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Third installment of Yu Zheng’s “Beauty” saga releases cast and stills

January 16, 2012 | Posted in Television, Tagged , , , , ,

I promise, I will show you why Yu Zheng keeps casting me in all these meaty roles!

2012 is going to usher in several productions involving Yu Zheng. The prequel to Schemes of a Beauty, Beauties of the Emperor  and Allure Snow are to be broadcast sometime in 2012. Song in the Clouds, based off a series written by the author of Bu Bu Jing Xin, will start shooting this year as well. (Although on another note, the prequel series to Song in the Clouds, “Melody of the Desert” is being made into a Tangren drama directed by Li Guoli.) Bounty Hunter and Smiling Proud Wanderer are also upcoming Yu Zheng productions.

Then there’s the third, and presumably final installment of Yu Zheng’s Beauty trilogy “Beauties Without Tears/No Tears of Beauty 美人无泪” is in production. The cast is comprised of many familiar faces – Zhang Meng, who made a cameo at the end of Schemes of a Beauty and went onto appear in Beauties’ World, landed the role of the female lead (Hailanzhu). She plays opposite Hawick Lau (Hong Taiji, the first emperor of the Qing dynasty). Yuan Shanshan joins the cast of the Beauty trilogy as Da Yu’er, a concubine of Hong Taiji and the later Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. Another Yu Zheng regular, Deng Sha, plays the two’s little sister. Ada Choi enters as her second Qing empress, this time Hong Taiji’s while Hong Taiji’s half brother is played by Han Dong.

sources: sina

Stills for Beauties Without Tears under the cut. (more…)

Weibo of the day: Yu Zheng shows off embroidery for new drama

January 7, 2012 | Posted in Uncategorized, Tagged ,

Recently, Yu Zheng put up weibo photos of the dragon robe “for his new drama,” saying how pretty it was. The photos were immediately met with fans mocking the subpar quality and the poor imitation of the dragon robe.

A few hours later, Yu Zheng revealed that the photos were actually of a dragon robe at the museum he was visiting while researching for a new drama. Shows you how much internet criticism is worth.

Female Prime Minister brings together seasoned producers and fresh cast

January 6, 2012 | Posted in Mainland China,Television, Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mulan wasn't the only heroine to rise out of the Southern and Norther Dynasties period. From the fairest general in history to the only female prime minster, the period is filled with unexplored stories.

Two of China’s major historical producers – Yu Zheng (Palace/Gong, Schemes of a Beauty) and Gao Xixi (Happiness is like a Flower, New Romance of the Three Kingdoms) – team up for Female Prime Minister, a rare Southern and Northern Dynasties drama about the only female prime minister in Chinese history. The drama will also put a focus on the art of ceramics, as the Northern Qi era was a period of revival for Chinese ceramics.

The seasoned production team nevertheless features a young and lively cast, including first time male lead Chen Xiao, My Fair Princess’ Zhao Liyin, singer-actor Kimi Qiao Renliang, singer-actress GuiGui, and a large amount of gorgeous supporting actors like Gao Yunxiang, Lin Fei’er, Yang Rong, Qin Lan, Jiang Hong, Maggie Cheung, Leanne Lau, etc.

The drama is directed by Li Huizhu (Palace/Gong, I have a date with a vampire) and scripted by Zhang Wei (Du Lala’s Promotions). Product begun last week and plans to air next summer on Hunan TV.

Beauties’ World to air in October, Li Xiaolu sings theme song

October 13, 2011 | Posted in Mainland China,Television, Tagged , , , , , ,

Wang Likun is just one of the many beauties in this world of beauties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gorgeously filmed and all-star casted  Beauties’ World 美人天下 is finally airing late this month.   The mystery/intrigue seems to have something to offer for everyone, be it suspense, romance,  intrigue, clothes or eyecandy.

This is definitely drama I’m looking forward to the most this year, mostly for its beautiful clothes and cast that includes Zhang Ting, Li Xiaolu, Mickey He, Mingdao, Yang Mi, Tong Liya, Zhang Meng, Gao Hao, Lynn Xiong, etc.
Watch the MV for  the pretty theme song by Li Xiaolu below:.

Beauties’ World showcases popular Tang dresses

May 6, 2011 | Posted in Mainland China,Television, Tagged , , , , ,

Li Xiaolu in a popular Tang-styled shirt and a breast-height dress

The upcoming drama Beauties’ World about pre-Empress times of China’s only female ruler Wu Zetian also sheds light on a type of dresses now rare on screen – the then popular style of  breast-height dress + shirt combination. The few times they’re seen, they’re often mistaken for the Korean Hanbok that is more similar to the styles of the later Ming dynasty. Although this style is definitely not on the list of my favorite styles of traditional Chinese styles, Yu Zheng’s costume designers does a beautiful job of making them look good.

Below is some of my favorite outfits in the drama, and a short discussion of my limited knowledge of the traditional elements behind them. It’s a bit unfortunate that some of my favorite ones, especially Zhang Meng’s sparkly pink and Yang Mi’s bright yellow outfits, aren’t photographed, but you can see them in the trailer here. Which dress is your favorite?

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Chen Qiaoen, Mingdao, Dong Jie and Zhang Jiani star in Yu Zheng dramas

April 2, 2011 | Posted in Mainland China,Television, Tagged , , , , , , , ,

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Chen Qiaoen plays Empress Lv Zhi in a tragic story of the choice between love and power.

