He li hua ting

One of my favorite drama in a long time! Great story and I like how the story focus more on the male roles, which is a great change from a lot of period dramas where the focus is on the lead female and the treacherous ways of the kingdom. The relationship between the king and the Crown prince; father and son. The inter turmoil of a dysfunctional family and the dynamic of each character. The plot twists keeps you on your toes throughout and how it end is just superb. I was really impressed with the costumes and the cinematography of the entire series. How many times can the crown prince cry is insane lol...

Royal Nirvana has probably the most beautiful soundtrack of all Chinese dramas. Roc Chen's background score is sublime; I still listen to it from time to time. The cinematography is amazing. That view at the end will remain in my head for a long time.

The story about a crown prince's struggles against political schemes is explosive. Luo Jin as Xiao Ding Quan gives a tour de force of a performance as a tormented crown prince. The political machinations are so well-written, I could only shake my head in admiration. The love story with Lu Wenxi/Abao (Li Yitong) is enchanting.

Loved it after watching first few episodes and thought it would be a gem but for 60 episodes? That's way too long. I started skipping after first 30 episodes. It starts to become redundant and boring. You can skip 10 episodes without missing much.

'Love this drama! Luo Jin should have swept all best actor awards with his superb performance of such a complex character. His crown prince is tortured, jovial, wise, rash, cunning, naive, sweet, romantic, but always engrossing to watch. The other performers don't disappoint either. The cinematography is breathtaking. The background music by Roc Chen is as sublime as those by John Williams, John Barry and Hans Zimmer. The political machinations show how injustice happens when those in power are more concerned about their vested interests than doing what is right. This made me wish I speak Mandarin as I think some bits of the story are lost in translation. It's worth staying up nights for.

Actually, it's one of the best political drama I've ever watched by far! You must also watch extra 12 episodes of the Royal Nirvana 2 (special) after 60 episodes of the Royal Nirvana 1 to get the answer of everything. Though it's not entirely a happy ending love story (which is typical ending in most political drama anyway), but it's the perfect ending. And 2 thumbs up for great acting of Luo Jin and Li Yitong, both are naturally amazing together 👍👍. It may not be easy to watch drama due to its complex plots and characters, it's worth to watch every minute of it! Li Yitong and Luo Jin actually deserve for best actress and actor award for their acting here! All out and amazingly good!