Specific Gravity of Grade B Jadeite

[icy_jade]

Oh shucks I really enjoy looking at the jade.
.

But Yanxi has such a beautiful color palette. And their costume and hair accessories is generally more accurate to history

 

[icy_jade]

Maybe we can start a Chinese drama club lol. Am now watching a low budget series about a female coroner in ancient times.

 

[Silvermom]

But Yanxi has such a beautiful color palette. And their costume and hair accessories is generally more accurate to history

OK I will continue to watch then. I really did like Ruyi because I hated the emperor so much. I was happy that Ruyi really socked it to him in her classy understated way.

 

[Silvermom]

Maybe we can start a Chinese drama club lol. Am now watching a low budget series about a female coroner in ancient times.

Yes, tell me what are the good ones.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

@Silvermom there's a few translations of this floating around but this was one that I loved. It was in the note that he read from Ruyi

"I always thought a lost love was something to feel pity over, but today I realise that there's a time for happy moments and there's a time when we have to lose them."

I loved the costumes from Ruyi more (brighter imo) but really Yanxi was incredibly enjoyable! Definately a must watch!

Have you seen the series before Ruyi? Empresses in the Palace?

It's the back story of the Empress Dowager in Ruyi.

Made by the same people. Excellent cast and production too!

 

[Silvermom]

@Silvermom there's a few translations of this floating around but this was one that I loved. It was in the note that he read from Ruyi

"I always thought a lost love was something to feel pity over, but today I realise that there's a time for happy moments and there's a time when we have to lose them."

I loved the costumes from Ruyi more (brighter imo) but really Yanxi was incredibly enjoyable! Definately a must watch!

Have you seen the series before Ruyi? Empresses in the Palace?

It's the back story of the Empress Dowager in Ruyi.

Made by the same people. Excellent cast and production too!

I have seen Empresses in the Palace. Really liked that one. I enjoyed Ruyi because the story line was good but the jades really made it AWESOME for me. I am disappointed that Yanxi doesn't have much jade. Ruyi definitely had to lose that one. The emperor was a pig.

 

[voce]

Maybe we can start a Chinese drama club lol. Am now watching a low budget series about a female coroner in ancient times.

Haha I know the one! I'm watching it, too.

@Silvermom
As much as I love jade and jewelry, I wouldn't watch a 70+ episode drama solely for the glimpses of finery. The characters and story are important, too.

 

[Silvermom]

Haha I know the one! I'm watching it, too.

@Silvermom
As much as I love jade and jewelry, I wouldn't watch a 70+ episode drama solely for the glimpses of finery. The characters and story are important, too.

Yes you are right but it does help to keep my interest more.

 

[icy_jade]

Haha I know the one! I'm watching it, too.

@Silvermom
As much as I love jade and jewelry, I wouldn't watch a 70+ episode drama solely for the glimpses of finery. The characters and story are important, too.

Imperial Coroner right? I’m now halfway through it and it’s sooooo addictive. I think that show is a great example of how you don’t need a massive budget or well known actors to be a good show, just a good director, decent actors, and great script.

I was so addicted to Romance of Tiger and Rose last year and it was such a low budget show too.

@Silvermom I will rec:
- Yanxi Palace
- Eternal Love
- Pillow Book
- Romance of Tiger and Rose
- The Imperial Coroner

These are the shows I finished/intend to finish. I start and drop a lot of shows even though their Douban rating is really good, are big hits, etc. So ultimately it really varies but these are all fairly decent/mega hits when they aired.

Also Empresses In the Palace and Nirvana on Fire are pretty old shows and can be slooooow (I ffwd some parts) but also finished them.

 

[Silvermom]

Imperial Coroner right? I’m now halfway through it and it’s sooooo addictive. I think that show is a great example of how you don’t need a massive budget or well known actors to be a good show, just a good director, decent actors, and great script.

I was so addicted to Romance of Tiger and Rose last year and it was such a low budget show too.

