''The First Half of My Life'' () is a 2017 Chinese television series based on

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

novelist

Yi Shu Yi Shu or Isabel Nee Yeh-su (born 25 September 1946) is a popular Hong Kong writer. She is the younger sister of Ni Kuang. She has used other pen names, including Rose (玫瑰), Mui Fon (梅峰), Lok Hon (駱絳), and Luk Kwok (陸國). Child ...

's novel of the same name, and centers on a group of city dwellers who have to make choices about love and career. It was directed by Shen Yan and stars

Jin Dong Jin Dong (, born 22 December 1976) is a Chinese actor. He is known for his television roles in ''Legend of Entrepreneurship'' (2012), ''The Disguiser'' (2015), '' Candle in the Tomb'' (2016), ''Surgeons'' (2017) and ''The First Half of My Life'' ...

Ma Yili Ma Yili (, born 29 June 1976) is a Chinese actress. Ma ranked 42nd on ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list in 2019. Early life Ma was born in Hongkou District, Shanghai on June 29, 1976, with her ancestral home in Rudong County, Nantong, Jiangsu. ...

Yuan Quan Yuan Quan (, born 16 October 1977), also known as Yolanda Yuan, is a Chinese actress and singer. She graduated from the Central Academy of Drama where she majored in drama. Career Yuan starred in her first film ''Rhapsody of Spring'' (1998), w ...

Lei Jiayin Lei Jiayin () is a Chinese actor. He is best known for his role as Chen Junsheng in drama ''The First Half of My Life''. Lei ranked 62nd on ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list in 2019, and 61st in 2020. Early life Lei Jiayin was born in Tiedon ...

, Wu Yue, and

Chen Daoming Chen Daoming (born 26 April 1955) is a Chinese actor who has starred in various genres of film and television series. Career Chen graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. His first notable role was "Puyi" (the last emperor of China) in the ...

. The series was first broadcast on

Beijing Television Beijing Radio and Television Station (BRTV), formerly Beijing Media Network (BMN), is a government-owned television network in China. It broadcasts from Beijing. The channel is available only in Chinese. Beijing Media Network was founded on ...

and

Dragon Television Shanghai Dragon Television or Dragon TV () is a provincial satellite TV station. It launched in October 1998 as "Shanghai Television" but changed its name to Dragon Television on October 23, 2003.Jin Dong Jin Dong (, born 22 December 1976) is a Chinese actor. He is known for his television roles in ''Legend of Entrepreneurship'' (2012), ''The Disguiser'' (2015), '' Candle in the Tomb'' (2016), ''Surgeons'' (2017) and ''The First Half of My Life'' ...

as He Han (), an

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

in the consulting industry. His girlfriend is Tang Jing, and they've been together for ten years. *

as Luo Zijun (), a full-time housewife who lives a simple life after marriage with Chen Junsheng. *

as Tang Jing (), a career-minded woman and He Han's girlfriend. *

as Chen Junsheng (), an elite in the career workforce and Luo Zijun's husband. * Wu Yue as Ling Ling (), Chen Junsheng's second wife. *

as Zhuo Jianqing (), He Han's friend.

Supporting

* Xu Di as Xue Zhenzhu (), Luo Zijun and Luo Ziqun's mother. * Zhang Lingxin as Luo Ziqun (), Luo Zijun's younger sister. * Zheng Luoqian as Wei Wei'an () * Wang Tianze as Leng Jiaqing (), Ling Ling's son and Chen Junsheng's stepson. *

Vivian Wu Vivian Wu ( Wu Junmei; ; born February 5, 1967) is a Chinese-American actress.Chen Nan ''China Daily'', 27 April 2007. Her big break came in 1987, appearing in the biographical film '' The Last Emperor''. She later went to starring in films '' ...

as Aunt Wu * Luan Yuanhui as Bai Guang * Chuo Ni as Luoluo *

Mei Ting Mei Ting (Chinese: 梅婷, born 30 April 1975) is a Chinese actress. She received the Best Actress awards at the 22nd Cairo International Film Festival and 5th Huabiao Awards for her performance in "A Time to Remember". Early life In the 1980s, ...

as Zhuo Jianqing's former girlfriend *

Tan Kai Tan Kai ( Chinese: 谭凯; born 1973) is a mainland Chinese computer technician and an environmental activist from Zhejiang province. He operated his own company, called Lanyi Computer Repair, and co-founded an environmental advocacy and monitori ...

as Adom * Kong Wei as a single woman * Zhang Yanyan as Su Manshu * Hou Yansong as Laojin * Wei Zhihao as Ping'er * Song Yunhao as Duan Xiaotian * Xu Caigen as Cui Baojian * Ren Jimin as Chen Junsheng's father * Zhang Lan as Chen Junsheng's mother * Ru Tian as Ya Qin * Min Tianhao as A Hui * Shi An as Lawyer Li * Guo Tongtong as Xiaodong * Chen Guanning as Cui Baojian's son * Yang Mei as a chubby girl. * Sun Yuhan as Caicai * Xu Sheng as Phil * Guan Xueying as Sandra Dong * Bi Hanwen as the lawyer of Chen Junsheng * Qu Lingzi as He Han's assistant * Lu Ling as Yingying * Cheng Hong as the marketing manager * Huang Jing as Tang Jing's assistant * Yu Mingjia as the CEO of Angel * Ren Donglin as Li Rui * Zhang Yi as Luo Ping

Soundtrack

Ratings

* Highest ratings are marked in red, lowest ratings are marked in blue

Reception

Since its broadcast, the series has caused heated discussions online and obtained high ratings. Shen Yan, director of the series, attribute the show's success to its capability to capture modern life in China through several ordinary people's lives and the great influence of book writer Isabel Nee Yeh-su. By emphasizing the importance of female independence, the series has won much favor among female audiences. However, the series has been criticized by book fans for veering too much from the plot. Its display of improper ethical values has also been criticized for degrading social conduct.

Awards and nominations

International broadcast

The series will be broadcast by

Star Chinese Channel Star Chinese Channel () is a Taiwanese general entertainment television channel operated by The Walt Disney Company (Taiwan) Ltd. Its programming features drama, variety, lifestyle, and talk shows in Mandarin. Launched on 21 October 1991 at 16:30 ...

outside of China and

Mediacorp Channel 8 Channel 8 ( zh, 8頻道) is a Singaporean free-to-air television channel, airing in Mandarin Chinese. It was created by Mediacorp, Television Singapura on 31 August 1963 with experimental broadcasts, before going official on 23 November that ye ...

in Singapore every Saturday, 10:30pm to 12:30am the next day, broadcasting two episodes in a day. It first aired in Thailand on Channel 3 in 2021 daily at 2:50 am starting Friday 27 August, following '' Eternal Love'' (rerun) finished.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:First Half of My Life Television shows based on Chinese novels 2017 Chinese television series debuts Chinese romance television series Dragon Television original programming Television series by New Classics Media