I’m glad you finished it 🙌

I think it appeals to audiences who can appreciate the strategic political chess game being played, & it’s really second to none when it comes to elaborate strategising

However, I personally preferred #TheStoryofMinglan,
#EmpressesinthePalace & #StoryofYanxiPalace

Bad news is I slept most of the day due to feeling sick

Good news is I started binge watching #EmpressesInThePalace on YouTube.

I’ll have to think on this…

I’ve already recommended #EmpressesinthePalace - but as it’s a classic like #Yanxi or #NirvanaInFire (ie, a drama you’re supposed to hear about from others), I’ll try to come up with something else…

You’ve seen most of my drama recommendations (!), but I can’t remember if you’ve tried #TheLegendofShenLi?

2 others I always promote (aside from #Minglan) are #StoryofYanxiPalace & #EmpressesinthePalace - but they require a fair amount of time (unless you binge-watch like @dramaddict.bsky.social 😅)

People shouldn’t be sleeping on #EmpressesinthePalace either 😉

#EmpressesinthePalace is so good 😊

& #EmpressesinthePalace

I do think that both this #cdrama and Queen Dowager Xuan 宣太后 are hugely underrated!!! As the 1st Queen Dowager in China, she set the precedent for women ruling behind curtains (or ruling as regents)!! I love this series even more than #EmpressesinthePalace, which seems to be everyone's favorite. 😎

I’m interested in catching this at some point

Does this have a similar story to #EmpressesinthePalace? Obviously Sun Li plays the lead role again, but I don’t know if it’s about the same historical character or someone different?

If so, do you know why they made two similar dramas?

#StoryofYanxiPalace
#EmpressesinthePalace
#TheDouble
#BlossomsinAdversity
#FlourishedPeony
#WonderlandofLove
#NewLifeBegins
#TheLegendofShenLi
#LegendoftheFemaleGeneral
#ArsenalMilitaryAcademy
#ALoveSoBeautiful
#WillLoveinSpring
#LostYouForever (season 1)
#LoveBetweenaFairyandaDevil

You already gave #EmpressesInThePalace and #TheStoryOfYanxiPalace. Other than those I mean.

I ended up really liking #NirvanaInFire, but it took me some time to get into it (I needed to skip ahead to ep 20 or something when I first watched it)

I prefer the palace dramas

For me #EmpressesinthePalace & #StoryofYanxiPalace are roughly neck & neck - it’s hard to separate them

#LegendofZhouhua was another one in my mind - it’s got the same ML as #Minglan & a smart FL (Jing Tian); but it’s not quite the same

I guess the real #Minglan equivalents for me are palace dramas like #StoryofYanxiPalace (Wu Jinyan), #EmpressesinthePalace (Sun Li), & #LegendofLuZhen (Zhao Liying)

a close up of a woman 's face with chinese writing around her ALT: a close up of a woman 's face with chinese writing around her

Ooh - #EmpressesinthePalace is another all time favourite 🤩

It’s a crying shame that neither Viki nor iQIYI (nor Netflix obviously) stream it - but it’s another really satisfying story (although her lovelines don’t work out in the normal sense, the FL remains compelling throughout)

I'm a sucker for long dramas too! Especially angsty #historical ones like #TheRiseofPhoenixes, #EmpressesinthePalace, #TheLegendofMiYue, #TheLegendofXiaoChuo etc.

& I don’t see how #EmpressesinthePalace, #JoyofLife, #MeetYourself & #LostYouForever can be reduced to such an oversimplified pulp

Sun Li as Zhen Huan, wearing blue costume & turquoise headdress, looking calm but slightly sombre

Sun Li as Zhen Huan, wearing mustard & green costume (with a purple flower headdress), looking fierce

Sun Li as Zhen Huan, wearing a skin coloured fleece jacket costume, her hair unadorned, looking distant & sad

Day 25: Empress

Although Zhen Huan (played by Sun Li) doesn’t (for various reasons) become Empress, she does become the most powerful person in the palace

Disillusioned with court politics, she nevertheless maintains balance as Empress Dowager

#EmpressesinthePalace
#cdrama #dramajobchallenge

It’s only 95 episodes long… 😅

It’s great they made time to make these epic historical dramas - they must have been a cultural event to live watch as they aired!

I notice that one of the main leads is the same actor who played the Emperor in #EmpressesinthePalace 🙂

If you see this, repost with the first #CDrama you watched.

😹☠️ mine is so old there isn’t a gif for it. But the first one I remember that I definitely watched from start to finish should be #EmpressesInThePalace - the OG harem drama ❤️💯

Have you tried any of the other classics like #EmpressesinthePalace or #TheStoryofMinglan?

If you ever have some leisure to spare they are really wonderful to watch - but you have to be in the zone (because of their length)

Eg,

#TheDouble
#BlossomsinAdversity
#NewLifeBegins
#AreYoutheOne
#FlourishedPeony
#PerfectMatch
#TheGlory
#LesBelles

And established classics like

#TheStoryofMinglan
#StoryofYanxiPalace
#EmpressesinthePalace

Others I rate highly are

#EmpressesinthePalace
#StoryofYanxiPalace
#TheDouble
#BlossomsinAdversity
#NewLifeBegins
#FlourishedPeony
#AreYoutheOne
#WonderlandofLove
#TheLegendofShenLi
#AncientLovePoetry
#LoveoftheDivineTree
#MeetYourself
#WhenIFlyTowardsYou

Yes - it seems that if we will ever see another #NirvanainFire or #EmpressesinthePalace it will have to be split into separate seasons

I think #FlourishedPeony parts 1 & 2 were both filmed together (tho I may be wrong), so it seems this is going to be the model or template going forward

I understand, although there will always be genres we dislike that others may like. There are folks who refuse to watch #StoryofYanxiPalace or #EmpressesinthePalace because they are harem dramas - but others will like them.

For me it’s mostly a matter of time. I can’t keep up with so much content!

Yes, #EmpressesinthePalace is the real OG historical or palace drama (at least for the post 2010 era). It’s also still addictively watchable, as is #Yanxi (both are faves of mine!)

I dropped both #Ashes & #EternalLove, but loved #EternalLoveofDream. I didn’t finish #PrincessAgents but loved #ShenLi

There are more malicious concubines in harem dramas like #Yanxi & #EmpressesinthePalace of course, but kdramas are full of scheming malicious men & women too 😅

I think one of the dramas she’s thinking of is #TheStoryofMinglan (I’ve spoken with Mae about that one before).

The other could be #NirvanainFire of course, but two other strong contenders would be
#StoryofYanxiPalace &
#EmpressesinthePalace

Já tinha visto esse "teste de DNA" em #Empressesinthepalace
#DearHongrang

a close up of a woman 's face with the words thank you in the corner Alt: a close up of a woman wearing elaborate Qing Dynasty jewelry. She raises a single finger in a "Shh" gesture

"Zhen Huan is dead. You killed her with your own hands."

GUESS WHO FINISHED EMPRESSES IN THE PALACE aaaaAAAASSHHHHHDHCJCMDJFKFKLC

#goodforher #playthegame #ruthless #empressesinthepalace #reasonsyousuck #myfavoritetrope #costumedrama #thelegendofzhenhuan #zhenhuan #historicaldrama

Artist's desk with watercolor and inking supplies surrounding a painting of a Chinese woman in a historical outfit

#empressesinthepalace got me by the THROAT that JEWELRY and the WIGS s ahhhhhhh

#historicaldrama #queerartist #cdrama #watercolors #zhenhuan #thelegendofzhenhuan #costumedrama #historicalfiction