Oh yes, I’m still on my Chinese-mode hype. Perhaps it’s the influence of some Chinese blood in my family. Actually, after watching those Wong Fei-Hung series and seeing his hairstyle, the long and braided, reminds me to this classic Chinese TV series, Huan Zhu Ge Ge (My Fair Princess/Princess Pearl in some translations).
This TV series based on the romance books written by Chiung Yao, the famous author in China. She’s famous in writing those romance heartwarming stories. Chiung Yao wrote Huan Zhu mixing between the fictional and the real characters during the Qin Dynasty. It has so many viewers both in China and worldwide and it’s a surprise to see there are a lot of Huan Zhu fans out there despite this series aired 16 years ago.
Huan Zhu tells a story about a commoner, Xiao Yan Zi (Hsiao Yence in some translations), who in some unexpected events meets a girl who claims to be The Emperor’s daughter, Xia Ziwei (Hsia Cewei in some languages). She wants to help Ziwei to tell the Emperor that she’s his daughter. But, in the day of the emperor’s family hunting trip, she gets hit by an arrow which shots by the 5th Prince (Wu A Ge/ Wu Ake) or Yong Qi/Yungchi. When she wakes up, the Emperor thinks Yan Zi is her daughter and gives her the title “Huan Zhu Ge Ge”. She decides to play along for a while, not realizing the real Huan Zhu Ge Ge is waiting outside the palace wall.
Vicky Zhao as Xiao Yan Zi
Ruby Lin as Xia Ziwei
Alec Su as Yong Qi/ Wu A Ge
Zhou Jie as Fu Erkang
This series categorized as Wuxia, a genre which has period setting of China and mixed with kungfu. The series have 3 seasons. The previous two are playing by the same main casts while the third with whole new casts. The third gets a lot of negative critics because the story is so different than the previous two, not to mention the different casts. The only cast who still appears is Zhou Jie who plays Fu Erkang, the member of the royal guard in the previous two series.
Huan Zhu basically focused on the two “princesses”, Yan Zi and Ziwei, and their romance with the 5th prince and Fu Erkang. Romance and heartwarming scenes are all over the episodes. My fave character of course is Xiao Yan Zi. I always feel I’m more like her in a lot of things. The difference is she got a prince while I didn’t hehe…
Yong Qi and Yan Zi
Ziwei and Erkang
The two young couples
Huan Zhu Ge Ge is really a high fiction because at the time, it’s very common for a man to have more than one wife. The term “you’re the only one in my heart” is really a high fantasy. But, hey…we need it as a distraction from real life, right?
