Tian sheng chang ge

I'm very happy that I was able to watch this thanks to Netflix. Truly one of the best love stories I have ever seen - it took my breath away. It's been almost a week since I finished watching it and I can't stop thinking about it. The entire show is beautifully done, the writing, costumes, acting, the balance between the dramatic and the comedic elements - I liked it all. But the love story ... is something else. It grows, matures and intensifies as it develops along with the two lead characters. Excellent acting brings to the forefront an intensity of longing that is difficult to describe and deserves to be seen. In this day and age, where the 'sex sells' mantra infiltrates pretty much all pores of society, the power of this story is so much greater. Who knew that a brief touch, a few caresses and one stolen kiss could pull on the heartstrings so strongly?

Sooooo amazing, I mean I feel so satisfied when I see the drama, The Rise of Phoenixes. It has changed my opinions on Chinese drama.

Rather than a romantic story, it's more about humanity and the different kinds of people in the game of power

I love everything about this drama. I am always watching Chinese dramas and I think this one is just well made. Even though Nirvana in Fire (I and II) still are my forever favorites, it is impossible not to fall in love with every aspect of the Rise of the Phoenixes. Acting is great, bromances are awesome, sarcasm is perfect, double meaning in every sentence is spectacular. The romance I think is very little, but is the same way it was in Nirvana in Fire I. Well done, main lead actor is very handsome 😍

Visually stunning, lyrically beautiful, masterfully acted. Treachery and political intrigue at its finest. Game of Thrones minus the violence, nudity, and supernatural but with an added dash of rom-com and mystery.

I liked the comedy sprinkled throughout the darkness. The funny faces, the banter, the expressive hums.

I binged 45 x 45min episodes over a 3 day weekend, and currently suffering through withdrawal symptoms until new episodes are released.

I deducted one star for the botched flash-backs in the first episode. Took me a while to work out who's who and what was going on, glad I stuck with it.

PS. If you are watching this show with non-Chinese subtitles you are massively missing out. The Chinese dialogue is written with the skill of a bard. The language is sophisticated, succinct, elegant and poetic - as beautiful as the visuals. In comparison, the English subtitles were dull and prosaic, an abominable shadow of the original dialogue, using the vocabulary of a primary school student. It's as if the varying shades of blue - cerulean, sapphire, teal, indigo were translated into "blue, blue, blue, blue". I was truly disappointed by the English subtitles and eventually switched to a different app so I could watch it with Chinese subtitles.