, and, most importantly, the mood and atmosphere Xu Bing wanted to create. We'll probably never know for sure the exact weight of each factor in the final result.

------

Note: I tried to select images that closely resemble the audiovisual projects, because sometimes they're edited and not faithful to the actual look and feel on the screen.

As always, a trend means a theme sparks interest and soon we're starting to see the pattern everywhere; cdramaland is no exception. If the theme happens to be among your interests, you'll most probably have plenty for a lucky season.

That seems to be happening with Chinese opera dramas lately, though not all of the same tradition. We had The Lead, focusing on a female lead actress of a Qin Opera troupe, which aired in the first months of 2026. And in the second half, if everything goes smoothly, we'll have Yun Que Jiao Tian Lu (云雀叫天录) based on the life of real opera actor Tan Xinpei. As it appears as Gladiator in the Theater on My Drama List but in other sources it's referred to as Beyond the Clouds, I chose to use the Chinese name until its official English one is confirmed. The issue has been quite chaotic lately lol

I initially thought Yun Que Jiao Tian Lu (Beyond the Clouds / Gladiator in the Theater) was another Qin Opera story, but it's actually set in the world of Peking Opera (Jingju), and Tan Xinpei was a real, historic master of that tradition, founder of the "Tan school," who rose to fame toward the end of the Qing dynasty. That means Yun Que Jiao Tian Lu also brings back another historical drama to the screen, a genre that's had a comeback in 2026.

Here are the details:

🎬Yun Que Jiao Tian Lu

Yun Que Jiao Tian Lu

• Original Chinese Name:  云雀叫天录 (Yun Que Jiao Tian Lu) can be translated as "The Skylark's Song to Heaven"
• Possible English names: Beyond the Clouds / Gladiator in the Theater
• Director: Zheng Da Sheng
• Cast:: Zhang Yishan, Tan Zhuo, Cao Lei, Yang Lixin

🎬The Lead

The Lead (主角) - 2026

• Original Chinese Name:  主角 (zhǔ jué) can be translated as "Main Character" or "The Protagonist"
• Director: Li Shaofei
• Cast:: Zhang Jiayi, Liu Haocun, Qin Hailu, Shawn Dou
• Review HERE

For anyone wondering, like me, how the two traditions actually differ:

Qin Opera (Qinqiang) comes from Shaanxi and is one of the oldest opera styles in China, known for its harsh, high-pitched vocals accompanied by wooden clappers — a sound closer to a battle cry than a melody.

Peking Opera (Jingju), on the other hand, is younger and more "national" in scope, born in Beijing around the turn of the 19th century out of a blend of several regional traditions, Qin Opera among them, into the elaborate face-painted, acrobatic style most people picture when they hear "Chinese opera."

What do you think about this trend? Too much of the same all of a sudden, or do you welcome it either way, as long as it means more variety for cdramaland overall?

Are you planning to watch Yun Que Jiao Tian Lu (云雀叫天录)? I do love the poster.

Republican-era dramas span from 1911 to 1949, years of tumultuous, chaotic, cruel and violent times, not only in China but across the world. As with almost everything in the 20th century, you blink and you miss important acts that change the landscape without giving you a break, with multiple factors and realities coexisting all at the same time.

Of course, this provides endless material for dramas and movies, and while they’re often related to espionage, war and political intrigue, there’s more than meets the superficial eye.

You have the clash of anarchist, fascist, socialist and liberal ideas of the first half of the century; you have two of the bloodiest and most cruel wars in human history; you have some of the most complex espionage scenarios both in the West and Asia that have been seen up to this day; you have cruel civil wars in many places; you have imperialist powers abandoning their colonies (not always in the best way or completely) and you have common people struggling to build a better life... the world as a theatre stage isn’t an exaggeration.

So, for those looking to explore different stories, here are six Republican-era Chinese dramas worth exploring. They range from solid to excellent in story, direction, acting (their casts are full of some of the most renowned Chinese actors), and production, and each of them provides a different take on the period. Some of them have reviews in this Sub.

🎬 Awakening Age (2021) — The birth of the Communist Party. Ideal to understand why and how the Communist Party started in China during the early years of the century. 🎥 Directed by Zhang Yongxin (The Advisors Alliance, Echoes of a Thousand Moons), with Yu Hewei, Cao Lei, Zhang Tong, and Bi Yangjun.

