''All That Is Bitter Is Sweet'' (

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

: 大藥坊; literally "The Great Apothecary") () is a 2014

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 ...

period, medical, romance drama produced by

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

, starring

Linda Chung Linda Chung Ka-yan (; born on 9 April 1984) is a Chinese-Canadian actress, singer and songwriter. She signed a long-term contract with TVB in 2004 after winning the Miss Chinese International. Chung was always Non-official Best Actress during ...

Ruco Chan Ruco Chan Chin-pang (; born 14 January 1977) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Chan is the first TVB actor to win My Favourite TVB Actor at the StarHub TVB Awards for three consecutive years (2014, 2015, 2016), and is also the first actor to make ...

and Raymond Wong Ho-yin as the main leads, with

Natalie Tong Natalie Tong Sze-wing (born 3 May 1981) is a Hong Kong actress and model previously contracted to TVB. Career Before becoming an actress, Natalie Tong was a full-time model. She once studied in Methodist College. Tong gained popularity after ...

, Pierre Ngo,

Sammy Sum Sammy Sum Chun-hin (born 4 May 1983) is an actor based in Hong Kong. Biography Sammy Sum speaks fluent Hong Kong Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese, Canadian French and North American English. He was born in Hong Kong, but at the age of 10 Sum moved ...

and

Elliot Ngok Yueh Hua (; 14 July 1942 – 20 October 2018) was a Shanghai-born Hong Kong actor, later based in Canada, with Shaw Brothers Studio and TVB. Yueh is one of the most versatile and prolific leading actors of Shaw Brothers. Yueh starred in five t ...

as the major supporting roles. Filming took place from November 2013 to February 2014. The drama began broadcasting on September 8, 2014 on TVB Jade channel during its 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. timeslot, and will finish airing on October 17, 2014 with 30 episodes total.

Synopsis

Set during the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, when each region of China was ruled by local warlords. The Dou family of

Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...

is an affluent family that owns and runs Sheung Chun Tong (), the largest

traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

apothecary in town. Bad times, however, came during an epidemic. When the apothecary's product caused the death of the Mayor's eldest son (and owner Dou Sam's soon-to-be son in law), Dou Sam is imprisoned, and the apothecary was ordered closed. Sam's only daughter, Dou Gaai Kei, then took on the task of investigating her fiancé's death, in hopes of releasing her father. Together with Ding Yat Yuen, a businessman of dubious reputation, they stumble upon a big conspiracy that could rock Chinese politics.

Cast

Main cast

鍾嘉欣 as Dou Gaai Kei 杜佳期 *

陳展鵬 as Ting Yat Yuen 丁一元 * Raymond Wong Ho-yin 黃浩然 as Chong Kei Cho 莊繼祖 / Chong Kei Chung 莊繼宗 *

唐詩詠 as Hui Kwan Yeuk 許君約

Supporting cast

Dou family

Yan Pak Yan Pak () is a former Chinese actress from Hong Kong. Pak is credited with over 55 films and many TVB series. Early life On November 30, 1942, Pak was born as Wai-yin Chan in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Career In 1959, Pak became a Hong Kong ...

白茵 as Ling Fung Yee 凌鳳兒 *Du Yan Ge 杜燕歌 as Dou Sam 杜蔘 *

Shirley Yeung Shirley Yeung Sze-ki (born 7 August 1978), is a Hong Kong actress who was under contract with TVB from 2001 to 2014. Yeung is a Hakka of Jiaoling descent. Career She was the winner of the 2001 Miss Hong Kong Pageant contest. She had been the ...

楊思琦 as Fung Yuk Kam 馮玉琴 * Pierre Ngo 敖嘉年 as Dou Yung 杜茸

Chong family

*Pat Poon 潘志文 as Chong Deoi Yu 莊敦儒 *

Susan Tse Hung Ling-fook (, born 1 November 1951), better known as Susan Tse Suet-sum (), is a Hong Kong television actress, who started her career in Chinese opera. She is the 76th generation descendant of Confucius.Yahoo.com.Yahoo.com" ''國家確認� ...

