Tong Yao (童瑶) ~ a film & TV guide for fans CHANGELOG

Tong Yao (童瑶) ~ a film & TV guide for fans CHANGELOG

[Ver. 42.1.0 - 1st Oct 2024]

Amended the section on 足迹 (Zu Ji)  to add the link the the Wrap-Up Write-up

[Ver. 42.0.0 - 19th Sept 2024]

Amended the section on 四喜 (Si Xi)

While this has yet to be officially announced, it seems pretty confirmed that Tong Yao will be taking a leading role in this series. I’m basing this on a few Weibo posts that featured Huang Ming Hao (黄明昊) at the ceremony marking the start of production for this drama series.

Although I had seen rumors of Tong Yao taking a leading role in this series a few months ago, there was no real reason for me to believe them until this popped up. Although I didn't see any photos of her at the ceremony, what is of interest to us fans is that there is a photo of the backdrop on the stage, and her name is clearly stated as one of the leads, which means it’s pretty much confirmed that this series is a go. 

[Ver. 41.0.0 - 18th Sept 2024]

Added a section for 四喜 (Si Xi)

[Ver. 40.0.0 - 16th Sept 2024]

Added a section for Cesium Fallout 焚城 

[Ver.39.0.0 - 27th Jun 2024]

Added a section for 足迹 (Zu Ji) because it has been officially announced.

[Ver.38.1.0 - 12th Jun 2024]

Added 足迹 (Zu Ji) - unconfirmed to the filmography 

[Ver.38.0.0 - 30th May 2024]

I wrote up a capsule review of sorts for Boys to Men.

[Ver.37.0.0 - 29th May 2024]

I did a write up on the Wrap-up Video for With Love With You and took out the line below.

I intend to do a second write-up on it but it won't be that soon because I'm still trying to complete a review of Simple Days and I'm so in love with Tender Light right now that I will probably end up watching it again. 

[Ver.36.0.0 - 28th May 2024]

I rewrote the section on Tender Light because I didn't have time to re-do it nicely and give the relevant info after I finished the review a few days ago.

(i changed the picture too cos I like the new one better. :) )

This series had been two years in the making. It began and wrapped up production in 2022, with several interviews and collaborative videos released in the first two quarters of 2023. However, all this buildup led to a resounding thud before its release on April 27th.

This is based on Jiu Yuexi’s (玖月晞) novel, Xiao Nan Feng (小南风). Tong Yao plays the main female character, Nan Ya, and Stevan Zhang Xincheng, the male lead, plays Zhou Luo.

I have finished the series and LOVED IT. I really like the arthouse aesthetic they used to tell this story. If you're a Tong Yao fan, this is in my opinion a must watch.  She's sublime here and her chemistry with Zhang Xincheng, who's also excellent in this series, is amazing.  I've written a review and hopefully someday I'll have time to write more.

[Ver.35.0.0 - 24th May 2024]

Amended this section and included a link to the Review (Spoiler Free)

Finally! After a flurry of activity in the first and second quarters of last year, there had been no further movement regarding this title until today, 21st April 2024. The official Weibo account for this series has released a second trailer, a new poster, key visuals, character images, and more. On the 22nd April, they also announced that the series will be released on the 27th April.

This has been two years in the making. The series began and wrapped up production in 2022, and several interviews and collaborative videos were made and released a year ago, only for it all to come to a resounding thud.

This is based on Jiu Yuexi’s (玖月晞) novel, Xiao Nan Feng (小南风). Tong Yao plays the main female character, Nan Ya, and Stevan Zhang Xincheng, the male lead, plays Zhou Luo.

The story is about a high school student who falls in love with a married woman trapped in a troubled marriage.  Murder ensues.

[Ver.34.1.0 - 12th May 2024]

Amended Tender Light's section to add the link to the post on the Alt TV ver Ending for the series.

[Ver. 34.0.0 - 11th May 2024]

Amended - With Love With You's section because the series has wrapped production and is now in post.

Amended - Walking Duster to say that I've finished the series and hope to write a review sometime in the future.

