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Left to Right : Li Chengyuan, Wallace Huo, Huang Xuan, and Liu Shi Shi Hua Qian Gu  recently held a press conference in Guangxi Province. In an interview, Wallace Huo supposedly revealed that he and Liu Shi Shi do not have any intimate scenes in The Imperial Doctress . The love relationship is unfortunately one-sided. Wallace Huo's Zhu Qizhen is completely enthralled and lovelorn over Liu Shi Shi‘s Tan Yunxian. On the other hand, she is in love with his younger brother, Zhu Qiyu, played by Huang Xuan.

Zhao Liying + Wallace Huo combo is definitely very unexpected and refreshing in terms of TV pairing. I somehow never linked these two performers together. After watching Wallace Huo's subtle and endearing portrayal of Gu Qingming in Battle of Changsha , I have even greater hopes for his acting ability and selfishly want him to co-star with Yang Zi again in another production. In my personal fantasy world, I wanted Wallace Huo and Yang Zi to pair again for Hua Qian Gu (literal translation "Flower of a Thousand Bones"). But the official stills of Zhao Liying as Hua Qian Gu look very promising and do not disappoint. Thus, I'm back on the track to follow the progress of this series.

Sorry for my long absence! I took quite a long hiatus from my blogging life because recent dramas that flooded our screen neither interested me nor inspired me to write about it. I hope you all haven't wonder too far away from Chinese dramaland. The release of Sound of the Desert official MV finally bought me back to dramaland. I'm still keenly following every tiny bits of news about this drama series. Most of the dramas I followed have already been released (e.g., Legend of Lu Zhen, Battle of Changsha, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils), except for this one. Nothing has been confirmed yet about its broadcast. I just keep on hearing about one delays after another. *sigh*

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...