If you like to watch romance drama, this for you. Zhao Lu Si alone is enough reason to watch this. She is always cue to watch. She is not the most talented actress there are, but somehow she can glue me to the screen with her expression and cuteness. Other than that, this drama is also simple, easy to follow and quite predictable. But with only 24 episodes of cutie2 screen between ZLS and the Male Lead, it's quite worthy of your time investment. I watched this after a 73 episode of Story of Ming Lan that is full of intrigues and bickering, so this feels like a breeze to me. This is not the best at all, or even good I would say. But this is refreshing. I like the comic or anime parts of the drama. The OST is also good, I added a couple of the songs to my playlist.

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I surived the 73 episodes!

This is one of the longest drama that I've watched. I survived 73 episodes of this!. Well, I've seen Ruyi's Royal Love in The Palace with 87 episodes, and Story of Yanxi with 70 episodes. So this is definitely not for those who can't sit through anything longer than 40 episodes ( or less), which is the current norm in c-drama land. What I like about these long dramas are the character development. These tend to have a gazillion of characters that seem unimportant or like a filler to extend the episodes. However, if the storytelling is right, like these three dramas, these miniscule characters have their role in the grander scheme of things. So you have to pay attention to these lowly characters.

Storytelling is the key for these dramas. I have sat through dramas that are much shorter, but felt so much worse, because of bad storytelling and you can't feel the character development. The Story of Ming Lan was done quite well in terms of storytelling. We get to see the journey from when she was a little girl to the intelligent and well brought up lady she is at the end of the drama.

The reason I didn't give this a higher rating is because the middle part is draggy (unlike Yanxi which is consistently good throughout the drama). But it picks up in the last 15-20 episodes. The first part is really good and they cut the episodes really well, so you're curious to go watch the next one. The same goes for the last 20 episodes. You can't help but keep watching.

The cast and characters are majority good ones, a combination of older and younger actors, but they played their characters well. I thought Zhao Li Ying did really well in portraying Ming Lan. Her expression and acting are on point. I also love the chemistry between her and Feng Shao Feng. Zhu Yi Long, i thought did really well too.

If you like slice of life drama in a historical setting, you would enjoy this and won't mind the number of episodes of watching family bickering :)

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I came across this drama after watching A River Runs Through It. This has similar vibe and story with ARRTI, but for me this falls short from the middle part to the end. When We Were Young and A River... are nostalgic drama, reminded me of when I was young and back in high school. This is a light and easy drama to follow. There are some funny moments and heart wrenching moments, especially Hua Biao's grandmother storyline. However, the characters are not as interesting as ARRTI. If you like this kind of drama and only has time to watch one of them, I would recommend watching A River Runs Through It instead.

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This is a story of monkey love and/or crush and friendship. I enjoyed watching coming of age stories like this. I love watching the character grows and move on in their life. This drama feels more realistic, as we all have that monkey love when we were in school and some grow out of it, some keep it until graduation. Who we ended up with is usually not the one we have the crush with. I like the relationship and chemistry between Xia Xiao Ju and Lu Shi Yi. I think the best kind of romantic relationship is being with your best friend, since you don't have to pretend to be someone else when you're with him. Shi Yi started off like a jerk, but he grew on me and he really cared about Xiao Ju. He just has his own way of showing it. I was rooting for Xiao Ju to be with Shi Yi and not Cheng Lang. The supporting characters are also interesting. It breaks my heart when Huang Jun sang that last song to Le Tao. I can feel their pain and sadness. Lin You is my least favorite character. She is annoying with that annoying voice. I can't stand it whenever she appears on my screen. Unfortunately I was not one that skips scene. Her voice seemed fake and dubbed. Overall, I really like this drama. It is light, heartwarming, and there are many funny moments.

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I like to watch slice of life stories in between period dramas. Nowadays there are many slice of life c-drama that depicts strong, independent woman. This is just one of them. Unlike Nothing But Thirty where the three main female characters are friends, Zhang Zhi Zhi, Li Si Yu, and Gu Xiao Ling are all related by family ties. Zhi Zhi is Si Yu's cousin and Xiao Ling is Si Yu's step sister. This however is not as good as Nothing But Thirty. The only interesting character for me is Zhang Zhi Zhi. She started out as this weak character, one who is boring and just focused on taking care of her husband and child. But since life has unexpected turn, I thought she shows that she is a strong and independent character by the way she handled her husband's promiscuity. Zhu Yi Long's character is the one I despised the most! He is annoying and thinks that he's so righteous and so annoyed that he tried to salvaged his relationship with the older shark lady after what she's done! I just want to smash my screen! So irritating LoL. Overall, this was just an okay drama. One that I would gladly put at the bottom of the list and not watch again nor recommend.

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Beyond my expectation

This drama is beyond my expectation. At first, i'm like many people comparing this drama to Eternal Love or 10 miles peach blossom. This drama is in no way a sequel or a prequel to Eternal Love. There are of course similarities, such as the formula (deity and human world) and the realm and setting of the drama. But the story and characters are different. Love and Destiny in my opinion can be a classic story, that I will watch again in the future, time permitted. It's a sad and classic love story. The middle part (human world) is a bit slow, but it continues to pick up after that. Ni Ni is a great actress. I've watched her in Rise of The Phoenix as well and she did excellent acting in both dramas. I thought she and Chang Chen made a great couple in this drama. The couple are reunited in Gucci's latest campaign. The supporting characters in this drama are also interesting. I like watching their storyline. The drama albeit some sad moments are also filled with comedy moments that made me laughing so loud. If you like Xian Xia dramas, this is a classic must watch in my opinion.