[Ver. 33.4.0 - 23rd April 2024]

Amended - Gone with the Wind's section to Tender Light to reflect the change in the official English title

[Ver. 33.4.0 - 23rd April 2024]

Amended - Gone with the Wind's section to include the link to the Making of video (Eng Sub)

[Ver. 33.3.0 - 23rd April 2024]

Amended - Gone with the Wind's section to include the link to the Youku announcement of the "upgrade" to White Night Theatre & that Gone with the Wind will be the inagural series for the anthology.

[Ver. 33.2.0 - 23rd April 2024]

Amend - Gone with the Wind's section

Took out a paragraph about updating the section with links to the 2nd write-up.  No necessary any more because the section was revised yesterday with the link.

[Ver. 33.1.0 - 22nd April 2024]

Changed the poster for Gone with the Wind, added a link and amended a line.

This bodes well as it seems like a release is imminent.

[Ver. 33.0.0 - 21st April 2024]

Amended 2024 (??) - 微暗之火 - Gone with the Wind section

Added a link to the SECOND TRAILER - write up

[Ver. 33.0.0 - 21st April 2024]

Amended 2024 (??) - 微暗之火 - Gone with the Wind section

Previously written:

CLICK ME - First Trailer

There is further movement with regards to this title today.  An official Weibo account was set up and the official English title for the series has also been released.  The previous title, Pale Fire, was an unoffiical direct translation by cdrama fans.  The official English title is now Gone with the Wind.

I later also found a behind-the-scene video on the Glass x Gone with the Wind photo-shoot and wrote up a short blogpost too. Second link above.

Very little has been officially released on this series.  What we do know is that it is based on Jiu Yuexi's (玖月晞) novel Xiao Nan Feng (小南风).  Tong Yao plays the main female character Nan Ya and Stevan Zhang Xincheng, the male lead, plays Zhou Luo.

The story is about a high school student who falls in love with a married woman who's trapped in a troubled marriage. Given that this is a Jiu Yuexi novel, it seems like there are some darker aspects to the story. Well, hopefully, they stay true to the darker aspects and the Chinese censors don't make a mess of the story.

Previous post related to the series

(Amend 11th Feb 2023 - related posts CLICK ME & CLICK ME)

CLICK ME (posted 18th Mar 2022)  - confirmation on the series

CLICK ME (posted 5th Jun 2022) - translated interview with Tong Yao about the series.

[Ver. 32.1.0 - 19th April 2024]

Added a link to the WRITE-UP for the drama series  有你的时光里 With Love With You 

[Ver. 32.0.0 - 14th April 2024]

Amended the  有你的时光里 With Love With You section and completed the partially written synopsis. 

[Ver. 31.1.0 - 14th April 2024]

Fixed broken links

[Ver. 31.0.0 - 12th April 2024]

Amended the whole section on Simple Days. Below was what was written previously.

2023(??) - 小日子 Xiao Ri Zi - in production - WRITE UP

 

Xiao Ri Zi is a contemporary family drama that's set in the city of Shanghai.  The series is based on a novel by Yi Bei and is supposed to also have elements of suspense woven into it.  The series stars Tong Yao as Gu Moli.  Moli is originally from Jiangsu.  She moved to Shanghai and marries Zhi Jingcao (played by Chen Xiao who's also starring).  Their peaceful lives will soon be disrupted by someone who wishes to tear them apart.  I wrote a write-up about the cast, production and the novel it's based on, if you wish to read it, please CLICK ME.  

[Ver. 30.0.0 - 9th April 2024]

Sooooo busy!!! But I finally managed to clean up the page and add information on her new series With Love With You.  This section is still a work in progress.  Will hopefully complete this today or tomorrow

[Ver. 29.0.2 - 28th May 2023]

Amend to include strong Weibo rumour of a 2024 release for Ball Lightning)

2024 (rumoured released) - 球状闪电 - Ball Lightning - in post

[Ver. 29.0.1 - 10th May 2023]

Minor fix on Ball Lightning.  Changed from "in production" to "in post".

[Ver. 29.0.0 - 10th May 2023]

Fleshed out the section on 小日子 Xiao Ri Zi.  And put a link to the write-up.

[Ver. 28.4.0 - 8th May 2023]

Added a section on 小日子 Xiao Ri Zi.  Write up will come later.

[Ver. 28.3.0 - 8th May 2023]

Amended section on 微暗之火 - Gone with the Wind to add a link to the release of the first trailer for the series.