謝雪心 as Wai Chau Hing 衛秋卿 *

岳華 as Hui Sung Ming 許崇明 *Kitty Lau 劉桂芳 as Ha Jie 霞姐 *Kate Tsang 曾琬莎 as Siu Ting 小婷 *Lydia Law 羅欣羚 as Ha Yuk 夏玉

Foshan Police

沈震軒 as Ngai Chun 魏俊 *Dickson Li 李家聲 as Man Keung 文強 *Kong Wing Fai 江榮暉 as Mo Kit 武傑

Ding Yat Yuen's gang

Jazz Lam Lam Tsz-sin (born 1982) () is a Hong Kong actor. Career In 2005, Lam began his acting career. Lam has made appearances in one of Stephen Chow's movies. He is best known for playing unconventional characters and comedic characters. Examples of ...

林子善 as Hung Bing 洪炳 *Willie Wai 韋家雄 as Wong Fu Sau 皇甫壽 *Brian Tse 謝東閔 as Kam Fuk 金福

Shun Chun Tong

*Yu Chi Ming 余子明 as Chong Suk 昌叔 *

Owen Cheung Owen Cheung (; born 20 July 1987) is a Hong Kong actor contracted to TVB. Cheung is best known for his roles as Kuk Yat-ha (Gogo) in ''Legal Mavericks'' (2017) and Ko Ban in '' Al Cappuccino'' (2020). After winning the 2019 TVB Anniversary Awa ...

張振朗 as Gai Gei Jai 枸杞仔 *Moses Cheng 鄭詠謙 as Ah Fu 阿富 *Aaryn Cheung 張明偉 as Ah Hoi 阿海 *Chan Wing Chun 陳榮峻 as Physician Cheng 鄭大夫 *Lee Hoi San 李海生 as Yeung Bak 楊伯 *

Samantha Ko Samantha Ko Hoi-ling (; born January 13, 1987, in Nanjing) is a Chinese born former Miss Hong Kong contestant placing top 5 in the 2008 pageant, actress and model based in Hong Kong. Being quite tall (高 = tall) compared to her contemporaries ...

高海寧 as Pin Pin 翩翩 killed by Ngai Chun episode 26 *Rainbow Ching 程可為 as Hung Yut Ho 洪月好 *Jimmy Au 歐瑞偉 as Wong Jing Wing 王正永 *Man Yeung 楊證樺 as Secretary Yuen 阮秘書 *Siu Koi Yan 蕭凱欣 as Cun Fa 春花 *Christy Chan 陳潔玲 as Cau Yut 秋月 *Akai Lee 李啟傑 as Wong Tat 王達 *Louis Szeto 司徒暉 as Ah Fa 阿輝 *Raymond Tsang 曾守明 as Guk's father 菊父 *Esther Wan 溫裕紅 as Guk's mother 菊母

Development

*The Sale Presentation clip was filmed in October 2013. The 1 minute 2 second clip previewed in November 2013 features all the main actors that are confirmed for the drama. *On November 1, 2013 the drama costume fitting ceremony was held at 12:30 p.m. Tseung Kwan O TVB City Studio One. *The blessing ceremony took place on November 20, 2014 12:00 p.m. at Tseung Kwan O TVB City. *On March 25, 2014, a trailer of the drama was previewed at FILMART 2014.
Linda Chung, Ruco Chan, and Natalie Tong Fend Off Love Rumors at FILMART 2014. Retrieved 9-12-2014

Viewership ratings

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:All That Is Bitter Is Sweet TVB dramas Hong Kong television series Television series set in the 20th century 2014 Hong Kong television series debuts 2014 Hong Kong television series endings 2010s Hong Kong television series Television shows set in Guangdong