In the first episode, we witness a river worship ceremony taking place. This is done by the people of Tientsin, especially those that making a living from the river in order to give thanks but also to appease the river god who protects the people from "river monsters". In this case, "river monsters" can take the form of natural disasters and flooding, real threats since Tientsin is a coastal city. The ceremony is cut short when two bodies are discovered in the water. Seemingly unrelated at first, the characters find themselves deep down the rabbit hole as they get further and further in their investigation for the truth.

What I liked about this drama was how Tientsin itself feels like a character and this is a credit to the attention to detail in regards to the production/set design. Just as the characters may be of afraid of what dangers may be lurking in the water, there are also dangers hiding in the shadows of Tientsin. Throughout the drama, we are taken to seedy areas such as a brothel, prison and even a literal black market. It is assumed that since Tientsin is a coastal city, it is isolated from the outside world. As a result, they have developed their own customs, culture, traditions and superstitions that they strongly believe in that are free from any outside influence. However, in more recent times, with the development of ports and canal system, outside/foreign influences are starting to seep in. It was certainly interesting to see how characters that never left Tientsin and those that were educated abroad/experience with the outside world collided and came together in solving the mystery.

Speaking of the characters, Tientsin Mystic has assembled an interesting group of them. I briefly read up on Taoism (Read: skimmed the Wikipedia page) and learned that women shamans play an important part in Taoism. I think the reaction to Gu Ying may be mixed, some may find her annoying but I liked what her character brought to the drama. We're given the reason as to why she constantly follows around Guo De You but she also plays a role beyond merely being a love interest for his character. It was interesting to see the rituals/practices that Gu Ying and her mother engaged in. More than that, I really enjoyed the character of Xiao Lan Lan and the similarities she shared with Dao Ming. Both have prominent family backgrounds but are trying to break free from the roles prescribed to them. The drama also deals with cults and brainwashing. Xiao Lan Lan works as a newspaper reporter and even though her father is the Secretary-General with influence over Tientsin which includes the newspaper (manipulating the information so as to not cause panic amongst the people), Xiao Lan Lan remains committed to finding the truth.

Beyond all that, the drama is just a lot of fun despite dealing with some dark subject matter at times. The drama mixes a variety of elements such as: supernatural/mysticism, action (there are some great setpieces that take place in the hospital/prison), romance, comedy, mystery all with its own distinct touch. Fair warning, the drama does end on a cliffhanger but unlike other Chinese dramas that have done the same, this one does have a confirmed second season. Credit and admiration goes to the production team for rendering Tientsin and this world so vividly, a world that I would be happy to return to.