@Silvermom I will rec:
- Yanxi Palace
- Eternal Love
- Pillow Book
- Romance of Tiger and Rose
- The Imperial Coroner

These are the shows I finished/intend to finish. I start and drop a lot of shows even though their Douban rating is really good, are big hits, etc. So ultimately it really varies but these are all fairly decent/mega hits when they aired.

Also Empresses In the Palace and Nirvana on Fire are pretty old shows and can be slooooow (I ffwd some parts) but also finished them.

Thanks Icy. I will definitely check these out. Right now per your suggestion I am watching the sory of Yanxi Palace. I am on the 2nd chapter and just starting to like it. Some of these titles sound really interesting. My eyes are getting discombuberating (haywire) from all this reading.

 

[voce]

Imperial Coroner right? I’m now halfway through it and it’s sooooo addictive. I think that show is a great example of how you don’t need a massive budget or well known actors to be a good show, just a good director, decent actors, and great script.

I was so addicted to Romance of Tiger and Rose last year and it was such a low budget show too.

@Silvermom I will rec:
- Yanxi Palace
- Eternal Love
- Pillow Book
- Romance of Tiger and Rose
- The Imperial Coroner

These are the shows I finished/intend to finish. I start and drop a lot of shows even though their Douban rating is really good, are big hits, etc. So ultimately it really varies but these are all fairly decent/mega hits when they aired.

Also Empresses In the Palace and Nirvana on Fire are pretty old shows and can be slooooow (I ffwd some parts) but also finished them.

Yup, I have 2 episodes left. The scriptwriter supposedly spent three years writing it, but it's so much better than that of expensive productions, and I wish all productions were like this. Too many use the Mary Sue plotline, which this is not.

I know Empresses in the Palace is a classic and the original palace drama, but like Ruyi's royal love it was markedly not accurate to history, so I may have trouble getting into it also. It took me many months from episode 1 of Ruyi to make it to episode 7 or 8, which is when I became addicted. Since the Yongzhen emperor is one of those with one of the most peaceful harems, the premise of Empresses in the Palace with all this fighting is absurd.

I will not make any recommendations since my usual taste is more modern dramas or action ones without a clear traditional black and white villain. One of my favorite historically inspired shows was The Longest Day in Chang'an, which is very different from a palace drama and a fast pace but surely not to everybody's tastes.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Does anyone know why they always claim in the dramas that Qian Long's mother is not his real mother?

From the research that I've done (albeit all in English) she was his birth mother and he was very filial to her. They always claim that his real mum is someone else.

 

[Silvermom]

Imperial Coroner right? I’m now halfway through it and it’s sooooo addictive. I think that show is a great example of how you don’t need a massive budget or well known actors to be a good show, just a good director, decent actors, and great script.

I was so addicted to Romance of Tiger and Rose last year and it was such a low budget show too.

@Silvermom I will rec:
- Yanxi Palace
- Eternal Love
- Pillow Book
- Romance of Tiger and Rose
- The Imperial Coroner

These are the shows I finished/intend to finish. I start and drop a lot of shows even though their Douban rating is really good, are big hits, etc. So ultimately it really varies but these are all fairly decent/mega hits when they aired.

Also Empresses In the Palace and Nirvana on Fire are pretty old shows and can be slooooow (I ffwd some parts) but also finished them.

So Icy, which on your list is the best. I am trying to decide which drama to watch next. Thanks

 

[voce]

Does anyone know why they always claim in the dramas that Qian Long's mother is not his real mother?

From the research that I've done (albeit all in English) she was his birth mother and he was very filial to her. They always claim that his real mum is someone else.

So prior to his ascension as emperor, the historical records refer to her by one name, in the reign of Kangxi when he was born, but after his ascension the historical records refer to her by another name. Some historians interpret it as his birth mother of Han ethnicity being given a Manchurian clan name (Niohuru, a powerful one at that). Other people interpret it as he had a different birth mother.

