I’m so excited to see Li Qin playing a kick-ass martial artist / female general in The Song of Glory. Qin Hao plays Liu Yikang (yes, they changed the storyline during filming), the emperor’s brother who later becomes prime minister.
The 53 episode drama releases 2 eps every Wed-Fri on Tencent (subs on Viki).
Zhao Liying has grown into such a versatile actress with a plethora of solid dramas under her belt, but she’ll always have a special place in my heart as the spritely Su Huan’er in The Lovebirds 错点鸳鸯/戏点鸳鸯. With a low-budget and almost no big names at the time, The Lovebirds is like a good web-production before they were a thing. The set is bare and the costumes are cheap, but the cast is adorable and the interactions are cute X 1000.
The two-part drama series is split into the two parts, each very loosely adapted from a separate book by Xi Juan (Wrong Carriage, Right Groom). The first half originally told of a timetraveller who accidentally becomes the newly-wed wife of a warlord of the Shi family while the second tells of a crossdressing inspector who seeks refuge under the Shi family while seeking revenge for her father.
The Lovebirds is available with English subs here.
Zhao Liying as Su Huan’er:
Upcoming historical romance drama The Song of Glory 南歌, previously known as 雀谋 / 锦绣长歌 / Biding Time, comes from the producers of The Princess Weiyoung, and stars Li Qin (Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace) as the mistress of a dance house who is later revealed to be the missing daughter of a respected family of warriors. Qin Hao (Tomb of Sea) costars as Liu Yilong, the emperor of Liu Song and her main love interest. Continue reading
Queen Dugu chronicles the life of the titular empress Dugu Qieluo, played by Joe Chen (Big Brother). Chen Xiao (Red Rose) costars as her husband Yang Jian, who would later found the Sui Dynasty.
The 50 episode drama will release 2 episodes every Monday to Thursday on Youtube, Youku, Tencent and iQiyi beginning tonight. VIP members get an 8 episode head start.
Theme song by Joey Yung:
Joe Chen (Candle in the Tomb) plays the titular Queen (Empress) Dugu Qieluo, and Chen Xiao costars as her husband Yang Jian, later the Emperor Wen of Sui, in upcoming historical Queen Dugu 独孤皇后 (formerly The Unique China Queen).
Upcoming Tencent web drama Psychologist 心理师 stars Qiao Zhenyu (Perfect Wedding) as Xia Mu, an experienced psychologist and hypnotist with a split personality. Tang Yixin (I Love That Crazy Little Thing) stars opposite Qiao as his other personality and potential love interest Ouyang Xin, while Qi Ji (Memory Lost) costars as a detective.
Checking his watch to see if it’s time to air yet.
Chen Qiao’en is really getting all the men this week! A new set of solo stills were released for her upcoming series with Huang Xiaoming,Qi Ji, and Kimi Qiao Renliang – Cruel Romance. The drama is set for a Chinese New Year release next year on Hunan TV.
What the majority of us will probably look like while watching this drama… except not as pretty-looking.
Huang Xiaoming and Joe Chen Qiao’en recently finished filming for Cruel Romance (锦绣缘·华丽冒险), a Republican-era romantic drama that takes place in Shanghai and tells the love story of country girl Rong Jinxiu (Qiao’en) and triad leader Zuo Zhen (Xiaoming). We still have a way to go until an air date is announced, although a cast member said on Weibo that he expected the drama to air in September. In the meantime, tide yourself over with an action-packed trailer and some newly released stills.
If you were Chen Qiao’en, would you pick Huang Xiaoming or Kimi Qiao?
We weren’t supposed to see Huang Xiaoming star in a drama after he did Dark Fragrance (暗香) in 2009, but then Summer’s Desire (泡沫之夏) came along, and then he got the chance to film The Patriot Yue Fei (精忠岳飞). Now he’s back to 1930s Shanghai with his currently filming drama, Cruel Romance (锦绣缘·华丽冒险), which also stars Taiwanese actress Joe Chen Qiao’en.
Based on a novel by Nian Yi, Cruel Romance is the risky love story of Zuo Zhen (Huang Xiaoming) and Rong Jinxiu (Chen Qiao’en). This will be their second collaboration after Xiaoming’s guest appearance in Breaking the Waves (激浪青春), which does not appear to have ever aired in theaters, and Xiaoming’s first drama after he won this year’s Best Actor at both the Golden Rooster Awards and the Huabiao Awards.
Cruel Romance will also feature appearances from Kimi Qiao Renliang, mainland actress Lv Jiarong (Schemes of a Beauty, Swordman), Hong Kong actor Gardner Tse (The Mad Phoenix), and mainland actor Qi Ji (The Last Tycoon). Check behind the cut for the drama’s first batch of stills.
Continue reading
Deng Jiajia reassures her mistress that their drama is really finally being broadcast.
Having been filmed in 2010, the drama Romance of the West Chamber has finally started broadcasting. (Though three years isn’t really that long – Yang Mi’s Great Qin Expressway was filmed in 2007 and didn’t come out for some five years, and I’m sure that there are others that waited longer.) For a detailed summary of the traditional plot, you can go look at Wikipedia here; for what the stills that have been released make it out to be, know that it will involve Deng Jiajia as Hong Niang (the maid turned matchmaker) looking more refined and well-off than most young ladies; Zhang Xiaocheng as the romantic young scholar (there aren’t many high quality stills of him, but he is youthful and serious looking enough), and Zhou Qiqi as the young lady who could also pass for a ball-jointed doll. Deng Jiajia’s Hong Niang will also get her own romance story with Qi Ji‘s general Du. Look for stills portraying a very close lady-and-maid relationship below, or watch the trailer. (As a heads up, the pictures below are predominated by Deng Jiajia and Zhou Qiqi).