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| Bai Lu & Dou Xiao Reportedly Teaming Up for iQIYI’s Realistic Slice-of-Life Drama “Chinese Peach and Plum” |
Heads up, C-drama fam! If you’ve been craving something grounded, nostalgic, and packed with literary weight, looks like iQIYI might just be cooking up your next obsession.
Word on the street is that Bai Lu and Dou Xiao are set to headline the upcoming drama Chinese Peach and Plum (中文桃李) — a touching, realistic slice-of-life story based on the novel by Liang Xiaosheng, the literary maestro behind countless award-winning works (yes, he bagged the Mao Dun Literature Prize, no less).
🍑 Drama Overview: A Train Ride, Two Strangers, and Years of Entanglement
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Set in the year 2000, Chinese Peach and Plum follows Li Xiaodong and Xu Ran, two fresh-faced students entering university life as Chinese Department majors.
Their first meeting? A fateful train ride to campus — the kind of chance encounter that ends up shaping the rest of their lives. What starts off as a simple hello slowly unravels into years of emotional push and pull, exploring how youth, ideology, love, and reality intertwine.
The genre leans deeply into realism and slice-of-life, so don’t expect over-the-top melodrama here. Instead, it's all about subtle emotions, intellectual conflicts, and the quiet moments that mark growing up in post-90s China.
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🎬 The Creative Team Behind It All
Here’s why this one’s already buzzing even before cameras roll:
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Original Novel & Script Supervision: Liang Xiaosheng (梁晓声), a name that needs no intro in Chinese literary circles. His works are often soaked in social commentary, realism, and tender humanism.
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Executive Producer: Li Lu (李路), known for The Glory of Youth and In the Name of the People, two dramas that nailed both storytelling and critical acclaim.
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Director: Zhang Hanbing (张寒冰), also from The Glory of Youth, bringing more of that nuanced, character-driven style.
With this line-up, it’s looking more like an artistic project than your usual pop idol romance — which, honestly, we’re kind of excited about.
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🎥 When’s It Happening?
Production is rumoured to kick off sometime in early 2026 (Q1). Originally, there were talks about filming starting sooner, but with schedule coordination and potential adjustments around the cast's availability, it seems more likely we’ll see things moving properly next year.
No official trailer, teaser, or costume fitting pics yet, but considering the pedigree behind it, this might be one of those slow-burn releases that quietly dominates discussions once it airs.
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🗣️ Netizens Already Talking
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“Bai Lu in a serious slice-of-life role? Finally!”
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“Dou Xiao fits that early 2000s uni student vibe so well.”
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“Liang Xiaosheng’s works always hit different… can’t wait.”
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“This is giving ‘Chinese Call Me By Your Name’ but for literature nerds.”
Let’s just say, the buzz is building — and we’re ready for a story that makes us feel, think, and maybe even cry a little.
📌 TL;DR – What We Know So Far:
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Drama Title | Chinese Peach and Plum (中文桃李) |
| Genre | Realistic, slice-of-life |
| Main Cast | Bai Lu, Dou Xiao |
| Original Author | Liang Xiaosheng |
| Executive Producer | Li Lu (The Glory of Youth) |
| Director | Zhang Hanbing (The Glory of Youth) |
| Platform | iQIYI |
| Production Start | Rumoured for Q1 2026 |