#loving Jiang Xie hours I guess

[s2pdoktopus]

I just wanted to put the comic together

[admelioremvitam]

Bloom Life 喀什古城 from 🥝 iQIYI officially started filming today. Starring Li Landi, Guo Junchen and Qiu Tian. BTS start of filming special.

The Chinese title of the drama, 喀什古城, is Kashgar Old City.

The production team officially revealed its cast on iQIYI Members Day yesterday. They announced that they officially started filming today, July 18, 2025. They released a behind-the-scenes start of filming special a couple of hours ago.

Clip description:

Between the morning light and evening dusk in Kashgar, we search for our lost original intentions, and in moments of love and being loved, we find growth and healing.

The team made 5 field trips in the early stage of the project - more than 80 days in total. They conducted more than 300 interviews. There are more than 2,000 sets of clothing prepared for the drama.

Cast:

Leading actor:

* Li Landi as Xia Zi

Leading actor:

* Guo Junchen as Zhou Hengzhi

Leading actor:

* Qiu Tian as Lai Li

Special guest actor:

* Gong Beibi as Chang Yue

Special appearance:

* Geng Le

“Friendship” guest actors:

* Ma Qiyue as Fang Nan

* Arafat Arslan

* Jiang Hongbo

Supporting actors:

* 木克热木·开赛尔* Mu Ke Re Mu Kai Sai Er as 米娜娃尔 Mi Na Wa Er (Minawar)*

* Kudousi Jiang Ainiwaer as 阿迪利 A Di Li (Adili)*

* Xie Xinhua as 帕尔哈提 Pa Er Ha Ti (Parhati)*

* 艾来提* Ai Lai Ti as 艾里西尔 AI Li Xi Er (Alishir)*

* Hurxida Turdi

*Note: I was not able to find the romanized spelling of these two actors’ names, 木克热木·开赛尔 and 艾来提, at the time of posting.

The character names are taken from the booting ceremony photos and the start of filming special.

The romanized character names are best guesses based on hanyu pinyin of the names in Chinese, the currently available synopsis on MDL, and Google searches.

* Episodes: 24

* Streaming and broadcasting platforms: iQIYI 🥝 and CCTV 🐑

* Official filming start: July 18, 2025

* 🎬 Director: Qin Hai Yan (Home Coming; The Disappearing Child; A Writer's Odyssey; Lost, Found)

* ✒️ Screenwriters: Yao Changning (There Will Be Ample Time), Qin Hai Yan

Synopsis from MDL:

Note: Based on the filming production record here and the booting ceremony photos (see comments), I made a few edits to the synopsis for clarity. However, the roles of two main leads remain unclear in the currently available storyline.

Three sisters who grew up in the ancient city of Kashgar are facing their own difficulties in life.

The eldest sister Aziguli, who has been away from her hometown for many years because of the unexpected death of her father, has the dream of becoming an architect. After working hard in the big city to no avail, she chooses to return to her hometown and becomes an ancient city renovation designer. She has to work with her first love - Jiang Nan, [a newcomer to the subdistrict office. They partner] up to face the challenges that come one after another at work.

[Nawar], a dancer known as the "Flower of the Ancient City", had to make a choice between marriage and career. However, an accident paralyzed her body and dreams. Her fiancé regretted the marriage, and only her neighbor [Dili] stayed by her side.

The younger sister [Lai Li] is in love with the singer Parhati, but in order to help her father pass on the ancient pottery skills, she chooses to get engaged to her father's apprentice.

The reconstruction of the ancient city reunited the three sisters. [They not only help rebuild the thousand-year-old ancient city, but also begin to heal their emotional wounds - rediscovering strength and renewal alongside the rebirth of the city itself.]

(Source: Chinese = Weibo || Translation = MyDramaList)

[Baidu Link | Douban Link

[megsbooklr]

Mid-Year Book Freak Out 2020

I’m gonna cheat a little and include ff, audiodramas and webnovels, because I didn’t actually read that much books this year... 

Best Book You’ve Read So Far: The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home by Joseph Fink & Joeffrey Cranor

I didn’t know what to expect from this book and I went in blindly. In the end I got a brilliant story of adventures, pirates, found family and revenge, sprinkled with Night Vale weirdness. Totally worth the time!

Also: I listened to the audiobook narrated by Mara Wilson, and it was an amazing experience!

Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far: The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan

I also read the third and the fourth book in the series but the second one was my favourite of them all. 

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year: I’m still waiting for the Polish edition of the fifth volume of The Memoirs of Lady Trent, but the publisher hasn’t even released the date for it yet, so I just hope it will be this year...

UPDATE: Susanna Clarke wrote a new book!!! I CAN’T WAIT FOR IT!!!

Biggest Disappointment: Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

I had high hopes for this book, but it turned out to be different from what I’d expected from the blurb. It’s not a bad book, it’s just not exactly my cup of tea :)

Biggest Surprise: Donna Noble - Kidnapped! (audiodrama)

And here I wasn’t expecting much from this boxset, taking into account that the Doctor was absent and it was just Donna Noble on her own... Oh how wrong I was :D These four stories are very entertaining, I wasn’t bored even for a second. The Doctor wasn’t necessary after all :D and If Donna and her friend were able and chose to travel the Universe in the Tardis of their own, they would be a force to be reckoned with :D

Favorite New Author: Marie Brennan

For The Memoirs of Lady Trent series :)

Newest Fictional Crush: Izabela Camherst (The Memoirs of Lady Trent)

I don’t know if I want to be her or be with her - that kind of crush :D

Newest Favorite Character: Xie Lian (Heaven’s Official Blessing)

My baby. My poor baby, who finally got to live happily after 800 years of suffering. I love him so much. :’)

Book That Made You Cry: Hm, I don’t usually read books that make me cry. But fan fiction makes me cry a lot :D especially the Jiang Cheng centered stories by Lise on AO3 :)

Book That Made You Happy: Heaven’s Official Blessing by MoXiang TongXiu

Two months of reading (I guess it is well over a 1000-page long monster of a book) -> best two months of my life ;) It is both comedy and tragedy, and action adventure in the xianxia style, and I absolutely loved it! 

Favorite Book to Film Adaptation: The Trouble of the Rings

...as in the Russian fan version/parody of The Lord of the Rings, three hour-long movies. I was having the time of my life watching this. It can be found on vimeo, if anyone’s interested :D

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year: Idk, probably Monstress vol. 4? 

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia & The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

The summaries sound amazing, the covers are beautiful, the reviews are positive. I’m waiting for a chance to read them!

Book You NEED to Read By the End of the Year: The Book of Lost Tales vol.2 by JRR Tolkien

I read the first volume last year, and I really want to finish it this year.