Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (三生三世十里桃花 in Chinese and Sān Shēng Sān Shì Shí Lǐ Táo Huā in transliteration, literally "Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms") is a 2017 series based on a novel of the same name by Tang Qi. The novel has also been adapted into a film and at least one other TV series, and this adaptation will be followed by a sequel series later in 2019.
Confusingly, the Wikipedia article for this series gives it the title Eternal Love -- which is the name of a completely different Chinese series. This caused no end of headaches when I was trying to watch this series but kept finding episodes of the other one. Why on earth did they do that?
I didn't recognise any actors, so I'll go straight to the plot.
The main character is Bai Qian, a Fox Princess (it makes sense in context) who goes to study at Kunlun Mountain. Only trouble is, Kunlun Mountain doesn't accept female disciples. So she dresses up as a boy. Her teacher, Mo Yuan, sees through her disguise immediately. Her fellow disciples don't. Then Mo Yuan (apparently) dies in a fight with the Ghost King, and Bai Qian goes back to her kingdom.
A series of unfortunate events later, she meets Ye Hua, Crown Prince of the Nine Heavens, and they fall in love. Things immediately start to go wrong. Bai Qian has lost her memories, Ye Hua thinks she's only a mortal, and another woman, Su Jin, is obsessed with Ye Hua and does her best to ruin Bai Qian's life. It only gets more complicated after that.
From the minute Bai Qian and Ye Hua meet, it's obvious they're perfect for each other. They're just so sweet and adorable and-- Wait, I was trying to avoid excited squealing. Ahem. Anyway, Bai Qian and Ye Hua are the best couple ever and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. I couldn't believe it when the series (SPOILER!) apparently killed Ye Hua. But then it turned out all right, and they get their happily ever after 😍
I've seen many characters I dislike, and plenty that I hate. But Su Jin is one of the few characters I absolutely despise. She just won't get the hint that Ye Hua doesn't like her, and she's directly responsible for Bai Qian's misery and attempted suicide. I spent the whole series hoping Su Jin would die. Sadly, I was disappointed. But at least she gets some punishment for her actions.
On the subject of characters gone mad because of unrequited love, there's the more sympathetic Xuan Nu. Her jealousy of Bai Qian leads to her marrying a man who doesn't love her, and then she goes to increasingly insane lengths to revive her dead child. I was torn between being pitying her and being amazed at how crazy she was. Then there's Xuan Nu's husband, Li Jing, who's just pathetic. The man has the personality of a brick wall and the morals of an alley-cat. I hoped his more evil but more interesting half-brother Li Yuan would defeat him. But instead Li Yuan dies about half-way through the series, and we're stuck with Li Jing being incredibly boring until he finally dies. Yawn.
Another incredibly boring part of the series is the Feng Jiu/Dijun subplot. What the Dickens was the point of that? They couldn't be together, their mortal marriage (or whatever that was) had no effect on the rest of the series, and they just plain weren't interesting or even likeable. It got to the point that I skipped forward every time they appeared.
Overall, though, the series is very good. It has some beautiful costumes and scenery, and of course it has the adorableness of Bai Qian and Ye Hua... and their equally adorable son, A Li, the cutest little kid I've seen for ages. And unlike the children in some TV series (and films, and books...), he manages to be cute and funny without ever being diabetes-inducing.
So I think I can safely say the good in this series outweighs the bad 😊
Is it available online?: Yes, on YouTube with English subtitles.
Rating: 9/10.
Confusingly, the Wikipedia article for this series gives it the title Eternal Love -- which is the name of a completely different Chinese series. This caused no end of headaches when I was trying to watch this series but kept finding episodes of the other one. Why on earth did they do that?
I didn't recognise any actors, so I'll go straight to the plot.
The main character is Bai Qian, a Fox Princess (it makes sense in context) who goes to study at Kunlun Mountain. Only trouble is, Kunlun Mountain doesn't accept female disciples. So she dresses up as a boy. Her teacher, Mo Yuan, sees through her disguise immediately. Her fellow disciples don't. Then Mo Yuan (apparently) dies in a fight with the Ghost King, and Bai Qian goes back to her kingdom.
Bai Qian
A series of unfortunate events later, she meets Ye Hua, Crown Prince of the Nine Heavens, and they fall in love. Things immediately start to go wrong. Bai Qian has lost her memories, Ye Hua thinks she's only a mortal, and another woman, Su Jin, is obsessed with Ye Hua and does her best to ruin Bai Qian's life. It only gets more complicated after that.
Ye Hua
From the minute Bai Qian and Ye Hua meet, it's obvious they're perfect for each other. They're just so sweet and adorable and-- Wait, I was trying to avoid excited squealing. Ahem. Anyway, Bai Qian and Ye Hua are the best couple ever and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. I couldn't believe it when the series (SPOILER!) apparently killed Ye Hua. But then it turned out all right, and they get their happily ever after 😍
I've seen many characters I dislike, and plenty that I hate. But Su Jin is one of the few characters I absolutely despise. She just won't get the hint that Ye Hua doesn't like her, and she's directly responsible for Bai Qian's misery and attempted suicide. I spent the whole series hoping Su Jin would die. Sadly, I was disappointed. But at least she gets some punishment for her actions.
Su Jin
On the subject of characters gone mad because of unrequited love, there's the more sympathetic Xuan Nu. Her jealousy of Bai Qian leads to her marrying a man who doesn't love her, and then she goes to increasingly insane lengths to revive her dead child. I was torn between being pitying her and being amazed at how crazy she was. Then there's Xuan Nu's husband, Li Jing, who's just pathetic. The man has the personality of a brick wall and the morals of an alley-cat. I hoped his more evil but more interesting half-brother Li Yuan would defeat him. But instead Li Yuan dies about half-way through the series, and we're stuck with Li Jing being incredibly boring until he finally dies. Yawn.
Xuan Nu
Li Jing
Li Yuan
Another incredibly boring part of the series is the Feng Jiu/Dijun subplot. What the Dickens was the point of that? They couldn't be together, their mortal marriage (or whatever that was) had no effect on the rest of the series, and they just plain weren't interesting or even likeable. It got to the point that I skipped forward every time they appeared.
Feng Jiu
Dijun
Overall, though, the series is very good. It has some beautiful costumes and scenery, and of course it has the adorableness of Bai Qian and Ye Hua... and their equally adorable son, A Li, the cutest little kid I've seen for ages. And unlike the children in some TV series (and films, and books...), he manages to be cute and funny without ever being diabetes-inducing.
Ye Hua, Bai Qian and A Li
So I think I can safely say the good in this series outweighs the bad 😊
Is it available online?: Yes, on YouTube with English subtitles.
Rating: 9/10.
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