It’s been five months since this drama debut and grabbed the attention of fangirls and bloggers alike. Which means this blog post is long overdue and has now emerged through the aftermath of the hype. Nevertheless, this drama is just too good for me to not at least blog about it, even if it is five months overdue.
To illustrate just how much I love this show is to also talk about my strong dislike and general avoidance of Chinese fantasy dramas. Since I grew up watching Asian TV shows (mostly Chinese), I’d like to think that I’ve seen almost every tired trope in the book, whether it is the Mary-Sue main character who is always being bullied and misunderstood while she tries to maintain a tired smile or her useless love interest who claims to love her but always falls into the schemes of the evil third party. Not to mention the amount of unnecessary angst that does nothing but create tension in the show or the cheap CGI that I cannot help but cringe at. Reasons enough to avoid fantasy C-dramas altogether.
So when I first saw the trailer and BTS of Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, not even the amazing set design or beautiful visuals is enough to grab my attention. (Plus I have some past prejudice regarding Yang Mi’s acting which further pushed me away) But when even my pickiest of friends sang praises for this seemingly wonderful show, I soon cave in and decided to give it a go. And I am so glad I did. It seems my faith in fantasy C-dramas has now been restored.
Likes:
The plot was very well-paced, by withholding information at the start to keep me hooked from the first episode. The show doesn’t try to patronize by explaining everything at once and instead brought me on a journey to explore on my own.
Characters were so well-written and likable. Casting was also spot-on with a bunch of beautiful people in their beautiful costumes (I’m in love with Bai Qian’s flowy silk dresses) that adds to this beautiful world. My favourite characters would probably be Mo Yuan and Donghua Dijun. Mo Yuan is nothing like the typical “shifus” who mete out severe punishment for the smallest act of disobedience and is grouchy and angry at every little thing. Instead, he’s calm, understanding and kind. For the first time I understood why his disciples have such high respect for him. In fact, halfway through the show I started to ship Bai Qian and Mo Yuan together (yes, it’s creepy and weird but he’s so sweet to her >.<) but of course, we all know who she ends up with.
Another character that I really like would be Donghua Dijun. Vengo looks incredible with his silky white hair purple robe (though his hair keeps reminding me of a my favourite noodles). I actually preferred Dijun when he was a God rather than as the human Emperor. He has more of an aura as a God than a human, cause…you know. He’s a God. Lol. Dilreba really brought out Feng Jiu’s character as an adorable fox spirit. Though her crying scenes got really tiresome at some parts. But the chemistry between the two………..*melts*.
Another thing I love about this show is how they used every old, tiresome trope in the book, and subvert them. Not the biggest fan of Ye Hua but I love his savagery which is not always seen in a fantasy c-drama male lead. From the start we see that he’s made it very clear his disinterest in Su Jin, not even as a friend lol. He’s a man who knows where to draw the line. It’s hard to fault the things he has done to protect Su Su (human Bai Qian) since it really seemed like the only way out at that point. Watching the story unfold between Su Su and Ye Hua was quite heart-wrenching, all the more because they were both helpless in their situation. I also liked how Ye Hua made sure Bai Qian was actually Su Su before courting her, instead of just using her as a substitute for Su Su like everyone else thought. Though I kind of shipped Ye Hua with Su Su rather than Bai Qian. I felt like Bai Qian would be better with Mo Yuan. I know Bai Qian and Su Su are essentially the same person but their personalities are polar opposites.
Dislikes:
Well no one show is perfect (with exception to Legend of Zhen Huan) but it probably just me nitpicking as usual.
Zhang Bin Bin as Li Jing
I’m actually quite disappointed in Zhang Bin Bin’s acting here. He started off well as the hot playboy prince but became a talking script in the later half of the show. I’m probably just being really critical here but h’s basically emoting in all of his “sad” scenes. I found it hard to believe in his acting since each time he’s on screen I’m fully aware that he IS acting and not actually Li Jing the character. He’s not bad in the other parts but I think he really fell short in the scenes when he was “heartbroken” which honestly, didn’t feel very heart-breaking.
Ye Hua’s “Harem”
I get that Ye Hua is supposed to be really good-looking and has many admirers but the number of girls who instantly fell for him AT FIRST SIGHT is a little too much? I mean most of these girls barely know him and all he does is hold a straight face and suddenly they’re head over heels in love. So much that they’re willing to be a maid in the palace just so they can stay with him 24/7. Erm…know your worth girls. One Su Jin is already enough.
Bai Qian’s bipolarity
I find Bai Qian’s sudden shyness around Ye Hua kind of annoying, especially since she’s such a strong, aggressive person. Maybe it was to differentiate her feelings for Mo Yuan and Ye Hua but my inner modern-woman just can’t deal with it.
Overall
This show got me hooked from the first episode right till the last and has since restored my faith in fantasy shows. Now I can’t wait for the movie starring Yang Yang and Liu Yifei. Hopefully it’ll be as good and do the TV show justice.
escapismworld 
“Well no one show is perfect (with exception to Legend of Zhen Huan)” I LOL’ed at this but I totally agree. Hahaha. I’m a Mo Yuan-Bai Qian shipper too! Poor cuddly Mo Yuan, they need to give someone to him.
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Glad to have found a fellow Mo Yuan fan!! He’s such a sweetie and my heart breaks every time I see him sad 😥 I think Bai Qian suited Mo Yuan better than Ye Hua tbh hahaha
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I’m two years late for this as I just discovered Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms whilst in Nagano last week. Just wondering, why didn’t Mo Yuan pursue Bai Qian when Ye Hua died? I mean, he could have helped her move on. I don’t get the argument some people gave about Mo Yusn protecting the realms hence he gave up Bai Qian. I’m a fellow Mo Yuan And Si Yin shipper here
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It’s great that you at least got to catch it! But how come Nagano though? HAHA
Its been a while since I finished it so I don’t remember the details. But I’m guessing it could be that Mo Yuan was never really one who takes the initiative, unlike Ye Hua. I mean, he had the advantage of courting Si Yin even before Ye Hua came into the picture but he didn’t. Though it could be argued that the teacher-student relationship might’ve been a problem. But it wouldn’t have been part of Mo Yuan’s character to pursue Bai Qian while she was still grieving Ye Hua’s death. Which was also one of the reasons why I love Mo Yuan. But poor Mo Yuan though 😥
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I believe is because Mo Yuan knew that Ye Hua would come back. When he is explaining to Bai Qian about Ye Hua’s return, he tells her that he thought it would take decades for him to come back. He knew that she had sacrificed 70,000 years of her life waiting for him, he most likely did not want her putting her life on hold, or do something desperate, like taking blood from her heart to keep him from decaying, like she did with him. He knew he would be preserved in that crystal coffin and staying in the Wuwang Sea.
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Ahhhh that’s true. It’s been so long I kind of forgot the details. That makes a lot of sense then haha. Would’ve been really jerky if he went for Bai Qian knowing Ye Hua would eventually return.
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