 

[Silvermom]

Imperial Coroner right? I’m now halfway through it and it’s sooooo addictive. I think that show is a great example of how you don’t need a massive budget or well known actors to be a good show, just a good director, decent actors, and great script.

I was so addicted to Romance of Tiger and Rose last year and it was such a low budget show too.

@Silvermom I will rec:
- Yanxi Palace
- Eternal Love
- Pillow Book
- Romance of Tiger and Rose
- The Imperial Coroner

These are the shows I finished/intend to finish. I start and drop a lot of shows even though their Douban rating is really good, are big hits, etc. So ultimately it really varies but these are all fairly decent/mega hits when they aired.

Also Empresses In the Palace and Nirvana on Fire are pretty old shows and can be slooooow (I ffwd some parts) but also finished them.

OMG Icy, I just watched 3 minutes of the Imperial Coroner AND I KNOW I WILL LOVE IT. I am going to watch this. It took me about 10 chapters to like Ruyi. So I know I will really like this. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Thanks @voce

I've always wanted to know but never found the answer. But now I still don't know if she REALLY was his real mum or not.

Actually I'd love to know if the infighting was as bad as the series portray it. Doubt it was peachy all the time.

 

[icy_jade]

So Icy, which on your list is the best. I am trying to decide which drama to watch next. Thanks

OMG Icy, I just watched 3 minutes of the Imperial Coroner AND I KNOW I WILL LOVE IT. I am going to watch this. It took me about 10 chapters to like Ruyi. So I know I will really like this. Thank you for the suggestion.

It depends on whether you want another Palace drama or not. I find that usually I need a break in between Palace dramas, to adjust to different drama aesthetics and also as I get a bit sick of watching harem politics. So I would have suggested Eternal Love, which is a fantasy drama and a huge hit in its time. But Imperial Coroner is really good too and totally different so that’s a good choice too. If you just want happy light hearted fluff, then Romance of Tiger and Rose is good for some brainless entertainment. Am not into sad endings/angsty shows or scum male leads so shows like Ruyi are no go for me.

One more Qing dynasty show that was a huge hit in its time is Scarlet Heart or Startling Step by Step aka 步步惊心 (the original Chinese version and not the Korean version hot mess). I liked it a lot despite the sad ending and had a crush on the jadeite bangle and magnolia hairpin that was featured heavily in the story.

@voce Heard that Chang An is really good and I really like the drama visuals so I may watch it in the future. Clearly I have a preference for period and fantasy c dramas. For modern ones I quite like the Korean shows.

 

[Silvermom]

It depends on whether you want another Palace drama or not. I find that usually I need a break in between Palace dramas, to adjust to different drama aesthetics and also as I get a bit sick of watching harem politics. So I would have suggested Eternal Love, which is a fantasy drama and a huge hit in its time. But Imperial Coroner is really good too and totally different so that’s a good choice too. If you just want happy light hearted fluff, then Romance of Tiger and Rose is good for some brainless entertainment. Am not into sad endings/angsty shows or scum male leads so shows like Ruyi are no go for me.

One more Qing dynasty show that was a huge hit in its time is Scarlet Heart or Startling Step by Step aka 步步惊心 (the original Chinese version and not the Korean version hot mess). I liked it a lot despite the sad ending and had a crush on the jadeite bangle and magnolia hairpin that was featured heavily in the story.

@voce Heard that Chang An is really good and I really like the drama visuals so I may watch it in the future. Clearly I have a preference for period and fantasy dramas. For modern ones I quite like the Korean shows.

Love you totally Icy. Thank you for taking the time to explain. Per your suggestion, I am watching the Imperial Coroner. I love this show. The girl is soooooo cute. Right now I am on chapter 3. I will watch the others you recommended after too. You are keeping me busy.