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This is a hidden gem! I actually watched the movie version first on United Airlines and it’s the sequel as the timeline starts after the series ends. So I kinda already know who the characters ended up with in the series. I liked the movie so I quickly looked for the series and started watching. This is an easy watch, only 20 episodes and each episode is only about 30-35 minutes, some are even only 25 minutes (i’m not counting the ending theme which runs for close to 3 minutes). This is a story about life, about family, friendship and career. This is a breath of fresh air for me. The title has romance on it but this is not your typical romance story. If you’re expecting something sweet and romance-y, i would suggest you turn your attention elsewhere. This is not your cup of tea. The romance is more “real”, not fairytale kinda romance What i like about this drama is that it depicts real life and the characters deal with daily problems that we all face. The female characters are strong, even the weakest one (Fang Xin) is in my opinion a somewhat strong female character. I am a fan of these kinds of drama, and really enjoyed it.

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Watch this if you're looking for an easy watch, a sweet rom-com type drama, especially if you're into dramas with cool CEO type. This is one such drama. I actually enjoyed this drama. I really like Bai Lu. I thought she performed well in this drama, and she acted naturally. I find Xing Zhao Lin's acting as the ML is stiff at times, but maybe that's because he has to act cool and doesn't care about the FL. It's like he has no expressions at all LoL. The drama is very light and doesn't have many complicated relationships and conflict. One thing I hate is the ex GF that suddenly showed up towards the last 1/4 of the drama. She is just an annoying spoiled materialistic bitch that brings no relations or importance to the show LOL. Overall, this is quite good to watch.

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Tearjerker melodrama

Sometimes I am a sucker for melodramas, especially those involving critical illness, because the drama can play your emotions and make you cry your heart out. Of course with one caveat, clever writing (not those with cheesy lines and cheap characters) and great actors. This is one of those dramas. It is packaged nicely, great actings, good OST (the opening theme song has a nice and touching lyrics) and great storytelling. The drama moves from the present to the past where we get to see the early relationships of Tan Jing and Nie Yu Sheng, since their puppy love times. And this provides a good background story. The back and forth between past and present were done seamlessly, you don't feel it disrupts the story at all and almost works as one piece. This is a drama of love that stands the test of time, as well as family and betrayals. I thought all the main actors and actresses played their part well. Of course this is not an idol romance drama, so you get to see actings from a more mature and experience actors and actresses. I really enjoyed this drama from start to finish and would definitely recommend it if you like melodramas.

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Story:
This is a slice of life story of four families trying to get a good education for their children since such a young age (I can't believe that they have to fight so hard just to get into a good primary school when the kid is still in kindergarten)! The story is quite okay for me and it's interesting to know how the education system works over there. It's also interesting to see the four families from different social and economic backgrounds and how each has their own issues and problems to deal with.

Music:
I like the ending theme by Ayanga. Unfortunately I watched this on the YouTube channel where they just silence the music :(

Acting:
The acting of the children I thought was pretty good.

Rewatch Value:
None for me. I don't want to go through the angst of daily life problems that are presented in this drama. Once is enough for me :)

Overall:
I think this is a pretty good drama. However, if you're not into melodrama, maybe i would recommend you skip this one

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One of the best family drama that I've watched

This is one of the best family drama that I've watched. The drama tells the story of six families in Mayang Street in Guangzhou. The story starts with the sixth family (with five family members) first move to the street. They then interact and became part of the community. The drama has very interesting characters, some with traits that you have met at least once in your life. We all have that nosy neighbor, that annoying auntie, the kindhearted grandma, the silly boy next door and the girl that everyone likes. The drama has a stellar cast from the young actors and actresses to the more experienced ones. I thought that most of the cast acted really well. The best acting in this drama goes to Timmy Xu. I first watched him in Addicted to Heroin but he was not memorable in that one. He played Ou Xiao Jian really well and portrayed the emotion of a very complicated character. I can feel his pain as I watch the drama and his breakup with Xiao Xiao was the saddest thing. They were the ones breaking up in the drama and I was the one who were sad and felt the pain. (It's that good! LoL). Another kudos goes to Niu Jun Feng for portraying Yi Dong Dong, also a complex character. They both acted really well in this drama. The drama is not all serious, there are some funny moments too and funny character like Liang Xiao Bao's father. He is comical and that includes Xiao Bao too with his comical expression. I will definitely rewatch this in the future. The ending is not what I expected and what I would have liked it to be, but it's still a good ending. The OST is also good and fitting to the tone of the drama. If you like dramas about life and family and friendship, I would totally recommend watching Dear Mayang Street. It's been two days since I finish the drama and I still miss the characters and their story.

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This is a good drama in its literal sense. It is melodramatic with super bad villain that makes you want to throw something to the screen because they are just so annoying. The main characters is one that has so many bad luck despite being a good person. The writer must have burdened him with so many bad occurrences and bad people in his life. But he is one nice people and stay positive and kept his integrity intact despite being wronged by people so many times. Someone I believe only exists in the movies or drama these days. One of the things that I like is also watching Nie Yuan and Wu Jin Yan in this drama. They are my favorite actor and actress from Story of Yanxi Palace. Overall, I would recommend if you like melodrama.

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The only good thing about this drama is the OST and the cinematography (Oh and Leo Wu of course). I especially like the ending theme song. Couldn't find that song on either Apple Music or Spotify, so I patiently waited until the end of each episode to hear the ending song. Luckily this drama doesn't shy away from playing the song throughout the drama too, so at least that's good :) They are literally playing the whole song throughout the drama sometimes, not just as the instrumental background. To some it could be annoying, to me it's good as I pay more attention to the song than the story in this drama LOL. The story is for me confusing to the max. I had high hopes despite the low rating on MDL, but as the drama progresses, i get more confused and finally gave up my full concentration and just kept it playing while I do other things (to wait for the ending theme song to play too :))

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