Bian Liang Meng Hua Tu (2022)

Yes. In this lifetime and every lifetime: yes.

I didn't have a lot of expectations going into this drama, but what I got was a beautiful story of three AMAZING WOMEN who gave this story its true charm. The romance was there, but it took third seat behind the gorgeous tale of these three strong women, and then the hilarious comedy of Chi Yan Nei and his goons. So many hilarious, laugh out loud moments.
Zhao Pan Er was the perfect FML. She was smart, beautiful, witty, and not perfect. She grew and learned, but always kept her head held high and was always so positive without being naive.
The only tiny niggle that is barely anything is that Gu Qianfan is nicknamed "The Living Devil", which sounds badass, right? But he doesn't really... so anything devillish or badassish.
But the chemistry was for sure there.

Either way, this is a must-watch.

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Oh my goodness, this is really a great drama. The storyline was so believable because the actors/actress were all believable. I'm a fan of this drama and it will be a rewatch. The drama was absolutely surreal. Yang Yang did a great job directing this story! I applaud the team of A Dream of Splendor. The writer wrote a story and the right actors and actresses were in place. My first time watching Chen Xiao playing the character Gu Qian Fan. He was fantastic! I can't take my eyes off his eyes... it's like I can see his soul and passion in playing this character. Very handsome actor! I have to watch more of him. The main lead actress, Crystal Liu who played Zhao Pan Er, had me crying but what a strong character she played. It's my first time seeing her in a drama series... I need to watch more of her as well. The visuals, I loved the Martial Arts in the first half of the drama were awesome. Ada Liu and Jelly Lin were tough and I loved that about them. OMG, the DV abuse that was shown, had to be hard to play that role.

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This drama was so good I had to write a review to tell everyone how good it is.

A Dream of Splendour is hands down one of the best dramas I have watched in my life. It's more than just a romantic love story - it's a story about friendship, forgiveness, courage and what it means to be strong. True strength does not mean winning every fight but it means strength of character and strength to change for the better. The drama delivers some very poignant and heart touching lessons in a very beautiful and entertaining way.

Personally, I found the drama to be very relatable as it focuses on characters that are very real and who have very real challenges despite being set in glamorous Song dynasty costumes and backdrop (for example, battling financial and business problems, toxic exes, falling out with friends etc). Each character has their own story arc and motivations and learn and work through their own trials and tribulations - they are very much alive rather than being two dimensional and moving for the sake of the plot.

The main actors, Chen Xiao and Liu Yifei, were superb and had so much chemistry together (love their banter!). That said, the drama would not have been a success without such a talented supporting cast (eg Liu Yan, Lin Yun, Dai Xu - just to name a few). I also particularly enjoyed the dynamics between the emperor and empress - very wholesome and refreshing take on an imperial marriage.

Overall, this is an uplifting drama that makes you believe in love and friendship again (in case you had forgotten). Bonus brownie points for having a satisfying happy ending! I mean how many historical dramas have there been that has ended in unnecessary tragedy. Although I would still have a tissue box handy for the sad and emotional scenes in A Dream of Splendour.

Well what are you waiting for? Go and watch A Dream of Splendour!

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Different story with beautiful production

Take your time with this drama.
I tried to watch it a couple of times, but it took me a more appropriate time to really appreciate.
It's a slowpaced drama that has a different and interesting plot in the begging.
The characters are deep and complex.
Except for a few fight scenes, there is no fantasy element to it.
The production is beautiful, I liked the actors and the OST it's pretty good.
But it's not a happy drama, most of the time you are dealing with intense feelings. Therefore, if you want a light romance story, this is not for you.
Good thing: The end is happy!

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I usually don't like watching these types of dramas that are set in the ancient china time period (cause it's hard to understand what they are saying as it is very complex, even as a fluent chinese speaker :"), but i actually watched through the series (i may have skipped a few since i was lazy...). The camera work, acting, music, and the set in general is god tier. Chi Yanei and Pan er are by far my favorite. CYN is there for laughs and he pulls it off well :"D Pan er is such a QUEEENN. Yin zhang's character development shyshsjsksks YESSS. honestly idk what else to say but WATCH IT. 😽😽😽😽

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Dada remains superior

Oh Lord, where do I begin? Crystal Liu is truly one of the most beautiful actresses I have ever seen. She looked so elegant in her outfits as she returns to her roots in this beautifully shot historical drama.