Production begun on two new Yu Zheng (Mei Ren Xin ji/Schemes of a Beauty, Gong/Palace) productions. Beauties of the Emperor 王的女人 brings back together Prince Turns Frog couple Chen Qiaoen and Mingdao, along with Kym Jin Sha (why is she never the lead?!) and tells the story of the fall of Qin and the rise of Han through the lives of the Empress Lv Zhi and Concubine Yu Ji.  Meanwhile, Qing Cheng Xue 倾城雪 stars Dong Jie, Du Chun and Zhang Jiani and focuses on a Tang – dynasty tale of an embroiderer.
Although Qing cheng Xue is not scripted by Lu Zheng but Golden Bell winner Li Shunci, both dramas should gain the benefit of having Yu Zheng’s high-qualitied production values that includes gorgeous, often authentic costumes and sets. Qing Cheng Xue begun filming this week, and Beauties of the Emperor begins filming in mid-April.

Palace breaks two-year ratings record for drama

February 11, 2011 | Posted in Mainland China,Television, Tagged , ,
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Feng Shaofeng and Yang Mi celebrates the success of the drama in a waltz.

Dubbed the “Qing dynasty Meteor Garden,” Hunan TV/Yu Zheng productions drama Palace started with a bang as it beat Meteor Shower’s opening episode record with a viewership percentage of 8.24%. Since then, the viewership have been steadily increasing, hitting 11.79% by the 10th.

Starring Yang Mi (Chinese Paladin 3, Schemes of a Beauty), the series follows the adventures of modern girl Qingchuan as she travels back in time to the Qing dynasty. Armed with knowledge of modern technology and with the mindset of a modern independent woman, Qingchuan stirs up plenty of trouble in the palace of Kangxi as she first convinces 1st prince that she’s magical to avoid marrying him. Once the 1st prince is convince, Qingchuan quickly makes enemies of the 8th prince (Feng Shaofeng) and his followers. This results, as idol dramas requires, him falling in love with her.  A huge fan of the Emperor Yongzheng, Qingchuan instead immediately falls for the then 4th prince (Mickey He). Unfortunately, all he wants is power, and any love for him seems to be only used as a way to achieve power, as demonstrated by the status of Qingchuan’s poor best friend and spy for 4th – Suyan (Tong Liya).

Watch it legally on tudouhere or YouTube here.

Bu Bu Jing Xin steps into a new era of internet novel – based series

December 17, 2010 | Posted in Literature,Mainland China,Television, Tagged , , , , , , ,
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Liu Shishi plays a modern girl who accidentally travels back to the Qing dynasty and finds herself caught in a web of love and power struggles.

Ever get bored with the lists of upcoming dramas that end with the words “remake?” Ever wonder why is it that so many recent Chinese dramas have been remakes or re-adaptations?

Until recently, Chinese popular literature was rare. Whereas Japan (and other East Asian nations) could draw back on its mangas as a source for stories, China only found such a source for more light-hearted TV series with its recent boom in pop lit. Luckily, with the advent of the Internet and the recent explosion of internet novels that followed, more and more series are finding their inspiration through those new writings.

Most recently, two popular such adaptations include Du Lala’s Promotions and Summer of Bubbles. And while some adaptations will fail in this stage of trial and error, you can definitely expect to see more dramas based on internet novels. One particularly popular genre has been time-traveling series. It comes no surprise, then, when Bu Bu Xin Jing, one of the first and most popular of the genre, was announced to be made into a series. While this unfortunately is set in the Qing dynasty of shaved heads, more adaptations are certainly to come. Scriptwriter Yu Zheng has already announced the adaptation of Song in the Cloud (云中歌), another novel by the same author that follows the tale of wolf-girl Cloud Song (云歌) as she leaves her home in the deserts to seek her childhood love in the Han capital of Chang’an (Xi’an). I’m beyond excited for that particular adaptation, for not only the way more beautiful clothing, but also the semi-magical realm it creates.

In Bu Bu Jing Xin, Liu Shishi plays a modern girl  who one day woke up as Maertai Ruoxi, the daughter of a high Qing official in the reign of Kangxi. Caught between her love for the doomed 8th prince (Kevin Cheng) and the seemingly cold 4th prince (Nicky Wu), she faces the questions of following her heart or following history. Can she change history with love?  Or should she give up love to stay alive?

Feng Shaofeng and Yang Mi Star in Scriptwriter Yu Zheng’s Followup to “Schemes of a Beauty”

September 2, 2010 | Posted in Mainland China,Television, Tagged , , , , , ,
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Did you know there's an arrow in your hair Qingchuan? Let me get that for you.

Famous drama screenwriter Yu Zheng, fresh off the success of his latest series Schemes of a Beauty/Mei Ren Xin Ji unveiled the cast of his newest drama, called Gong this past July, and using some of the same actors and actresses from Schemes, with Yang Mi as the female lead this time, and Feng Shaofeng (only a cameo in Schemes) as the male one. The story revolves around time traveling to the Qing Dynasty (a popular theme in Chinese literature). Yang Mi’s character, Luo Qingchuan gets transported to the time of Kang Xi, and realizing this, tries to get on the good side of the 4th son (Mickey He) since according to history he wins the throne, and the rest of the brothers…don’t. However, the playful and mischievous 8th brother (Feng) both pulls pranks and falls in love with Qingchuan, and vice versa, complicating matters and Qingchuan’s plans.

Yesterday, new stills were releasing, showing the playful, antagonistic early side of their relationship, which you can see below the cut. The drama also boasts an extremely large budget, with some pieces of jewelry alone costing tens of thousands of yuan.

Source

A/N: Yan Kuan will be guest starring in this series again, briefly appearing like he did in Schemes of a Beauty, as a “modern day person”. Can you give your old friend the lead Yu Zheng? Thanks.

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