'When the Phone Rings' takes Netflix by storm, scores new personal-best ratings
It is only March but Three Lives Three Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (better known as Eternal Love) has become a certified hit, surpassing 30 billion views as of today. It is the hottest Chinese drama right now and one that deserves all the praise for being unlike anything in the fantasy romance genre. If, like me, you are experiencing major withdrawal, then check out some interesting trivia below.
1. Yang Mi is literally the boss of almost everyone on the show. Aside from leading man Mark Chao, the majority of the supporting cast which includes Feng Jiu (Dilraba Dilmurat), Donghua (Vengo Gao), Li Jing (Zhang Bin Bin), Su Jin (Maggie Huang), Xuan Nu (Zhu Xu Dan), Yan Zhe (Ken Chang) and Zi Lan (Liu Rui Lin) are talents under the management of Jiaxing, a company partially owned by Yang Mi.
2. The child actor who plays Ah Li was only 5 years old at the time of filming. His name is Hummer Zhang Yi Han.
3. The main OTP's sizzling chemistry could have had you fooled but Yang Mi and Mark Chao are both married. Yang Mi married Hong Kong actor Hawick Lau who is ten years her senior while Mark Chao married Chinese actress Gao Yuan Yuan who is five years his senior. Yang Mi and Mark Chao are two years apart: she is 30 and he is 32.
4. Yang Mi is just like Bai Qian in real life. She is stubborn, gets lost easily, really likes drinking and has an adorable little one of her own.
5. Yang Mi adopted the cat that her character Su Su brought home. Mark Chao named the cat Shi Xiong which translates in English to 'Martial Senior'.
6. Mark Chao is described as an actor with 'plastic surgery acting skills' because of how he won over everyone who thought that he wasn't good looking enough for the role. Director Lam Yuk Fan took a playful jab by saying that the costumes looked better the more she looked at them, very easy on the eyes, just like Mark Chao. Mark Chao joked back, 'Actually, in the beginning, Director complained that I was ugly, then unexpectedly, the longer she looked the better it looked so filming carried on. There was supposed to be a one-month trial, luckily I passed.'
7. The show's most expensive prop is a human. Many scenes required Mark Chao to stay completely still. When asked about how he felt lying down for an entire day, he responded, 'About to be tired to death. Back and forth, I've fallen asleep then woken up around seven to eight times already. I really don't know what I'm doing. Today, I'm a prop, not an actor.'
8. The dragon that Su Su mistook for a snake is now being mistaken for a mosquito coil. Yang Mi refers to the prop of Ye Hua in dragon form as a mosquito coil because it is certainly shaped a lot like one.
9. The show had seven main locations and 300 scenes that extend across 50,000 square meters, and around 80% of the sets were built from the ground up. Production Designer Chen Hao Zhong shares that the biggest set is probably one of the first ones that were constructed, which is Kun Lun Xu.
10. Weddings in the heavenly realm are one of a kind. Rather than the auspicious red used in traditional Chinese weddings, the palace is adorned with colors of the rainbow.
11. A total of 130 character concepts were created and around 1400 costumes were completed. The design team is led by Chang Suk Ping and Zhang Shi Jie. Chang Suk Ping once won an Oscar for his work in Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster.
12. Hong Kong native Lam Yuk Fan, who is such a hilarious personality in behind the scenes footage, is actually an experienced director with a number of hits under her belt. She worked on Scarlet Heart, Journey of Flower, and Just One Smile is Very Alluring, and also directed the upcoming Lost Love In Times starring Cecilia Liu and William Chan.
13. The 'Dong Huang Zhong' is the show's most notorious line. Yang Mi was supposed to ask Mark Chao, 'Does the Dong Huang Zhong have the ability to destroy the heaven and the earth?' Yet, the scene accumulated the most number of bloopers because the two could not get through the line. Both apologized in between uncontrollable laughter and at one point Mark Chao said, 'Sorry Director, sorry.' Then again, 'Sorry Director, I don't know what is going on. Sorry, sorry everyone.' before finally getting it right.
14. That awkward moment before a kissing scene. Mark Chao went to brush his teeth before a kissing scene, which had Yang Mi grumbling since she didn't bring a toothbrush, 'You doing this is making me feel very awkward. You suddenly say that you're going to brush your teeth, then I can only eat garlic.'
15. The chicken is not Yehua's style. During a scene when the family of three were shopping in the market, Mark Chao was initially supposed to be holding the chicken but they ultimately changed the scene because it didn't feel right.
16. The Romance of the Condor Heroes. Without giving the plot away, some plot similarities between Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms and Jin Yong's romance wuxia are uncanny so if you liked this one, then why not give that a try as well. It's a classic.
17. The costumes are heavy, enough said. A number of scenes required the men to carry the ladies but they all had a hard time much to the chagrin of the person being carried. After several takes, Vengo Gao eventually tired and said sorry before dropping Dilraba Dilmurat. Die Feng (Lai Yi) was turning red trying to lift Zhu Xu Dan. Zhang Bin Bin was sweating from carrying Yang Mi around.
The gentlemen were quick to stress that the women were very light and blamed the costumes. Although Vengo Gao mischievously whispered to the camera, 'Actually, she's not very light', the moment Dilraba Dilmurat approached, he said, 'Actually, she's not very heavy.' Then he clarifies during another scene that she is light but he used up all his energy exercising so he had none left by the end.
Anne J is the creator of DramaPanda.com - best known for their love of Chinese & Korean dramas, movies, celebs and all things historical!
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