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We now have a fresh glimpse of The Imperial Doctress with these newly released character stills. The costume theme is very typical of Tangren Production. However, the details and cut of the costumes in this production are perhaps one of the most accurately depicted Ming Dynasty clothing I have seen in Chinese TV productions. The colors, the intricate embroidery, elegance, and simplicity are all in line with Ming Dynasty clothing books I perused. Many will feel Ming Dynasty fashion is very reminiscent of Joseon fashion in Korean dramas. The Chinese Ming Dynasty and Korean Joseon Dynasty were two very politically and culturally connected geographies.  In fact, the Ming Dynasty had a very heavy influence on the bureaucratic structure of the Joseon government. Quite a few Ming Dynasty emperors also took Joseon noblewomen as their imperial consorts (see Emperor Yongle) and the Joseon court would pay annual "tributes" to the Ming court to show their tributary status.

This may not be much of news, but apparently Wallace Huo and Liu Shi Shi are pairing up again after Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei three years ago in upcoming bioepic Imperial Doctress . For happy ending lovers, I highly doubt this story will end happily for fans shipping Wallace Huo and Liu Shi Shi together in this drama...unless they make substantial tweaks to the history. The writer (Zheng Wei) behind this production is the same person who scripted Female Prime Minister , later known as Legend of Lu Zhen .

Episode 5: Liu Minghan, Xiang Xiang's elder cousin, gets arrested by Changsha's local police forces on suspicions of being a national traitor. He was once a former student a Japanese medical school. Although Xue Junshan acts as if he tries his best to help Liu Minghan, he is actually the mastermind behind Liu Minghan's arrest. He convinces his boss to frame Liu Minghan for embezzling the military resources. When Xiangjun visits him in jail, Liu Minghan reveals to her Xun Junshun's malicious intent to wrong him .

Episode 3: Gu Qingming holds a  public meeting to educate the city residents about the destructive power of shelling and where to take coverage during Japanese aerial bombing. He wants everyone to be conscious of he fact that no concrete or mud walls could protect their life under the Japanese artillery. City residents need to unite and coordinate under a common threat of Japanese invasion. After the public workshop, Xiang Xiang finally realizes the severity of her actions and she genuinely apologizes for her foolish behavior.

Mandarin title : Battle of Changsha / 战长沙 # Episode : 32 Genre : Family epic,water, romance, historical drama Release date : March 8, 2014 Broadcasting Compan y: Shanghai TV, Jiangsu City  Cast: Yang Zi as Hu Xiang Xiang, Wallace Huo as Gu Qingming, Ren Qingwei as Xue Junshan, Zuo Xiaoqing as Hu Xiangjun

Please refer to character guide . Episode 1: The year 1938, the ancient City of Changsha is encapsulated under the grim fog of war. Families of young marriageable girls scurries to marry them off to avoid  being the next casualty of war. In the Tea Courtyard Alley lives the Hu family whose 16-year old younger daughter, Xiangxiang, refuses to enter the bond of matrimony. She solicit the help of her twin brother, Hu Xiaoman, to escape from a matchmaking session. Unfortunately, her escape plan is punctuated by her brother-in-law, Xue Junshan. As Head of the Security Forces, Xue Junshan uses his political connections to set up an matchmaking appointment and forces Xiang Xiang  to meet Gu Qingming, the only son of a prominent Nationalist government official. Xiang Xiang sees Gu Qingming as a princely snob spoiled by the favors of his powerful family and takes the opportunity to publicly mock his privileged upbringing. After Xiang Xiang inadvertently pricked at his greatest d...

After a year of patience waiting, Battle of Changsha is officially slated to air on T uesday, March 5, 2014 (date has changed to March 8, 2014). However, the first networks to buy the initial broadcasting rights are two local television channels in China: Jiangsu City Chanel and Shanghai Television Chanel. I'm not quite sure what this means in terms of online access to the release. I have not heard any news regarding the online streaming rights on the major online video portals. Let's pray there will be streaming sources to watch this series next week!

There is not much to report about Sound of the Desert. The newest bit of info is quite generic and doesn't mean much. All I know is Sound of the Desert will likely broadcast this year. When this year? No idea. What channel? A local provincial channel. This means not everyone in China will have access to the broadcast of the drama, and consequently translates to less sources for downloads and streaming. 

Contrary to the naysayers who harshly criticized this remake as worthless trash, I am quite in love with Wallace Chung's Xiao Feng (aka Qiao Feng) and Jia Qing's A'zi/A'zhu. I admit that this series is plagued with a plethora of flaws including some very cheesy dialogues and disappointing fight scenes. But for the most part, the development of the drama stays true to the spirit of the original story. I tend to like remakes because every adaptation give a different perspective to the same story. It allows me to delve deeper into the original story. While the 1983 and 1997 TVB versions represent the core of wuxia  and Zhang Jizhong's 2003 remake added historical vibes to the wuxia genre, the 2013 adaptation also has its value. One aspect the 2013 remake excels or arguably surpasses previous adaptations is the emotional level the storytelling is able to emote to the viewers. The plight of the characters feel personal  thanks to the moving musical score. I read tha...

Top Left: Qiao Feng tries to comfort a very ill A'zhu ; Top Right : Qiao Feng protects A'zhi from danger Bottom Left : Qiao Feng and A'zhi during their days in Liao; Bottom Right : Qiao Feng and A'zhu share a loving moment Describing the complicated relationship between Qiao Feng, A'zhu, and A'zi can get rather convoluted. Qiao Feng technically does not have a semblance of romantic feeling for his so-called "little sister-in-law," A'zi. While Qiao Feng and A'zhu share mutual love and understanding for each other, A'zi's romantic obsession for Qiao Feng is bordering psychotic and possessive in nature. A'zhi's love for Qiao Feng stems largely from Qiao Feng's unquestioned love for her sister. She fell in love with someone's love story and wished be the receiver of that profound love.

The production company of Demi-Gods and Semi-Deviils is making a huge effort to reach out to the English audience. This is actually the first time I have seen a Chinese TV production taking such measure to translate and subtitle their own TV series. For those who could not watch this series due to the Chinese language barrier, you can now rest assure that official English translation is underway. The quality of the translation is  not perfect, but you can definitely understand the gist of the dialogue.

My decision to religiously follow 2013 Semi-Devil and Demi-Gods  during its broadcast sprung entirely from my love for the subtheme song "Lovesick," whose segments were often inserted in the Hunan TV teaser trailers. I just grew madly obsessed with the song because the melody was reminiscent of traditional wuxia music. The lyrics of the song also aptly describes the tragic love between the Beggar Sect Leader, Qiao Feng, and the Murong clan's maidservant, A'zhu. Despite the intense negative reaction toward this remake, I found this adaptation rather watchable, particularly the Qiao Feng's story arc.