Zhu Yawen, Wan Qian play investigators in upcoming business romance drama

The Investigators 商业调查师 stars Zhu Yawen and Wan Qian as risk and compliance investigators who help a firm root out their corrupt managers and develop compliance and governance frameworks for the troubled company. Their involvement in an old classmate’s bitter family feud also means they are repeatedly put in life-threatening situations. Problems keep piling up, and danger lurks in every corner of the cut-throat corporate world.

Scriptwriters Xiao Xiangning and Wu Yao assisted in writing investigative dramas Never Give Up and Tracing All, while director Liu Yizhi worked on The Negotiators. The 45 episode drama is based on Yongcheng’s novel of the same name, and began filming a week ago.

Trailer and news round-up: Upcoming iQiyi dramas

Streaming website iQiyi recently released trailers and news for a slew of upcoming shows that will either air exclusively on the site as web dramas or on national networks next year. Which shows are you looking forward to most?

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Official teaser for Tang Wei, Zhu Yawen’s Empress of the Ming

I sincerely wish historical drama producers would stop hiring Zhang Shuping/William Chang as costume designer, because the leads’ weird hairdos and costumes usually stick out like a sore-thumb (The Rise of Phoenixes is probably the best of the lot).

Empress of the Ming chronicles the life of Sun Ruowei (Tang Wei) a young girl who puts her vengeance behind her to become a virtuous empress, and eventually a respected empress dowager.

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Variety Show Recap: The Sound, Episode 3

The Sound 声临其境, as the name implies, is a variety show where viewers are treated to a feast for the ears as actors showcase their voices and prove just how important line reading is to acting. Dubbers’ contributions to Chinese dramas should not be overlooked, but it makes a huge difference when you have good actors who are able to use their own voices.

Each week, four actors are invited to dub a wide variety of characters behind the stage, and the two most popular guests make a brief appearance before all four of them prepare a short stage performance.

Disclaimer: This may look like a Zhu Yawen fangirling post, but it’s not, I swear.

Episode 3: A Gentleman’s Voice (one-off recap)

Guests: Li Jianyi, Gao Yalin, Zhu Yawen, Zhai Tianlin

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Yu Haoming, Qiao Zhenyu, Zhang Yixing join Tang Wei in Empress of the Ming

Empress of the Ming: Legend of Sun Ruowei is the latest female-centric drama to star a well-known film actress, and this time Tang Wei will be playing the titular empress. Zhu Yawen, her costar from The Golden Era plays Sun Ruowei’s husband Zhu Zhanji, later known as the Xuande Emperor. Continue reading

Tang Wei returns to the small screen with historical romance drama

Tang Wei is the latest film actress to make a return to dramas, and will be playing the female lead in Empress of the Ming: Legend of Sun Ruowei 大明皇妃孙若薇传, a historical romance drama that will chronicle the heroine’s journey from a young girl to a respected empress dowager.

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China’s New Variety Show ‘Real Hero’ To Air July 10th

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Which one of those is not a noun?

Real Hero 真心英雄,’ China’s newest variety show to air July 10th, is a spin-off off of South Korea’s ‘Infinite Challenge’ and ‘X-Man’, where a team of celebrities are given strenuous physical and mental challenges to complete in a short amount of time. Watching the trailer, it seems that the challenges include diving through a pool of plastic balls, parachuting into the sky, a giant tug of war, hamster ball fighting, wrestling, and lots of good ‘ol variety show style drama.

This season’s team features Chen Xuedong, Joe Cheng,  Zhang Jie, Zhu Yawen, Tong Dawei, and Yang Kun,  with Guo Jingming as a guest star in ep 1. The theme of this show, according to the show creators at Jiangsu TV,  is to show the audience what it takes to be a real hero, and how we can be them in our everyday lives.

Take a look at the trailer for the show:

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Looking forward to Upcoming Chinese films in 2014

Ge You and Jiang Wen as showmasters in the movie, Gone With the Bullets.

Ge You and Jiang Wen as show masters in the upcoming movie, Gone With the Bullets.

The year is almost a quarter over (I know!), but 2014 is a really exciting year for Chinese film and it would be a waste not to take a look at all the great stuff that’s going to be released soon. This year, as some have noted, will be the year of big director comebacks, from Red Cliff’s John Woo to Zhang Yimou and many others. (Thanks to Mookie for everything about this post, I’m just here to spread the word.)

(Also, you’ll soon realize that Huang Xiao Ming does not rest… I believe he has at least 4 films this year alone, excluding dramas!!)

This list is in no way exhaustive. Continue reading