🎬 Northwest Years (2024) — About Xi Zhongxun, one prominent figure of the Communist Party in Northwest China. It starts in 1927, when the already-conflicted relationship between the Nationalists (Kuomintang) and the Communists broke down, and follows the story until the end of the Civil War in 1949. 🎥 Directed by Dong Yachun, with Jin Dong, Yu Hewei, Ni Ni, and Leo Wu.

🎬 Fearless Blood (2023) — This is a wuxia-ish road trip set in the southeast of China, where Communists, Nationalists and warlords (military figures holding regional power) clash in an absurd black comedy through rural landscapes before eventually ending up in Shanghai. 🎥 Directed and written by Xu Bing (the same director behind Remnants of Gold and What a Wonderful World), with Zhang Yi, Tong Liya, Dong Zijian, Zhang Luyi, and Liao Fan.

🎬 The Disguiser (2015) — A classic about espionage in Shanghai during the Japanese Occupation (1937–1945), perhaps the best known among international audiences. 🎥 Directed by Li Xue (the same director behind Born to Be Alive and Like a Flowing River S2), with Hu Ge, Jin Dong, Wang Kai, and Liu Mintao.

🎬 War of Faith (2024) — This one almost needs no introduction: it focuses on financial struggles to strengthen the Republic amid the tumultuous years of the 1930s and 1940s, covering both the years leading up to the Japanese Invasion and the subsequent war, as well as the conflicts between the Kuomintang and the Communists. 🎥 Directed by Yao Xiaofeng (the same director behind Northward, Always on the Move, and Tender Light), with Wang Yang, Wang Yibo, Li Qin, and Zhang Tianyang.

🎬 Echoes of a Thousand Moons (2026) — A drama about the War of Resistance against the Japanese Invasion (the prelude to the Asian theater of WWII), from 1937 to 1945, focusing on the resilience of ordinary people, civilians and soldiers, and their love for their land. 🎥 Also directed by Zhang Yongxin, with Huang Chengcheng, Wang Yang, Wan Qian, Bi Yangjun, Yu Hewei, and Cao Lei.

As a bonus pick, heavier than the rest but essential

🎬 Man's Inhumanity to Man (2025) — Set during Japan's occupation of Harbin, this dual-timeline drama follows a 1992 museum researcher uncovering buried records that expose the human experiments and atrocities committed by Unit 731, closing each episode with real testimony from the Khabarovsk War Crimes Trials. 🎥 Directed by Suan, with Jiang Qilin, Zhang Yu, and Yin Zheng.

This Behind the Scenes: Director's Edition series was created on a simple idea: following directors' portfolios is one of the many ways to discover new gems and stories.

Once you start watching cdramas, especially non-idol ones, you soon realise that certain stories and overall quality are often linked to specific production teams, scriptwriters and directors. Of course, not every series made by them will be a masterpiece every time, but it’s clear that some align better with your tastes and preferences than others. So, besides keeping an eye on the actors’ projects, following directors and production companies is also a good way to adjust expectations.

Today's entry is dedicated to Yang Lei, a director whose portfolio includes acclaimed and award-winning dramas such as Three-Body and Swords into Plowshares, as well as the recent Ren Yu (thriller) and About Love. He tends to focus on atmosphere and realism in his dramas, and he is quite versatile, having worked on sci-fi, thrillers, historicals, and much more.

Regardless of the final result and your opinion of his portfolio, you can’t deny the fact that he has at least two milestones under his belt: a turning point for Chinese science fiction on TV, with the faithful adaptation of Three-Body, and the return to the small screen of the long-missed “proper” historical dramas with Swords into Plowshares.

I’ll leave a link to his MDL profile if you’re interested in digging a bit deeper into his work.

Some of his projects

C-Dramas directed by Yang Lei: Three-Body (2023) - Three Body Anniversary Cut (2024) - Swords into Plowshares (2026 - About Love (2026) - Ren Yu (2026)

🎬 Three Body (2023)
 三体  ‧ San Ti
Synopsis: Set in 2007, the series follows nanomaterials expert Wang Miao, who is recruited by gritty police detective Shi Qiang to investigate a disturbing wave of suicides among the world's top physicists. As Wang delves into the mystery, he is drawn into a secretive organization and a hyper-realistic virtual reality game called Three-Body, which slowly reveals a far grander and more terrifying truth: humanity is not alone. Based on the sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
 [More info]

🎬 Three Body (Anniversary Cut - 2024)
 三体  ‧ San Ti
Synopsis: The director´s cut from the original version of the drama, reduced to 26 episodes. Changes were done mostly in the first half: tighter pacing, condensed early episodes, fewer flashbacks, trimmed subplots, and improved sound and color grading, but the core story remains unchanged, and no major new footage was added.
Review here

