Drama  –  Being in the limelight since it started filming late last year, Mainland drama “Destined To Love You” (Chinese: 偏偏喜欢你) has finally seen light since it’s first episode aired on 16th June 2015. Destined To Love You is yet another masterpiece written by the top notch Chinese novelist Tong Hua (桐华) who have had numerous of her works filmed into many high ratings dramas such as Scarlet Heart (步步惊心), Ballad of The Dessert (风中奇缘 / 大漠谣), The Most Beautiful Time (最美的时光), Perfect Couple (金玉良缘), and one of the recently aired The Cage of Love (抓住彩虹的男人).  “Destined To Love You” brings you the best of the three worlds in just one drama series – starring actors from Mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Read on to find out more about the plot and casts.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPe1kmeh_4Q

Before we get this started, watch the HD trailer of the drama!

 

 

Let’s begin with a brief introduction of the main casts before going into depth on their filmography. A romance drama with a dash of occasional comedy elements, “Destined To Love You” features Joe Chen (陈乔恩 ) as Qian Bao Bao (钱宝宝), Bosco Wong (黃宗澤) as Shen Wen Tao (沈文濤), Jia Nai Liang (賈乃亮) as Xiang Hao (項昊) and Zheng Shuang (鄭爽) as Xiao Han (蕭晗).

Don’t be surprised to see a sloppily-dressed man looking like a beggar getting involved with a fight and getting arrested, alongside with a spectacular circus show where Qian Bao Bao (acted by Joe Chen) performs her tricks when her debtors crashed without a notice.

In order to escape from her debtors, Qian Bao Bao planned to flee with her ill-stricken mother and coincidentally boarded the same train as Xiang Hao – who was forcefully arrested to be sent back to his hometown after wandering around for a year since he left the military school for unknown reasons. Xiang Hao is one of the two elites in the military school alongside with friends-turned-rivals Shen Wen Tao (acted by Bosco Wong). Being forced to return to the military school to take part in the elites selection, Xiang Hao had to keep his guards up all the time.

While Qian Bao Bao smokes her way through the gantry as she couldn’t afford the overpriced train tickets, her mother had a sudden illness attack with left her pleading for help. Xiao Han (acted by Zheng Shuang) overheard the cries and offered medicines and  her room for the pair to rest. A planned assassination took place with the intention to murder Xiang Hao has had its arrow turned to Xiao Han who was unfortunately badly harmed in the process and fallen off the train into deep waters.

Guilt stricken but left with no choices, Qian Bao Bao decided to impersonate and borrows Xiao Han’s identity as a Germany-graduated psychology professor who was freshly hired by the military school of Xiang Hao. Reason being Xiao Han mentioned that she has seen Qian Bao Bao’s mother’s illness previously and is aware of the remedy existing in the hospital of the military school – of which family members of the staff gets the medical treatment free-of-charge.

Qian Bao Bao embarks on her impersonation journey in the military school as the new professor followed by having Shen Wen Tao welcoming her at the train station. Apart from some German greetings, Qian Bao Bao has zero knowledge in the fields of psychology and military matters – so how will she overcome the upcoming obstacles coming in her way? How could she conduct her psychology lessons to educate the elites-to-be in the field of wars and battles? Will she be exposed?

What happened a year ago before Xiang Hao left the school without a word and what turned the brothers into rivals? Did Xiao Han really died in the deadly fall or did she survive? No one else knows Qian Bao Bao’s real identity as yet – but will it last forever?

Watch love blooms between the three main leads – with two sons of the town’s most reputable families cum rivals. Xiang Hao and Xiao Han had an by-mouth engagement set by their elders since they were young but yet Xiang Hao was very firm on his stand that he’ll “rather marry a pig than Xiao Han”. What will happen when he finally realises his feelings for her amidst the constant rivalry with Shen Wen Tao – who seemingly has a thing for Xiao Han as he has been coming to her rescue over and over again since the day she stepped into the military school. Holding herself back amidst all these drama, Xiao Han was crystal clear about the reality – that she is nothing but an imposer, a Cinderella that will return to her true self when the time comes.

The always childish and mischievous Xiang Hao or the ever gentlemanly mature Shen Wen Tao will Xiao Han choose?

 

 

1st Male Lead (Mainland) – Jia Nai Liang (賈乃亮)  as  Xiang Hao (項昊)

The 31-year old actor is signed under H.Brothers and is happily married with a daughter. Being in the scene from as early as 2002, Jia Nai Liang gained his popularity shot with the drama The Most Beautiful Time (最美的时光) which is also written by Tong Hua.

In “The Most Beautiful Time”, Jia’s role as Song Yi is considered rather gentlemanly with a soft-image since he was dressed in suits most of the time in the drama. It was more than just a jaw-dropping moment to see him dressed extremely untidy and filthy in the first episode of “Destined To Love You”. Not just the major difference externally, his role with a witty and quirky character can be considered another breaking point. Be sure to catch both drama series and make the comparison yourself!

Links:
Official Weibo
Instagram

 

 

 

2nd Male Lead (Hong Kong) – Bosco Wong (黃宗澤)  as  Shen Wen Tao (沈文濤)

One of the gold-class Hong Kong actors with countless TVB dramas in his filmography since 2000, Bosco Wong needs no further introduction when all his roles had always been very distinctive with a maximum of five drama series in a year. Be it the good guy or the bad guy, police investigator or the badass gangster, Bosco acted ’em all. Nonetheless, Bosco had his first breakthrough with his first non-TVB drama casting with “Destined To Love You”. Will this open the door to future  opportunities to Chinese dramas for him or perhaps more recognition in the Mainland market?

 Links:
Official Weibo
Instagram

 

 

 

1st Female Lead (Taiwan) – Joe Chen (陈乔恩 )  as  Qian Bao Bao (钱宝宝)

No doubt being ranked one of the “old gingers” in our teenage era of idol-dramas, 36 year-old Joe Chen who is still looking the same as when she first debuted, is definitely considered one of the gold-class actresses in Taiwan. Making her first debut in 2002 and landing her first leading cast role in “My MVP Valentine (MVP 情人)”, Joe effortlessly stabilized her popularity with one of the classic all-time-favorite series “Fated To Love You (命中注定我愛你)” with Ethan Ruan. Don’t miss our featured write-up on another of her recent works “Cruel Romance (锦绣缘)” with Huang Xiao Ming (Click to read).

Links:
Official Weibo

 

 

 

2nd Female Lead – Zheng Shuang (鄭爽)  as  Xiao Han (蕭晗)

Zheng Shuang landed herself with a major role as the female lead in the Mainland rendition of “Boys Over Flowers” or also known as “Meteor Garden” back in 2009. This year will be a blooming year of opportunities for Zheng as she ace her lead roles in many highly-ranked drama such as the recent  The Cage of Love (抓住彩虹的男人) and The Four (少年四大名捕 ). Despite the tough competition in Mainland, Zheng is on her way to being one of the rising young actresses.

 

 

Joe Chen and Jia Nai Liang at a publicity event

We’ve come to the end of this issue of drama feature! Below are some of the drama snippets to excite you and hopefully drive your curiosity to start watching “Destined To Love You” now. You might just find one or two eye-candies among the other casts!

Are you a supporter of #TeamJia or #TeamBosco? Let us know!

Article by XUAN LIN @ KAvenyou, all images taken from “Destined To Love You” Official Weibo.