Chasing Dramas

We were having a blast watching the Paris Olympic games and so was everyone in China! The French certainly put on a show and the Chinese athletes performed extremely well. Listen to our latest podcast episode as we discuss the top trending sports, events, memes, and moments from these Olympic games!

Fan Xian is summoned to trial after his assault on Guo Bao Kun landed the poor man bandaged up like a mummy. The trial at the Capital Court becomes a battleground for not only Fan Xian and Guo Bao Kun, but the Crown Prince and 2nd prince as well

A new variety show - Travel with the Royal Family has been a hilarious Empresses in the Palace 甄嬛传 reunion. The general premise of this variety / reality show is to have the hosts and guests travel around China to experience local culture especially with the minorities within China. The regular cast includes Ada Choi - Empress. Lan Xi - Shen Mei Zhuang, Zhang Xiao Ling - Wen Shi Chu, Tao Xin Ran - An Ling Rong, Lan Ying Ying - Huan Bi, Chen Si Si - Cao Qin Mo. There's many guest appearances and surprises from the cast of Empresses in the Palace and everyone takes us on a trip down memory lane! Listen to our thoughts on the fun gossip and tea they shared about their time filming the drama!

Fan Xian finally runs into the girl of his dreams, his Chicken Leg Girl, at the poetry meeting. While they get to speak for a little bit longer, he forgets again to ask for her name.

Meanwhile, he finds details of Guo Bao Kun's involvement in Teng Zi Jing's family's death and heads to a brothel where he meets the beautiful courtesan Si Li Li to enact a distraction.

The Olympics are in full swing captivating audiences in China. A slew of dramas have aired but haven't been able to compete with Olympic buzz. Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty Season 2 Journey West starring Yang Xu Wen and Yang Zhi Gang has been a surprising delight after a strong first season. Dashing Youth, starring Hou Ming Hao, He Yu, and Hu Lian Xin, is a prequel to the 2022 The Blood of Youth. The long anticipated Vampire drama, Snowfall, starring Gao Wei Guang and Ou Yang Na Na, started airing. Zhang Ling He is on a roll with his new drama with Jing Tian, Love's Rebellion. Listen now to our latest August drama updates!

Former k-pop boy band EXO member, Huang Zi Tao, publicly announced his relationship to Xu Yi Yang on social media on July 13. Normally, these types of announcement garners a lot of discussion but this time, there's been more mockery/ridicule. We explain who they are and why this relationship announcement missed the mark.

In episode 7, Fan Xian goes undercover to find more details on Teng Zi Jing's case and is surprised and suspicious at how easy the entire mission was. The next day at the poetry meeting, Fan Xian tries to find his chicken leg girl but fails. Annoyed at this and Guo Bao Kun's constant provocations, he writes one poem that stuns the entire gathering. News of this masterpiece, called Deng Gao, and originally written by Du Fu, travels fast to the Palace and causes a commotion amongst many in the royal family.

Tencent saw 5 Chinese dramas breach 30,000 on its popularity index in the first half of the year. Youku saw 5 breach 10,000 while iQiyi only had one. We discuss which dramas they were and also which dramas had the highest tv ratings in 1H24.

In episode 6 of Joy of Life, Fan Xian wanders off to find the Overwatch Council and is surprised and bemused to see Wang Qi Nian as a member there. Fan Xian finds his mother's tablet and has a better understanding of the world she tried to build. At the palace, everyone has their eyes set on Fan Xian's performance at the poetry meeting. Lin Wan Er tries to meet Fan Xian for a discussion but he's nowhere to be found, forcing his siblings to cover for him and presenting a rather bad image of Fan Xian. Listen now to the history and fun pop culture referenced this episode!

The 29th Magnolia Award had quite a bit a drama when the nominations were announced including Wang Yi Bo fans being upset he was not nominated and then questioning whether Tang Yan, Yang Zi and a few others were deserving of their nominations.