🎬 Swords into Plowshares (2026)
 太平年  ‧ Tai Ping Nian
 Synopsis: Set during the turbulent Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the drama draws inspiration from a major historical turning point over a thousand years ago. Amid war, political collapse, and widespread suffering, Qian Hong Chu, Zhao Kuang Yin, and Guo Rong are three driven young men whose experiences gradually lead them to question the cost of division and the meaning of stability.
 [More info] Review here

🎬 About Love (2026)
玫瑰丛生 ‧ Mei Gui Cong Sheng
 Synopsis: The drama follows Li Xiaoxi, a woman who works as a "love appraiser". Having witnessed countless deceptions and lies in her line of work, she has grown cautious and serious about love, building walls around her heart. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Xiao Bei, a loyal and steadfast man.
 [More info]

🎬 Ren Yu (2026)
 人鱼 ‧ Ren Yu
 Synopsis: It follows Su Lin, a poor and neglected teenage girl whose life unravels after she wins a role in a school play and clashes with a jealous classmate. When she falls into an underground pipe and goes missing, her fate becomes entangled with the discovery of three female bodies in the city's underground river, sparking an investigation that slowly exposes the dark family secrets behind it all.
 [More info] Recommendation here

Upcoming dramas

Upcoming Dramas by Yang Lei: A Prophet

🎬 A prophet
 长风起 ‧ Zhang Feng Qi
 Synopsis: Set between 1915 and 1921, it follows Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, and Hu Shi amid the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth Movement, culminating in the protests against the Treaty of Versailles and the founding of the Communist Party of China.
 [More info]

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I, personally, don’t vibe much with Yang Lei. I’ve tried two of his dramas and dropped them both due to pacing and storytelling issues that didn’t align with my preferences, but I did enjoy Three-Body: The Anniversary Cut a lot. Even then, it wasn’t love at first sight. Nevertheless, I have A Prophet among the upcoming releases I want to check out, mainly because of its Republican Era setting and because Wu Gang is in the cast. I miss seeing him on screen.

Despite my preferences, Yang Lei has a lot of fans and followers, so perhaps he’s your cup of tea, and I’m pretty sure many people have liked at least one of his most famous series.

How would you describe his projects? Can you identify some distinctive traits?

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If you tap in the flair etiquete of this post, you'll find all the previous Director's Edition Series, or just check the WIKI

 

I don't know how many are watching this police series on WeTV, but it's surprised me with its fresh take.

Perhaps it won't be everybody's cup of tea, but I'm really liking it so far! Directed by Xing Jian Jun (Under the Skin), and led by Duan Yi Hong (The Narcotic Operation, Sandstorm), the story is unfolding slowly but steadily, mixing subtle humour and emotional moments.

Just a curious note I found when looking for the meaning of the original Chinese title, "藏锋" (Cáng Fēng), which can be translated as "Hidden Blade."

It's a Taoist-influenced philosophy of strategic humility, meaning:

· Concealing your brilliance to avoid envy, rivalry, or premature burnout.

· Not rushing to show all your cards; let your actions speak when the timing is right.

· Balancing strength with restraint, like a sharp sword kept in its sheath: ready, but not threatening.

It’s not weakness; it’s controlled power. The wise person knows when to shine and when to remain invisible because showing off too early invites obstacles, while patience leads to lasting success.

In short: "Stay sharp, but stay quiet until the moment demands you."

This just recently finished airing drama is based on the real life of Zhang Jian (1853–1926), a prominent Chinese industrial entrepreneur, social reformer, politician, and educator in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

I always wonder why some dramas get all the hype and others go totally under the radar for international audiences, especially as this is a historical one. Fans of this genre are in for a feast in 2026, with two series airing in less than seven months after years of drought!

📺 You can watch it for free with decent English subs in YOUTUBE here:  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rnlS0mJgDro&pp=iggCQAE%3D

Key highlights of Zhang Jian’s life:

• A Top Imperial Scholar: He was born in Haimen, Jiangsu province. After receiving a traditional Confucian education, he achieved the highest level in the imperial civil service examinations in 1894, becoming a zhuangyuan (top scholar).
• From Scholar to Industrialist: Following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Zhang resigned from his official post. He believed that China's salvation lay in industrialization and modernization, so he founded the Dasheng (Dah Sun) Cotton Mill in 1895, which became the only private mill in China operating at a profit.
• A Vast Business Empire: From this starting point, he expanded his enterprises to include a flour mill, an oil mill, shipping lines, a distillery, and a machine shop. Over his lifetime, he founded more than 20 companies.
• A Pioneer in Education and Social Welfare: Zhang Jian was deeply concerned with social welfare and modern education. He built schools, roads, parks, orphanages, medical clinics, libraries, and a home for the aged. He founded over 370 schools, including the first modern teacher-training college (Nantong Normal College) in 1902 and the first private museum in China in 1905. His efforts transformed his hometown of Nantong into China's first modern city*.*
• A Political Figure: He was an advocate of constitutionalism and, after the 1911 revolution, served as the minister of agriculture and commerce in the new government

Note: the second picture of this post shows the real Zhang Jian

Here are some news about the drama, the cast, tourism-cultural actitivies related to it and the legacy of Zhang Jian.

Article on China Daily about the drama and how it approaches this historical figure

An article about some of his legacy: the Nangong Museum and the education system, with pictures from then and now.

Article about cultural tourism tours with activities in Qidong (you have to use goodle translate though)

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📺 You can watch it for free with decent English subs in YOUTUBE here:  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rnlS0mJgDro&pp=iggCQAE%3D

I was eagerly waiting for this drama to drop for ages, and it's finally here. 🤞🤞🤞🤞 it delivers.

The cast is full, and I mean FULL, of actors I like, major and minor roles. The production looks great, and the theme feels fresh.

Are you planning to check it out too? On iQIYI.

Sport dramas are difficult to make in my opinion. First of all, scripts have to strike a balance between the technical and the human aspects to create compelling storytelling for a general audience. Second, the technical requirements present a difficult dilemma to producers and directors: do you go for athletes with hopefully decent acting skills, or do you choose real actors and train them in the basics of the sport while finding ways to film great sports scenes that remain believable? 

Beyond, a drama about the history of Chinese Olympic short-track speed skating from the 1990s to the 2022 Beijing Olympics, manages to overcome both challenges quite comfortably.

The story starts in 2014 with a young girl determined to compete and win gold medals at the highest level in the sport. Her father and coach were both former national athletes who now coach the next generation. This provides the perfect excuse to tell the struggles and dreams of those athletes back in the 1990s while balancing them with the state of the sport in the 2010s, before naturally culminating in China hosting the Winter Olympics. 

From technical and medical conditions to infrastructure, training methods, and the creation of an ecosystem capable of nurturing young talent across different parts of the country before reaching the national team, everything is covered in a very solid way, with a particular emphasis on friendship, mentorship, and the lives of athletes.

The story set in the 1990s revolves around three friends whose lives represent the three main paths within the sport: >!the outstanding talent who finds himself alone at the top, the good athlete who simply isn't good enough to compete among the very best, and the one who is forced to abandon his passion because of an accident.!<

On the other hand, the story set in more recent times revolves around teamwork and the individual challenges each athlete faces in the pursuit of gold. The coaches, the former athletes themselves, serve as the link between both timelines and highlight both the evolution of the sport and the contrast between past and present from a national perspective.

One aspect that is sometimes even more touching than the series itself, at  least for me, is the brief segment at the end of each of the 29 episodes dedicated to interviews with real short-track speed skating athletes and coaches, sharing their own personal stories; you can genuinely feel their passion and love for the sport. The team behind the cameras used this material to write the script, so each episode's central theme is paired with a real-life testimony told by the people who actually lived it.

The pace is really good, with an excellent intertwining of human relationships and the various sporting situations throughout the whole drama. The focus on the core groups of friends, both in the past and the present, helps us as viewers connect with and become invested in their stories, although I felt that, during the last third of the series, this focus shifted somewhat and lost part of the strong hook it had.

At that point, the drama begin introducing short stories about other members of the national team that, while being representative of the diverse conflicts and struggles modern athletes face and are still interesting in their own right, don't quite have the same emotional impact as the core characters I had grown to cherish.

I'd also like to highlight the casting and directing choices, because the resemblance between the younger and older versions of the characters is fantastic. You can immediately tell who is who in each timeline, and the performances of both the seasoned actors and the younger cast make that continuity feel completely natural. Among the latter, I'd particularly like to mention Teresa Li and Liu Yi Tie, whom some of you may know from The Long Season; they're quickly becoming two of my favourite very young actors.

All in all, it's a very inspiring story about the determination, passion, and sacrifices these elite athletes make in pursuit of their dreams, while also offering an insightful look at the advances in sports science and technology, as well as the importance of public policies that support athletic development.