[Ver. 28.2.0 - 12th Feb 2023]

Amended section on 微暗之火 - Gone with the Wind to add the first official image released by the official Weibo account.

[Ver. 28.1.0 - 11th Feb 2023]

Amended section on 微暗之火 - Gone with the Wind

Changed the image and also included the link to Update 2 on this series. 

[Ver. 28.0.0 - 11th Feb 2023]

Amended section on 微暗之火 - Gone with the Wind (previously known in English as Pale Fire)

Added the official English title, and rewrote the section to include a link to the latest blogpost on the series.

Previous writeup:

[Ver. 27.0.0 - 21st July 2022]

Added a section on The Heart of Genius.

[Ver. 26.0.0 - 1st July 2022]

Amended The Night Belongs to Us section to add a link to an UPDATE on how to watch the 对立面 anthology on iQiyi. 

[Ver. 25.2.0 - 22nd June 2022]

Amended a few lines in The Night Belongs to Us section.

I really hope that they release a streaming version so that I will be able to watch this short film but I'm not sure if that will happen.  Fingers crossed.

The short film was included in an anthology of films called 对立面 which will debut online on iQiyi's 云影院 on the 29th June 2022. The section has been amended to reflect this change.  Also included a link to the write-up about the announcement. 

[Ver. 25.1.0 - 22nd June 2022]

Amended various lines in The Night Belongs to Us (previously known as Night Night) section and the 极境所在 section to reflect the name change of the official English title from Night Night to The Night Belongs to Us.

[Ver. 25.0.0 - 6th June 2022]

Amended the Interview Section to include a Link to the blogpost on the translation for the Madame Figaro Apr 2022 cover page article.

Amended the 微暗之火 section to include the link to the Madame Figaro Apr 2022 translation.

Amended the Life is a Long Quiet River section to include the link to the Madame Figaro Apr 2022 translation.

I hope to at least translate some of the paragraphs of interest but I'm not sure when I can get to them.  When I do get to them, I'll update this section with links.

[Ver. 24.1.1 - 6th June 2022]

- amended the section 微暗之火 link, minor fix for clarity.  Fixed punctuation. 

[Ver. 24.1.0 - 5th June 2022]

- amended the section on Stepmother Xu Duoduo link to keep the length of the capsule review shorter.  Amended parts are expanded upon in the short review and hence repetitious.

[Ver. 24.0.0 - 5th June 2022]

- amended the section on 微暗之火 link

amended the two paragraphs below because this series is 100% confirmed

Nothing has been officially announced but Weibo is full of rumours and announcements of shooting schedules and video clips that were surreptitiously shot. Usually, I won't add anything to the list unless it's official but it seems like this is pretty much confirmed.  Tong Yao plays the main female character Nan Ya and Stevan Zhang Xincheng, the male lead, plays Zhou Luo.

The production is shrouded in mystery, while there is still nothing official, what the two leads posted on Weibo pretty much confirms it.  CLICK ME

[Ver. 23.1.0 - 4th June 2022]

- added a link to the SHORT REVIEW in the Stepmother Xu Duoduo section link

[Ver. 23.0.1 - 31st May 2022]

- fixed typo in the section on Stepmother Xu Duoduo link

Wang Zhifeng Wang Zhifei

[Ver. 23.0.0 - 29th May 2022]

- updated the section on Stepmother Xu Duoduo link

[Ver. 22.1.0 - 18th May 2022]

-  Updated the section on Life is a Long Quiet River to include a link to the Long Commentary

[Ver. 22.0.0 - 14th May 2022]

- Updated the section on Life is a Long Quiet River to include a link to the Short Review

I am in the midst of writing a short spoiler free review and a longer commentary.  I hope to have the short review ready within these few days and the longer commentary will hopefully come soon after that.  When I complete either one, I will update this part of the guide.  (p.s. I still haven't forgotten about Additional Comments 2 for The Rebel 😅)

[Ver. 21.0.0 - 26th Apr 2022]

- added a section on Ball Lightning

[Ver. 20.0.0 - 18th Apr 2022]

- amended the section on Life is a Long Quiet River

deleted the following:

At the time of writing Life is a Long Quiet River has yet to be released.  I will most likely write a capsule review at the very least.  I'm really looking forward to this series and hopeful that it'll be good.  I've actually written up a preview write-up which should be an indication of how much I'm looking forward to this. CLICK ME.  (I will change this section after I have watched the series and replace it with a capsule review)

[Ver. 19.0.0 - 30th Mar 2022]

-  updated the section on We Will Grow Old Together - 爱情回想 and provided a link to the review CLICK ME

- deleted and amended this paragraph

Production stills for this short film look very nice which has really piqued my interest.  The short film is scheduled for a 27th Dec release via Vogue Film's Weibo, I'm guessing.  I have every intention of watching it and may write something up if I have time and if it's interesting enough.  If not, I'll just edit this section with a capsule review of sorts.  I would like to add another two listings to this page and do an update on the Sun Li page too.  I also want to rewrite that capsule review for Qiao's Courtyard II but I've been quite busy.  Hopefully will have time later this week.

[Ver. 18.0.0 - 27th Mar 2022]

- added a short review & a capsule review for the film The New Year's Eve of Old Lee 过年好

- added a NOTE that I will be working towards converting some of the longer capsule reviews into short reviews.

NOTE:

I've also decided to move change the longer capsule reviews into their own posts & convert them into short reviews.  That's because I think the page is getting a little unwieldy.  It make take some time but after I finish this page, I'll probably do the same for the Sun Li page.

[Ver. 17.1.0 - 26th Mar 2022]

- fixed a double listing for Snow Fall in Taipei - 台北飘雪

[Ver. 17.0.0 - 21st Mar 2022]

- added an interview section

[Ver. 16.0.1 - 19th Mar 2022]

- updated the status for a few of the new series.

[Ver. 16.0.0 - 18th Mar 2022]

- amended to add info that confirms that Tong Yao worked on 微暗之火

deleted this:

...seems highly possible. This series sounds promising, so I'm hopeful. Also aside from Tong Yao who is supposed to be playing the female lead, the male lead is supposed to be Stevan Zhang Xincheng whom I quite like.

Amend 13th March 2022:

The production is shrouded in mystery and there is yet to be any official confirmation that Tong Yao is in it or that this even went into production; what seems to be true though is that she and Steven Zhang are working on a series together.  If you spend enough time on Weibo, as I have, you will probably have seen a few blurry videos, some accounts of chance meetings and supposed call-sheet announcements but nothing more concrete till now.

Today, actor Zhao Haohong (赵浩闳)'s part in an unnamed production had ended and he posted about it on Weibo.  He also included several photos of himself with other crew and cast members.  Interestingly, one of them included Tong Yao and the other included Steven Zhang which pretty much confirms that they are working together on something.  It is looking more and more likely that 微暗之火 did indeed go into production.  Still, it's best to keep in mind that we still don't have anything official.

[Ver. 15.1.0 - 13th Mar 2022]

- added some information on the likelihood of 微暗之火

[Ver. 15.0.1 - 11th Mar 2022]

- added the confirmed premiere date for Life is a Long Quiet River.

[Ver. 15.0.0 - 10th Mar 2022]

- added some text to the section of Life is a Long Quiet River, also added a link to the preview writeup

[Ver. 14.2.0 - 8th Mar 2022]

- added the expected release for Life is a Long Quiet River.

[Ver. 14.1.0 - 4th Mar 2022]

- minor fixes for grammar and clarity for Three Bosom Girls.

[Ver. 14.0.0 - 3rd Mar 2022]

- Wrote a capsule review for Three Bosom Girls

- Rewrote the capsule review for Qiao's Courtyard 2

EDIT:  I need to edit this when I have time.  Let's just say that my worst fears came through.  This series kind of fell apart after a while.  And if you're a Tong Yao fan, you'll be disappointed that although she has 2nd billing, she disappears for large portions of the time.  I'll re-write what I have previously written when I do have time.

We're currently watching this series and will probably finish it since it's not too bad.  Tong Yao is the leading female in this series.  She plays a revolutionary soldier, Lian Hua, who serves under General Zhang Zhenwu who was one of the key generals in the Wuchang Uprising, the catalyst for the Xinhai Revolution aka 1911 Revolution which led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty.

