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| Tales of the Floating World Pushes Anticipation Higher as Chen Zheyuan and Wang Churan’s Visual Pairing Dominates Online Talk. (Credits: Weibo) |
The first behind-the-scenes photos from Tales of the Floating World (浮生) have landed online, and Chinese drama fans wasted absolutely no time turning the production into this week’s hottest obsession.
With Chen Zheyuan and Wang Churan front and centre, the historical fantasy series is already being treated like the next big visual blockbuster before filming has even properly settled down.
Honestly, give audiences one attractive dragon prince and one immortal tree spirit in flowing robes, and productivity across drama fandoms immediately collapses.
Unlike many fantasy dramas currently fighting for attention with the exact same icy palace halls and emotionally unavailable immortals, Tales of the Floating World is taking a more ambitious route.
The drama uses a unit-style storytelling structure spanning several eras, including the Warring States period, Tang and Song dynasties, and the Republican era.
In other words, viewers are preparing themselves for romance, heartbreak, destiny, supernatural politics, and at least several scenes where someone stares dramatically into the distance while ancient background music plays at dangerous volume.
Adapted from the novel Fosheng Wu Yu by Suo Luo Shuang Shu, the story follows Suo Luo, played by Wang Churan, a thousand-year-old tree spirit hiding behind the elegant façade of a dessert shop owner.
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Her mysterious shop, “Bu Ting”, serves Floating Tea to guests carrying stories filled with love, regret, resentment and unfinished feelings.
Most of these visitors also happen to be supernatural beings, because apparently ordinary customers are not stressful enough.
The anthology-style narrative allows each arc to explore different emotional themes while slowly building the larger connection between humans and monsters.
The newly surfaced production photos especially pushed attention toward Wang Churan’s styling.
Her first costume appearance as Suo Luo features layered yellow-green tones matched with a flowing blue-green skirt, creating a refined but slightly dangerous aura fitting for a character who has survived for centuries and probably has no patience left for nonsense.
First look at Wang Churan on the set of #TalesoftheFloatingWorld
— JieJie Base (@C_EntWomen) May 4, 2026
[ #WangChuran #王楚然 ]
pic.twitter.com/l50ybnrl8e
The bead-chain accessories draped over her shoulders add an ethereal finish that fans online immediately described as “fairy-level visuals”. Others joked that Suo Luo looks expensive enough to increase costume department budgets across the entire industry.
Suo Luo herself is not written as a soft-spoken fantasy heroine either. The character reportedly loves money, speaks sharply, protects those she cares about fiercely, and operates her hidden refuge for supernatural beings with the energy of someone who has seen absolutely everything already.
Her past relationship with the Water God and eventual romance with Ao Chi are expected to become major emotional anchors of the story, alongside rumours surrounding the pair eventually having twins.
Historical fantasy dramas truly never miss a chance to make immortality sound exhausting.
Meanwhile, Chen Zheyuan appears to be fully embracing his chaotic dragon prince era.
🗞️#ChenZheyuan’s first look in #TalesoftheFloatingWorld released - how are we feeling 👀 https://t.co/atjH79wNKK pic.twitter.com/NWwbv1sGe7
— Oolong Dispatch (@oolongdispatch) May 2, 2026
Playing Ao Chi, the crown prince of the dragon clan and grandson of the East Sea Dragon King, the actor is shown in several contrasting looks throughout filming.
One costume presents him in regal gold-brown and emerald robes with a traditional topknot, while another reveals a more melancholic side with loose hair and muted grey styling.
Naturally, fans immediately began arguing over which version looks better, as if the internet has not already suffered enough from impossible beauty standards.
Ao Chi’s character sounds equally dramatic. He is described as wild, arrogant and mischievous before eventually being restrained by the Water God.
Beneath the chaos, however, the dragon prince hides genuine loyalty and affection toward Suo Luo, often disguising himself as “Pang Zi” just to stay near her.
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| Chen Zheyuan’s Ao Chi Character Already Becoming a Fan Favourite |
So yes, viewers are once again preparing for the classic fantasy formula of “annoying man secretly devoted for eternity”. Somehow it works every single time.
Discussion intensified further after Chen Zheyuan hinted during filming that Ao Chi’s role changes significantly across timelines.
During the opening ceremony, the actor revealed that his character would also appear as a young military officer during the Republican-era storyline.
That single sentence alone was enough to send social media into meltdown mode. Historical fantasy fans are many things, but calm around Republican military uniforms is not one of them.
Joining the cast is Deng Kai, known for Pursuit of Jade (逐玉), who plays Zi Miao, the tragic Water God tied deeply to Suo Luo’s past. According to early character details, Zi Miao once shaped Suo Luo’s human form based on the image of his deceased beloved before later sacrificing himself to stop a devastating drought.
In other words, the series appears fully committed to emotionally destroying viewers while making everyone look stunning at the same time.
Many viewers praised the visual chemistry between Chen Zheyuan and Wang Churan, calling them one of the strongest fantasy pairings announced this year. Others are cautiously optimistic, pointing out that visually beautiful dramas still need solid pacing and coherent scripts, which is fair considering the genre occasionally treats storytelling like an optional side quest. Some C-netz also admitted the multi-era structure could either become brilliantly layered or spectacularly confusing depending on execution. Still, even sceptical audiences seem unable to ignore the scale of the production.
Attention has already reflected that growing hype. Despite still being early in production, Tales of the Floating World reportedly climbed to the top of the DataWin popularity index for anticipated dramas.
Between its anthology concept, fantasy mythology, visually striking cast and emotionally heavy character dynamics, the project has quickly become one of the most closely watched Chinese dramas currently in development.
Now the real question is whether Tales of the Floating World can actually live up to the chaos, expectations and endless online analysis already surrounding it. Will the story deliver something genuinely memorable, or will fans end up surviving purely on visuals and emotional suffering again?