I wouldn't have expected to become invested in a drama about a sport I'd barely watched in my life, but I did.

TRAILER IN THE COMMENTS

Beyond in the News - with articles about the making of the drama

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FACTSHIT

- Original Chinese Name: 超越  (Chao Yue) translated as Beyod (2022)

- Episodes: 29

- Production: State Administration of Radio and Television, Shanghai Media Group, Shanghai Lemon Pictures

- Director: Zhang Xiaobo (Lady Liberty, In Bewteen, Nothing But Thirty)

- Screenwriter: Li Jia

- Cast: Hu Jun, Teresa LI, Sha Yi, Ma Li

- Broadcast: Tencent, Youku, Iqiyi (depending on region), Linmon Media Official Channel on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv74aGdf_Vg&list=PLK9tD0pLL-mO6ZwF92yftPpBtF4iVDqxm

I was trying to watch this movie since its release in Cannes and as the saying goes, "When there's a will, there's a way". I finally made it, and it totally surpassed my wildest expectations.

I'm in awe. Conceptual, innovative, visually stunning, complex, with multi-layered narratives and three subjects very close to me: Cinema, Chinese history in the 20th century, and Buddhism. Also, an ode to art and cinema as a collective dream, as a form of exploration in a society that worships technology and pure rationality. On top of all that, there's the sheer mastery of the film's technical language. I honestly have no words.

The dream/illusion is obviously the main theme, no matter from what perspective you approach it. One of the things that, in my opinion, makes this movie truly a masterpiece is that, besides its compelling cinematic language, it has several layers and multiple meanings that allow you to enjoy it regardless of whether you grasp one, two, or more of them, or of the interpretations you give them. To talk about it would be endless, and it would indeed require a discussion. I'm still processing everything I've seen.

This is the second time I've come across an audiovisual project structured around Buddhism while simultaneously exploring other, similar narratives or related themes. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, both were Chinese and released in 2025.

Directed by Bi Gan. To watch and rewatch many times, for whatever reason you choose. ..if you like/are familiar or interested in at least one of the subjects mentioned above.

TRAILER HERE

This Behind the Scenes: Director's Edition series was created on a simple idea: following directors' portfolios is one of the many ways to discover new gems and stories.

Once you start watching cdramas, especially non-idol ones, you soon realise that certain stories and overall quality are often linked to specific production teams, scriptwriters and directors. Of course, not every series made by them will be a masterpiece every time, but it’s clear that some align better with your tastes and preferences than others. So, besides keeping an eye on the actors’ projects, following directors and production companies is also a good way to adjust expectations.

Today's entry is dedicated to Zhang Yongxin, a director whose portfolio includes acclaimed dramas such as The Advisors Alliance and The Age of Awakening, and the recently aired Echoes of a Thousand Moons. His signature definitely leans towards the epic storytelling side of the spectrum, both in the scope of the stories and the themes they tackle no matter the time period, but without losing focus on the characters´ life.

He has a very personal perspective and voice that set his projects apart from more generic productions, and the fact that he usually works with a recurring group of seasoned and very solid actors, whether familiar or not to international audiences, is a plus that enhances the overall result.

Zhang Yongxin has been nominated for and won many industry awards (the Feitian Awards, the Flying Apsaras Awards, the Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards, and the Wenrong Awards), mostly for The Advisors Alliance and The Age of Awakening.

I’ll leave a link to his MDL profile if you’re interested in digging a bit deeper into his work.

Some of his projects

C-Dramas directed by Zhang Yongxin: The Advisors Alliance (2017) - Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon (2017-2018) - The Age of Awakening (2021) - The People Police (2024) - Echoes of a Thousand Moons (2026)

🎬 The Advisors Alliance (2017)
大军师司马懿之军师联盟 ‧ Da Jun Shi Sima Yi Zhi Jun Shi Lian Meng 
Synopsis: The story of Sima Yi, a great politician and strategist who lived during the Three Kingdoms era. By his side, Sima Yi has his politically-astute distaff members of his household, and pitted against them are the formidable Cao Cao and his heirs.
[More info]

🎬 Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon (2017-2018)
大军师司马懿之虎啸龙吟 ‧ Da Jun Shi Sima Yi Zhi Hu Xiao Long Yin 
Synopsis: This is the season 2 of The Advisors Alliance. From Sima Yi swords to Zhuge Liang's white crane feather fan, all hinted a war is about to break out. The relationship of Sima Yi and the second generation of Emperor Wei Cao Rui will be in play in part 2. Sima Yi's role as the "Minister" continue into Cao Rui and Cao Fang reign, where Sima Yi also encounter the greatest rival in his life.
[More info]

