In an age filled with xianxia (fantasy wuxia) adaptations and re-adaptations of  wuxia classics, Tingxue Tower is a rare adaptation of a contemporary wuxia novel.

The rare contemporary wuxia adaptation Tingxue Tower 听雪楼 shows with its new trailer that it’s not just an attempt to revive the dying wuxia genre with a new story, but also seems to be a tribute to last decade’s highly-stylized wuxia films. The trailer has scenes reminiscent of the rain fight in Hero and the bamboo forest fight in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and definitely perks my interest.

 Bai Di (White Emperor), Xue Gu (Snow Valley) and Xue Mo (Blood Devil) are the most powerful wuxia masters in the pugilist world (wulin), and they form an alliance to defeat the heretical Moon Worship cult. Unfortunately Xue Mo becomes possessed by the cult’s sacred object, and commits suicide after killing his wife. They leave behind a young daughter Shu Jingrong (Yuan Bingyan), who is fated to bring harm to her loved ones.

Shu Jingrong starts to believe in the prophecy as well after the untimely death of her master Bai Di and disciple brother Qing Lan, though eventually finds out the Moon Worship cult was behind everything. She joins Xiao Yiqing’s (Qin Junjie) Tingxue Tower, and annihilates all the unorthodox sects to avenge the death of her parents. The leads’ love-hate relationship is what made the original novel a classic, but sadly the producers at H&R Century seem to have dropped it in favour of a less torturous romance.

Directed by Yin Tao (Glory of the Tang Dynasty) and written by Bai Yicong (Candle in the Tomb, The Lost Tomb) and Han Peizhen (Lost Love in Times),the 60 episode drama will probably air in 2019.