''What Is Love'' () is a 2012 Taiwanese romantic-comedy television series. The television drama was produced by Bethel Video Productions Ltd, starring

Wu Kang-jen Wu Kang-ren (; born 24 November 1982), also known as Chris Wu, is a Taiwanese actor and model. He debuted in the short film ''Fragile in Love: Poetry in Motion'' in 2007, and first came to attention for his role in the 2009 television series ...

and Jade Chou. The shooting began on April 9, 2012, and first aired on July 20, 2012 on TTV.

Plot

Thirty-two-year-old Li Yi Hua (Jade Chou) is longing for a romantic relationship and wants to marry a good man. Along comes Bai Zong You (Chris Wu), who breaks women's hearts with one-night stands. Bai Zong You sets his sights on wooing Li Yi Hua next. What she doesn't know is that she might have true feels for him.

Cast

The following are the cast of ''What Is Love'' series: ;Main *

as Bai Zong You *Jade Chou as Li Yi Hua *Duncan Lai as Zhang Shao Qian *

Kimi Hsia Kimi Hsia Yu-chiao (; born 24 August 1984) is a Taiwanese actress and television host. She is best known for hosting the SET Metro variety shows ''Delicious Food All Over the World'' and ''Stylish Man – The Chef''. Career Hsia was discover ...

as Wu Xiao Lu ;Supporting *Jin Qin as Wu Xiao Gui *Luo Ping as Ai Lei Di *Gina Lin as Lan Jun *Andrew Tan as Yan Zu Li *Luo Bei An as Li Yuan *

Tsai Chen-nan Tsai Chen-nan (; born 26 July 1954) is a Taiwanese actor and singer. Tsai was invited by the Hsinkang Foundation of Culture and Education to perform in Xingang, Chiayi, by the organization founder Chen Chin-huang, who sought to mitigate the ef ...

as Wu San Bao * Albee Hwang as Wang Xue Fu *Cherry Hsia as Chen Yi Jing *Xu Gui Ying as Bai Mei Gui *Riva Chang as wedding hostess ;Cameos *

Johnny Lu Johnny Lu (, born May 8, 1977) is an American-Taiwanese actor. Life and career Lu was born in Taipei City, Taiwan. His father, , was one of the founding members of the Bamboo Union triad in Taiwan. Lu's parents divorced, and then at the age ...

as Meng Ke Huai (ep1) *Janel Tsai as Li Xiao Yang (ep1) *

Nylon Chen Nylon Chen (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Chhîn Nái-yîn; born 20 May 1981) is a Taiwanese singer and actor. Biography Background Nylon Chen was born on May 20, 1981 in Taipei, Taiwan. Acting career Before officially debuting, Chen first appeared in 20 ...

as Albert (ep5) *Tender Huang as A Xiu (ep5) *

Kelly Huang Kelly Huang (born Huang Yu-hsien; ) is a Taiwanese actress. Filmography Television series References External links * * 1980 births 21st-century Taiwanese actresses Living people {{Taiwan-actor-stub ...

as Dancing instructor (eps7-8)

Broadcast

;Replays

Production

Kenting Beach was used as a background scene for the opening theme of the program as well as the location of the montages used during the last episodes of the series. Various areas around

Miramar Entertainment Park Miramar Entertainment Park () is a shopping mall located in the Dazhi area in Zhongshan District of Taipei, Taiwan. The shopping mall contains an IMAX theater. With 28m × 21m dimensions, its movie screen is the largest in Asia for screening co ...

were used when the characters walk to and from their workplaces. Other filming locations include:

Taipei City Hall The Taipei City Hall (), the seat of Taipei City government, is located at Xinyi Special District, Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The height of building is 54.42 m, the floor area is 196,684.59m2, and it comprises 12 floors above ground, as w ...

, 三星張 Bed and Breakfast

Meihua Lake The Meihua Lake or Plum Blossom Lake () is a lake in Dongshan Township, Yilan County, Taiwan. Name Meihua means plum blossom because of its resemblance to a plum flower with five petals. History The lake was originally named Dapi Lake. In 19 ...

Cingjing Farm The Qingjing Farm (), also known as Cingjing Farm, is a tourist attraction farm in Ren'ai Township, Nantou County, Taiwan. History The farm was established on 20 February 1961 as the settling place for the demobilized soldiers and their depend ...

Songshan Cultural and Creative Park The Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (SSCC; ) is a multifunctional park in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. History The park was initially constructed in 1937 as a tobacco factory under the name under the Japanese government. After Japan ...

, Diamond Tony's Italian Bistro, The Villa Herbs Restaurant, Cingjing National Hotel, and Yue Ying Landscape Holiday Villas. The director once had Chris Wu do a scene, in which he carries Jade Chou to the hospital, fifteen times. As a result, Wu's arms eventually got sore and his legs became so weak that Chou was accidentally hit by a wheelchair. Chou did not sustain serious injuries. During the shooting of the last scene of the last episode, Wu accidentally pulled Chou's miniskirt upwards while kissing her, causing her underwear to show up in the midst of the city. The plush sheep doll seen in the later episodes was made specially by the production team, as it was inconvenient for them to shoot the real sheep, seen during the first episodes, on set.

Background

In an interview, Jade Chou was asked about her comparison with the character that she was playing. Then around thirty and still single, her similarity with character Li Yi Hua, who is longing for love and wanting to get married, was noted. She answered, "I am also at the stage where people would often ask me about marriage. However, I want to enjoy my life, every single bit of it, no matter if I'm already 35 years old already. Since I was too busy during my twenties, I think that I'm still missing a lot of things. I want to learn even more".Translated from the Chinese language: "我也已經到了適婚年齡，會聽到一些聲音說，應該要安定下來，但我不會為婚姻而婚姻，我覺得人的緣分是你遇到了就要去接受，生命自有安排，我不會去強求。35歲對我來說是很重要的時間，說年輕不年輕，說成熟我覺得好像還不到。我希望能夠放慢腳步更去感受這個年紀，去感受我年輕時失去的、遺忘的。我20出頭的時候太忙碌了，生活都被工作填滿，我回頭看覺得錯過好多事情，往前看覺得如果我要再往更成熟的方向，有很多事是我還要充實的，我想學得更多。"

Soundtrack

The ''What Is Love Original Soundtrack'' (花是愛電視原聲帶) was released digitally on August 3, 2012, and the CD was released on August 14, 2012 by various artists under Linfair Records. It contains twelve songs; six original songs and six instrumental versions of those songs. The opening theme song is "單身美好" or "Shining Single Life" by

Claire Kuo Claire Kuo (born Kuo Po-yu on 5 August 1980) is a Taiwanese singer and television host. The daughter of a restaurant owner, Kuo graduated from Shih Hsin University and was a competitive cheerleader. She performed her final routine in Novembe ...

, while the ending theme song, "再痛也沒關係" or "It Can Hurt More", is by co-actor Andrew Tan.

Track listing

Episode ratings

''What Is Love'' ranked fourth in its pilot episode and stayed at the same spot, with the exception of its third episode, until it reached the third spot on its last episode, with a total average of 0.54. Its drama competitors were CTV's ''Confucius'', FTV's ''Independent Heroes'', and SETTV's ''Rainy Night Flower'' and ''Father's Wish''. The viewers' survey was conducted by AGB Nielsen.

Notes

References

External links

What Is Love
on TTV
What Is Love
on STAR Chinese Channel * {{Facebook, 224952797614871, What Is Love Taiwan Television original programming 2012 Taiwanese television series debuts 2012 Taiwanese television series endings Taiwanese romantic comedy television series