🎬 The Age of Awakening (2021)
觉醒年代 ‧ Juéxǐng Nián Dài
Synopsis: Set between 1915 and 1921, it follows Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, and Hu Shi amid the New Culture Movement and the May Fourth Movement, culminating in the protests against the Treaty of Versailles and the founding of the Communist Party of China.
[More info]

🎬 The People Police (2024)
人民警察 ‧ Renmin Jing Cha 
Synopsis: It depicts the public security work since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and follows officers growing in the face of deepening police reform.
[More info]

🎬 Echoes of a Thousand Moons (2026)
八千里路云和月 ‧ Ba Qian Li Lu Yun He Yue 
Synopsis: Set between 1937 and 1944 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, it depicts the war from the perspective of ordinary people. The story revolves around a righteous KMT brigade commander who has fallen from grace (Zhang Yunkui), his scholar father (Zhang Qixian), his well-educated and generous wife (Ding Yujiao), and a simple, uneducated cook (Meng Wanfu) whose path unexpectedly crosses theirs.. Along their journey, they experience the painful reality of war but also the resilience of people during this time.
[More info] - Review here too without spoilers

Upcoming

Upcoming Dramas by Zhang Yongxin: Wei Da De Chang Zheng - Qin Opera

🎬Wei Da De Chang Zheng
伟大的长征 ‧ Wěi Dà De Cháng Zhēng
Synopsis: Set in 1934 against the backdrop of Japan's escalating invasion and Chiang Kai-shek's fifth "Encirclement" campaign, it follows the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army as they are forced to undertake a strategic retreat. Marching through 11 provinces, crossing 24 rivers, and climbing 18 mountains, they cover 25,000 li (12,500 km) until the three main Red Army forces reunite in October 1936.
[More info]

🎬Qin Opera
秦腔 - Qínqiāng
Synopsis: Adapted from Jia Pingwa's novel, the drama unfolds along two intertwined narratives: one following the art of Qin opera and the other exploring the complex relationship between farmers and the land. Centered on the Bai and Xia families of Qingfeng Street over three decades of change, revealing the complex relationship between peasants and the land during China's rural social transformation.
[More info]

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I like Zhang Yongxin's style, both visually and narratively; you could say our sensibilities match. As a fan of the 20th century, I checked out The Age of Awakening but had to put it on hold because of the subtitles, although I was already hooked from episode 1 despite them. Now I've found the series with good subtitles, so it's my next Republican-era drama. And I loved Echoes of a Thousand Moons, for which I wrote a full review and several posts, and I'm actually reading a book about the war. It entered my "all-time favourite C-dramas" hall of fame.

I have Wei Da De Chang Zheng in my TWL because I've never seen anything about the Great March, and although it isn't a theme I'm particularly interested in for a series, my experience with Zhang Yongxin's other dramas made me curious enough to give it a chance. Same situation with Qin Opera, but I guess it'll take a bit more time to air.

What about you? Have you watched some of his works? Do you like them or not?

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If you tap in the flair etiquete of this post, you'll find all the previous Director's Edition Series

I saw the original version back in the ’90s while following Tony Leung Chiu-wai’s filmography and it was my first encounter with Wong Kar-wai. I didn’t know who he was at the time nor the fact that this was an insane cast, and although I forgot much of the movie, the lingering feeling it left me with after it ended has stayed with me to this day.

These past months I’ve had the opportunity to revisit WKW’s work, and I came across this 2008 Redux version (edited to correct year), in which the director rearranged certain elements. While watching it, I realized that all the scenes had remained fresh in some dark chamber of my mind, because as they appeared on screen, the memories came flooding back — yet I still couldn’t predict the following scenes. Quite an experience!

Now, with more knowledge of Chinese and Eastern culture in general, I realize this is WKW’s version of how Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, and Northern Beggar came to be, and I have even less doubt than before that Xu Bing is a great admirer of Wong Kar-wai. Having seen the trailer for his upcoming drama Remnants of Gold, I can clearly see the homage to Ashes of Time.

Another director who, I can tell, has liked Wong Kar-Wai filmography is Yu Xiaochen, the director of drama Back to the Origin, who must also admire Christopher Doyle’s cinematography, as he worked as a cinematographer himself before making his directorial debut.

And it also turned out that I did know Jacky Cheung from his glorious days — I just didn’t realize it lol.