Set in the Song Dynasty "A Dream of Splendor" follows the friendship of three women who have been scorned in love. I truly love the sisterhood that continues to develop despite the conflict that each individual faces in finding their significance in society. Futhermore, the CHEMISTRY between Gu Qian Fan and Pan Er is ... no words... I truly wanted them to fall in love, I was kicking my feet and twirling my hair during their scenes...

This was something I watched while I was baking/cooking so I would say it was an easy watch.

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Women uplifting women.

We love to see a drama where women are portrayed as STRONG, INDEPENDENT, CAPABLE. There are no damsels in distress here - these are women who knows what they're capable and faces every challenge head-on.

This drama was honestly so refreshing to watch. We see such beautiful friendship between three (and then four) women from the lowest class who overcomes all adversity based on their own skills and capabilities. We see such a MATURE, SWEET, and SEXY romance blossom between our main leads that had me swooning by the end. Their chemistry was so palpable that it honestly felt REAL. The plot was engaging. The end was satisfying.

I cried. I laughed. I giggled at all of the romantic moments. This drama had EVERYTHING and had catapulted itself to the top of my favourite Chinese costume dramas list.

Don't second guess yourself. Just watch it!

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Beautiful drama in terms of setting etc

Pls don’t be offended as I’m just being completely honest.

The location for this is def beautiful. It seems to be an open location shoot rather than in a warehouse with green screens.
The actors are excellent as well. Great chemistry, personalities etc.
OST is great as well. Kinda what you would expect from this type of drama but in a good way.

The storyline itself is where I eh have a bit of an issue with. I felt like there’s some things that really weren’t fully explained to the viewers. It’s as if a scene was cut out. Although it was overall put together good just little things that happens and then not explained.

I do like the fact there’s no usual misunderstanding between the main couple. If there was it was easily resolved with communicate. That’s a bit rare to find in ancient china dramas. Therefore there was no need to add endless fillers avoiding the issues.

I liked how they showed females working together and stepping out of the homemaker role.. However I felt that realistically, some things wouldn’t have gone that well. Obviously with other dramas a lot of situations and characters wouldn’t have been sooo exaggerated. However they did it a bit too much and almost over the top. There was always a side story that they twisted where it showed diff male characters as being sleazy, causing issues, blaming females(for their own mishaps) etc. Then how the female leads would be able to quickly overcome it and be stronger after . It almost seemed that they literally could resolve world hunger with just a few smart moves.

I know they def wanted to empower female.

This has nothing to do with my own personal feelings or having issues against anyone. I just felt it was one after another non stop. The finale also felt rushed…

Other than that it def was a very good drama that didn’t cause a lot of the frustrating and stress others would.

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Not Disappointed. I loved This Drama!

The story was pretty straightforward. and flowed relatively smoothly. There were a few parts that threatened to get draggy, but they didn't happen too many times and they didn't last, so I didn't fast-forward through the scenes. There were a few holes and loose ends, but not sufficient to spoil anything for me.

The characters were likeable, and the actors did a phenomenal job in portraying them. The ensemble worked so well together so their relationships were believable, and I actually liked most of them. However, the couple that made the entire story worth it for me were the ML & FL. Chen Xiao & Liu Yifei were electric!!! They portrayed a depth to their relationship that I have not seen in many Cdramas, and which I found to be very refreshing and endearing. They expressed so many emotions without words - a look, a touch - their romance felt 'real'. Even with the chaste kisses, they smoldered. Their embraces felt warm and real. They did a superior job in this drama.