 

[voce]

@icy_jade I've become an enthusiast of new discoveries in Chinese archeology that dethrone traditional narratives, and I'm fascinated by the time periods of the warring states and between the Han dynasty and the Song dynasty, where a lot of these period and fantasy dramas supposedly take place. I don't find there's any equivalent for these sorts of shows in other cultures just because they don't have such rich historical material to draw from.

I've watched three Chinese modern dramas lately, two of which are related to online gaming (Love 020 and the King's Avatar), even though they were filmed a few years ago. I relate to the characters there a lot because I met my fiance playing World of Warcraft. Apart from those, I also enjoy watching modern Korean dramas more than modern Chinese dramas. I still feel like a lot of modern Chinese dramas are moralizing family dramas or youth dramas or uninteresting Mary Sue type plots. It's a lot more intriguing to watch some intelligently plotted Korean revenge drama or unique stories like It's Okay to Not be OK.

 

[Lovinggems]

Recent dramas that I liked
Joy of Life
Doulou Continent
Evernight 1, 2 is ok too
Story of Ming Lan (watched this one 3 times)

Korean: Hotel del Luna

Older one
Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms
Ashes of Love
The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre 2019

Need to finish Longest Day in Chang An and the Tomb series

 

[Lovinggems]

Also The Long Ballad , I really liked this one as well.

 

[voce]

Also The Long Ballad , I really liked this one as well.

That's probably next on my list to watch.

I started Royal Nirvana but had to stop 10 minutes into the first episode, it was so boring. If anyone has experience with this, and thinks I should watch more, please let me know.

P.S. I sometimes decide to watch stuff based on the fact Sa Dingding sang a really good theme song for the drama. Royal Nirvana was one of those series I decided to try based purely on the theme song.

 

[icy_jade]

That's probably next on my list to watch.

I started Royal Nirvana but had to stop 10 minutes into the first episode, it was so boring. If anyone has experience with this, and thinks I should watch more, please let me know.

P.S. I sometimes decide to watch stuff based on the fact Sa Dingding sang a really good theme song for the drama. Royal Nirvana was one of those series I decided to try based purely on the theme song.

Yes totally with you re: Royal Nirvana. But after hanging on for few episodes I was blown away by the acting and intricate plot. I persisted at that time as I read about how good the show was and also that it is quite slow in the initial episodes. As mentioned earlier, can fast forward if needed. What I did was surf the net (like PS haha) while the show is playing and only pay attention when it was interesting.

Anyone into the BL genre? Am not but they are such big hits in China.

 

[Lovinggems]

No haven't watched Royal Nirvana. The only series that liked with her as the female lead was Bloody Romance.

Another one I haven't watched is Goodbye my Princess, but heard it's good. The male lead is also the villain.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

No haven't watched Royal Nirvana. The only series that liked with her as the female lead was Bloody Romance.

Another one I haven't watched is Goodbye my Princess, but heard it's good. The male lead is also the villan.

Omg Goodbye My Princess is awesome!!!! Awesome!!!!!

 

[voce]

No haven't watched Royal Nirvana. The only series that liked with her as the female lead was Bloody Romance.

Another one I haven't watched is Goodbye my Princess, but heard it's good. The male lead is also the villain.

I hated the ending of Bloody Romance!

Nothing worse than spending all this time, to be "rewarded" with such a bad ending.

 

[Lovinggems]

Wasn't a happy ending. I googled and apparently the tv series was only the first part of the novel. Although like most productions, they'll never make another season.

 

[voce]

Wasn't a happy ending. I googled and apparently the tv series was only the first part of the novel. Although like most productions, they'll never make another season.

Honestly, is there someplace I can read the novel straight from the web without translation? I just don't use WeChat because it's a hassle when I switch phones, and it's easy to get locked out.

 

[Lovinggems]

Googled 媚者無疆小説 came up with a few links.

 

[voce]

So, I'm really interested in this carved pendant. But how would you even wear it? I don't see a bail, would they have to drill a hole somewhere?