In the spirit of the Olympics… an update on the three-way race going on right now between the major Chinese networks…
- 👀 Dashing Youth (starring Neo Hou and He Yu) is Youku’s third summer 2024 drama to break 10K (take into account the rumors that Youku’s heat index methodology is “easiest” out of all the three networks, however).
- 🙏 Speaking of which, iQIYI has finally entered the chat: Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2 broke 10k on their heat index. This is only IQIYI’s second drama in all of 2024 to reach this milestone. They’re such an underdog against Youku and Tencent this year that if they were competing in the Olympics, we think they’d be Fiji.
Over to the actors and actresses, meanwhile…
- 📽️ Zhang Ruoyun was on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Men as he continues promotions for his new film, Evacuate from the 21st Century.
- 👱 Bai Jingting was at a Versace store event in Shenzhen with new platinum hair. Fun fact: he had originally been shooting for pink, but apparently the color faded too quickly. Celebrities—they’re just like us! Aka subject to the whims of hair dye.
- 👗 Zhao Lusi keeps racking up couture points in Love’s Ambition, her modern drama with William Chan. She started with a Julien Fournié haute couture dress a few weeks ago and followed up with custom couture designed by Ivan Yong for the wedding dress.
- 🛣️ We’re starting to get our first glimpse of Divas Hit The Road 6! The biggest question we have right now is whether this season’s cast (which includes Neo Hou, Victoria Song, Zhou Yutong, and Jin Chen) can capture the magic of last season’s cast.
Finally, we made quite a few changes to the C-Drama Airing Schedule this week. Here are a few of the noteworthy ones…
- 🔚 YANG ZI AND LI XIAN REUNION ALERT!! Their new drama, Flourished Peony (a Tang dynasty drama) just wrapped filming. We’re pretty excited about it because we predict it’s going to be HUGE.
- 🆕 Is this Zhang Linghe’s hot guy summer? His new drama with Jing Tian, Love’s Rebellion (formerly named Reborn for Love), dropped July 31. (He’s had a string of success in July—from becoming Gucci’s brand ambassador to landing an ELLEMEN China cover for the first time. Let’s see if he can continue the momentum.)
- 🔜 Anyone still remember Angelababy? Her drama with Song Weilong, Everlasting Longing, finally received a distribution license. If it actually airs, it’ll be her first time back on screens since her soft ban last year for attending Blackpink Lisa’s Crazy Horse show.
