Beijing My Love (2004)

This Chinese drama turn me to love Korean Dramas

I started watching oriental dramas (Japanese, Chinese) on CCTV in Spanish. I've always liked it, but one day I came across this unique drama, totally different from all the Chinese dramas I had seen, and I noticed the Korean and Chinese co-production and decided to look for information from the Korean actors in Beijing My Love. This was in 2006, and to this day, in 2018, I still follow Korean dramas with interest. I had the great fortune to watch the Chinese version of this drama, which has 31 episodes (the Korean has 20 episodes). I was totally in love with the characters and learned a lot about the cultural differences between Chinese and Koreans. I only regretted that the kiss of love was in the last episode. I learned that there are linguistic differences between the Chinese and Koreans, not only because of the language barrier but in the idiomatic phrases. I learned that Koreans are accustomed to giving tofu to people who come out of jail, to replace protein and improve their diet, but it is wrong for a man to ask tofu to a young lady, because in China that is asking for illicit sex. Also that there is taboo with tattoos. The tattooed men are related to the Chinese triads and the Japanese yakuza. And that there is a lot of respect and familiarity among the Orientals. I saw that Koreans are extremely respectful, bowing, something that the Chinese are beginning to forget. The name of Na Min Guk refers to the Korean flag. For the first time, I saw that the Koreans walk barefoot or with slippers inside the houses. For me, it was like a Far East 101 course. I watched how seriously is the Confucian filial piety and how respectful Orientals are in love. I highly recommend it. It has a lot of comedy, it is light and deep at the same time. Kim Jae Won sings in his recent drama one of the OST songs of this drama. Something that many have not realized. I speak of his mother's favorite song in the drama "Let Me Introduce Her", of 2018, just finished. I highly recommend it.

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Budget China Town

The drama had a rough start to assemble some attractive elements for the hook but everything boiled down to its nature being bilingual and bicultural. The story itself was bland through and through, and it kept playing it super extremely safe until the end. The cast was good enough given the material they had to work with. Its excessive length didn't help its case. Despite that, the romance was somewhat brief and unremarkable, the language barrier was clearly showing. The leads chemistry was quite questionable, it came off as forced more often than not, I've seen better efforts from Kim Jae Won. Han Chae Young went through a lot, her character got robbed off, playing a secondary lead didn't fit her well. All in all, the side plots were definitely the weakest link, none of them fit well, nor were they appealing and they contributed little to nothing.

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