Finally, the third part of several posts dedicated to the Reform and Opening Up era is here, ending the 80s quick coverage. If you're new to this saga and want to read the previous posts, you have the general overview in The Reform and Opening Up Era: The Iconic 80s and 90s We See in Period Dramas – PART 1 Introduction, and PART 2: The 80s (I) From Gaokao to Factories and Rural Reform covering the main issues of this decade that aren't mentioned in today's post. These are just some of the topics you'll usually find explored in so-called period dramas.

From PepsiCo to Pierre Cardin: A trial and error period for foreign Investment and Imports

Opening up the economy also meant opening the door to the outside world and dealing with the consequences of more internal reforms. The 1982 Constitution recognized private economy and foreign investment; then came stock trading experiments (Shenzhen 1986, Shanghai 1988) and banking reforms — the People’s Bank became the central bank in 1984, and commercial banks were created.

The 1980s was a learning period for both China and foreign investors, who at the beginning mostly were ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong, Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia), and Taiwan, as they shared language and cultural ties that helped build bridges.

Investments were restricted to the Special Economic Zones and Open Cities, relatively small is size, and often in light manufacturing, electronics assembly, and consumer goods such as textiles, toys, audio equipment, and food processing. The priority was always earn foreign currency first through exports, then spend it wisely on imports that help industrialize.

C drama The Dream Maker (2026), directed by Sun Hao

There were some European fashion and luxury brands. The Friendship Stores were authorized designated locations that sold these imported goods. Originally, only non-Chinese citizens, diplomats, or Chinese holding Foreign Exchange Certificates could enter and buy them. This was the two-currency system (RMB and FECs), which created a parallel economy throughout the 1980s.

By 1989, ordinary Chinese citizens could finally enter Friendship Stores. However, with the disappearance of FECs in the early 1990s and market liberalization, these stores lost their exclusive character and turned into common department stores, fully open to the public.

In Blossoms Shanghai (set at the beginning of the 90s but with references and flashbacks to the 80s), the big fuss around the national shirt brand Sang Yan is related to one of the most iconic foreign luxury brands that landed in China in 1979: Montagut. This French brand became a phenomenon, with Chinese people dreaming of owning a Montagut polo shirt to “change their image,” and even imitations became hugely popular. Nothing special to international audiences watching the drama, but indeed a very symbolic reference to that era.

C.Drama Blossoms Shanghai (2023-2024), directed by Wong Kai-war

Imports weren’t just about machinery and luxury goods. From Hong Kong came a cultural wave that transformed everyday life: TV dramas, cinema, and especially music. In the early 80s, portable cassette players and pirated tapes brought banned music to the youth — Teresa Teng’s romantic ballads, then rock and Cantopop. Hong Kong TV dramas and cinema soon followed. These imports quietly replaced revolutionary anthems as the mainstream, giving a generation a new soundtrack.

Tourism slowly opened too. In the mid-80s, China began issuing tourist visas to ordinary foreigners, building hotels and training guides. For the first time since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, ordinary foreign tourists could visit China.

City life and social issues

The early 80s also saw the introduction of the “one-child policy”, a population control measure only for Han people, that limited most urban families to a single child. Incentives rewarded compliance, but violators faced fines or job loss. The policy was finally abandoned in 2015.

Cdramas Always on the Move (2024)— Romance in the Alley (2024) — Wonderful World (2026)

In Romance in the Alley, you see siblings fighting over a single room. A returned zhiqing sleeps on a couch while her brother and his wife argue about who has the right to the bedroom. Many urban young people, the “sent-down youth”, had been forcibly sent to rural areas during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) to be “re-educated” through manual labor. The early 80s also saw an estimated 10 to 15 million of them — some with kids now — flood back to the cities, only to find that there were no jobs, no housing, and no social services waiting for them.

This created a profound social crisis and widespread resentment among a lost generation who felt betrayed by the state that had exiled them. The government responded by creating “youth labor service companies” and encouraging self-employment (the getihu policy mentioned in PART 2:The 80s (I) From Gaokao to Factories and Rural Reform). This experience shaped an entire generation’s worldview, creating a group of cynical, pragmatic, and fiercely survival-oriented individuals — a trait you might have also watched on screen.

Cdrama A lifelong Journey (2022), directed by Li Lu, dealing with city life and social issues in the 80s

By the late 80s, that same sense of being left behind — no housing, no stable jobs, broken promises after years of sacrifice — had spread well beyond the zhiqing generation. Runaway inflation, visible corruption among officials, and a widening gap between the reforms many people were promised and the reality they lived in all fed a broader current of frustration. It was this accumulated discontent, not any single grievance, that set the stage for Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Living all these massive transformations in just 12 years, in a country of more than 10 million km² and 1.4 billion people, is indeed beyond imagination. And the wild 90s still await!