I wish that a little more time would have been invested in the supporting couples' relationships. Much was left to the viewer (except for the obvious wedding, of course) and I would have liked to have seen a wedding for the main couple. As I mentioned before, a few loose ends... what happened to Gu Qian Fan's father and brother? Was Qi Mu served with his comeuppance? Why did San Niang's son suddenly come back to find his mother? Did Song Yin Zhang and Chi Yan become a couple?

Loved this drama - and will probably rewatch it at some point.

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A comfort show where the first half is everything.

THE STORY
I adored the first half of the show so much that I let the last 1/3 go a little bit though I will admit I barely skipped ahead in the first 2/3 but the last 1/3 I skipped a lot of the scenes. I adored how there was a significant lack of huge tropes in the main leads' romance, with a lot of logical reasoning coming into their interactions.

For Eps 1-18: No talk of "it was love at first sight and fate" and the female lead had a reason to help the male lead- he threw a 'poisoned' needle at her for goodness sake and that part to be honest had me. Their story was lovely up until their arrival in the Eastern Capital and the pacing was amazing. The chemistry and the writing was very believable and it felt like natural people in this time naturally falling in love. The focus on their romance but also the plot was very well balanced here. I could sympathize with the leads and the way their dialogue was written was pretty smooth as well. The fights were fun to watch!

For Eps 19-27: There was a bit of a dip here. I'll be honest that I usually watch historicals for the fights, and I wanted to see more of Gu Qianfan fighting! His defense of Minister Xiao really upped the stakes and the build of the family drama was good, but the pacing started to come in bursts and I think the writers started having a bit of trouble marrying the first plot to the growing plot in the capital. Basically my interest waned after the Hat Demon case.

For Eps 28-35: I'll try to make this short but what?? For a big focus on the main relationship they decided to separate the leads and introduce angst, which isn't always bad but here it was excessive and for way too long. While I am all for strong independant women, the "girl power" plot was very spoonfed and lacked the subtlety of the other 'lessons' previously that it was a little jarring. Also, I could tell the writers didn't know what to do with Gu Qianfan anymore so they just put him in a coma?? I swear this man has been in a coma three times in the show and I feel like this time was completely just for plot convenience so they don't have to deal with him for a bit.

Eps 36-40: The leads' reunion really helped here and the plot picked up a bit more towards the end. I think the ending was a little rushed and a tad unbelievable and the pacing was a little odd, but overall most things were wrapped up welll so not too many complaints.

THE CAST
The main cast honestly in general were really good! I do not have any huge talks about any specific actors but the general main cast I thought brought their characters to life very well! Chen Xiao and Liu Yifei however, had remarkable chemistry. Their eyes at each other were captivating and their kisses were damn well-done! No awkwardness in intimacy and chemistry between them and I applaud that! Dai Xu was gold and I was in love with his portrayal of Chi Pan! He has honestly so much versatility and while this is my second show seeing him in, he has yet to let me down! Very strong character choices.

MUSIC
The music in general was good, and I think I enjoyed both the opening and ending OSTs a lot! The other music choices were good too in general.

REWATCH VALUE
I'd say an 8 for the first half of the show because I loved it so much!

CONCLUSION
I'm gonna note how I watched AvenueX's review of this show and I agree so much with so many of the points. Overall, the show had such a strong first half that had the audience swooning but a dip in the second half, especially Ep 28-35 that proved a bit disappointing. The acting was generally well-done across the board and I watch for the pure chemistry of the leads and the magic they bring to the show together! Overall a really satisfying show :)

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One of top Chinese Drama 2022

Love all the things from this drama:

Interesting Story, Every character get their portion nicely. They also grow as long as the story grow

The Cast, No wonder Liu Yi Fei choose to be Zhao Pan Er. She fit this character and give her best indeed . Love her act so much here. I also like Gu Qian Fan, San Niang and Yinzhang character too. They give awesome act for this drama.

The Costume, set and visual graphic also nice, looks so beautiful and not irritate my eyes, hahahha

Love the OST too, i put one of the OST in my playlist recently.

Overall, The drama left a deep feeling for me.
You must Watch by yourself then u know what i write here ☺

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