Tong Yao shows up quite quickly in the first episode and has a decent amount of screen time so far, although the main protagonist of this series is Qiao Yingji (actor: Zhang Bo).  That might change in the subsequent episodes because from the look of things, her character might not be too involved in the main plotline for a while since this series centres around Qiao Yingji.  I hope not but we'll see.

Tong Yao's character Lian Hua is pretty cool, she's a trusted officer and is efficient and loyal.  She's also a good shooter and fighter and involved in a lot of action scenes.  Although she sometimes can go a little over when she's trying to be cool, still her performance is overall pretty good so far.  Sadly, she's dubbed here which I hate because I feel that this voice doesn't quite do this character justice.  It's not just that I'm not used to it, it's because that I've heard Tong Yao's real voice quite a few times already and I think her voice acting is more than up to standard.  This dub isn't horrible but it just could be better.

Anyway, I hope to write a full review of this series when we are done with it.  I will definitely come back and edit this section and finish off this capsule review when we're done.

[Ver. 13.1.0 - 11th Jan 2022]

Fixed a few jump links & added lines to tidy up the page.

[Ver. 13.0.0 - 11th Jan 2022]

Completed in-page jump links.

Minor fixes

[Ver. 12.0.0 - 10th Jan 2022]

Amended comments on Qiao's Courtyard 2

Started building in-page jump links (WIP)

[Ver. 11.1.0 - 9th Jan 2022]

Added some character info for Tong Yao's character in the series Beyond.

 but we don't anything more about this role at this moment. (deleted this line)

[Ver. 11.0.1 - 7th Jan 2022]

Added the broadcast date for Beyond

[Ver. 11.0.0 - 19th December 2021]

Added a listing and info on Beyond and a listing for the rumoured 微暗之火

[Ver. 10.0.0 - 16th December 2021]

Added a listing for Vogue Film's short film We Will Grow Old Together.

[Ver. 9.0.0 - 20th September 2021]

Deleted the paragraph below and rewrote it.

Also added a link for the full write-up for the documentary on Night Night.

I actually started doing a short write up about the content of the 12-minute video but I'm not sure if I have the time to finish it anytime soon because I have a bunch of things that I need to do. I may prioritise writing the capsule review for The Ideal City for my Sun Li page first because it's still fresh in my mind. Also, I want to rewrite the section on Qiao's Grand Courtyard 2 now that I have finished it. We'll see which one I manage to complete first.

[Ver. 8.0.0 - 1st September 2021]

-- Added an entry and info on 极境所在, a documentary about the making of the short film Night Night.

[Ver. 7.0.1 - 31st August 2021]

-- Changed the status for 心居 - Life is a Long Quiet River from "in production" to "in post" because principal photography for said series ended a few days ago.

[Ver. 7.0.0 - 20th August 2021]

-- Added an image and information on Hero Dog S2

-- minor grammar, spelling fixes and edit for clarity

[Ver. 6.0.1 - 12th August 2021]

-- minor grammar fixes and edit for clarity in the section on Qiao's Grand Courtyard 2

[Ver. 6.0.0 - 12th August 2021]

-- added an image and incomplete capsule review of Qiao's Grand Courtyard 2

[Ver. 5.0.1 - 6th August 2021]

-- Minor grammar and punctuation fixes.

[Ver. 5.0.0 - 6th August 2021]

-- moved the link for the Detailed Change Log to before the introductory paragraph.

-- added an image and a short paragraph about The Young Warriors.

-- added an image and a short paragraph about Repeat and Error.

-- added a listing for the short film Night Night, also added images and a paragraph about the film.

-- added an image and a short paragraph about Wounded Love.

[Ver. 4.0.0 - 5th August 2021]

-- added an image and a short paragraph about Walking Duster

-- added an image and a short paragraph about Life of Tiger and Dragon

-- changed the image for The Sun aka I Want to Know You More because the original image was a composite image of the two actors from later in their career which isn't representative of this drama, also added a short paragraph about said drama.

[Ver. 3.0.0 - 27th July 2021]
-- added Additional Comments link for The Rebel

[Ver. 2.1.0 - 22nd July 2021]
-- added a short comment on Simple Dish
-- added douyin and xiaohongshu links
-- minor edits for clarity