The Reform and Opening Up Era: The Iconic 80s and 90s We See in Period Dramas – PART 1 Introduction

PART 2:The 80s (I) From Gaokao to Factories and Rural Reform

LIST OF SOME DRAMAS SET ENTIRELY OR PARTIALLY DURING 1980s OF THE REFORM AND OPENING-UP PERIOD

• Like a Flowing River
• Like a Flowing River 2
• The Lead
• The Dream Maker
• Romance in the Alley
• Wonderful Times
• Zhong Qi (upcoming)
• Miles to Go
• A lifelong Journey
• Always in the Move
• The Youth Memories

What I´ve always liked about cdramas is the infinite diversity of themes they tackle. So, if you search a bit, you´ll probably find a series about a topic you like or are list are curious about, even when it means you´ve never imagine that issue would be adressed in the screen. Besides sci-fi, ethnicity, work and professional sector related, development, relashionships, specific time periods, war and so on, you also have environmental dramas.

Personally, this is a theme I´m into from every perspective possible, so I´ll always be there to check a series which includes it somehow, wether from China or any country. Sometimes these productions can be too idealistic and out of touch with reality, or on the contrary, too "documentary-style", ending in dissapointment in both cases.

Among c-dramas, I have identifyed three productions about the topic, all quite recently. Above the Rivers was the first I recall. I wanted to see it because of the novelty of the topic, but there weren´t subs available for the international audience - no surprise uh?. But now, almost two years later there are, so I´m planning to check it in the near future - it starts Gao Weiguang if this makes a difference for some of you :).

Then, I discovered Sunrise on the River because of Huang Zhi Zhong (The Long River, Legend of the Magnate, Ming Dynasty 1566), and I tried 2 episodes but I didn´t have patient in that moment to let things unfold - or perhaps I just wasn´t in the mood for this kind of drama. I´m planning to check it again, but I wonder if some of you have seen it and can share some thoughts about it - is it worthy watching?

The last one is the most recent one, Born to Be Alive. What can I say? A mix of action, drama, thriller, anticorruption, development and, for me, one of the best productions from recent years that deserves to be watched by everyone. It captured my soul during its run and have stayed with me ever since, including bazilions posts, comments and a review. Far from an idealistic depiction or a dry documentary style, it´s one of the most gripping dramas I recall - bonus is based on real events.

So, what´s your take about these dramas and the topic? Do you know about others, old or upcoming ones? I´d like to check them too in that case!

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1. Above the Rivers (《江河之上》) - 2024

Genre: Legal drama, environmental judicial drama, political thriller.

What's it about? Set in the Yangtze River basin, this is China's first legal drama focused on environmental justice. It follows environmental judge Luo Yuan, court advisor Xia Weidong, and other judicial workers as they tackle a series of environmental cases. From illegal logging and waste dumping to trafficking protected species, the team fights pollution, combats corruption, and pushes for judicial reform—all while navigating complex cases based on real-life events.

The role of environmentalism: Environmentalism is the legal battlefield where justice and the law converge.

Director: Zhou Yaping

2. Born to be Alive (《生命树》) - 2026

Genre: Realistic drama, action, ecological thriller.

What's about? In the 1990s, on the harsh Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a young women becomes a key member of an anti-poaching patrol team whose captain misteriously dissapeared while trying to create a protected area. Years later, in the 2010s, as the already developed region faces new threats from corportate minning companies and corruption, they all gather again to uncover the illegal activities, the old mystery and protect the plateau's fragile ecosystem. Review here

The role of environmentalism: Environmentalism is the call to action for a generation of grassroots guardians.

Director: Li Xue (Like a Flowing River 2, Created in China, Nirvara in Fire, The Disguiser)

3. Sunrise on the River (《江河日上》) - 2024

Genre: Political drama, environmental suspense, thriller.

What's about? In the wetland city of Qijiang, a series of environmental crises - from water pollution to wetland destruction - erupts after the deputy mayor in charge of environmental protection dies under mysterious circumstances. University professor Zheng Hanjiang, an expert in the field, is thrust into the political firestorm as the new deputy mayor. Facing fierce opposition and tangled interests, he must navigate the treacherous waters of local politics to tackle pollution and save the city's environment.

The role of environmentalism: Environmentalism is the political puzzle that must be solved against all odds.

Director: Han Xiaojun