Bai Lu (白鹿) Best Dramas & Career Guide: From The Legends to The First Jasmine

Bai Lu (白鹿) is one of the most consistently bankable actresses in Chinese drama — a ratings magnet whose premieres reliably trend and whose period and xianxia leads have repeatedly broken platform records. If you're discovering her through The First Jasmine (莫离), her 2026 revenge-romance, here's the complete picture of how she got here and what's worth watching.

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Quick facts

• Stage name: Bai Lu (白鹿) · Real name: Bai Mengyan (白梦妍)
• Born: September 23, 1994, in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province
• Agency: Huanyu Entertainment (欢娱影视) — Yu Zheng's studio; signed in 2016
• Breakout: The Legends (招摇, 2019)
• A-list year: 2023 (three major leads in one year)
• Best entry points: Till the End of the Moon · One and Only · Story of Kunning Palace

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How she was discovered

Before acting, Bai Lu worked as an e-commerce model. In 2015 she appeared in short films from Cattree Studio (猫的树), whose director recommended her to producer Yu Zheng (于正); she signed with his Huanyu Entertainment in 2016 and began landing leads almost immediately. It's a classic Yu Zheng pipeline — take a fresh face and build a costume-drama star around her.

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Verified filmography (selected leads)

Year	English Title	Chinese Title	Her Role	Co-star
2017	King Is Not Easy	大王不容易	Da Xi	Zhang Yijie
2018	Untouchable Lovers	凤囚凰	Huo Xuan / Le Yun	—
2019	The Legends	招摇	Lu Zhaoyao	Xu Kai
2019	Arsenal Military Academy	烈火军校	Xie Xiang	Xu Kai
2020	Love Is Sweet	半是蜜糖半是伤	Jiang Jun	Luo Yunxi
2021	One and Only	周生如故	Cui Shiyi	Ren Jialun
2021	Forever and Ever	一生一世	Shi Yi	Ren Jialun
2021	Song of Youth	玉楼春	Lin Shaochun	Wang Yizhe
2022	Ordinary Greatness	警察荣誉	Xia Jie	ensemble
2023	Till the End of the Moon	长月烬明	Li Susu	Luo Yunxi
2023	Only For Love	以爱为营	Zheng Shuyi	Dylan Wang
2023	Story of Kunning Palace	宁安如梦	Jiang Xuening	Zhang Linghe
2025	Moonlight Mystique	白月梵星	Bai Shuo	—
2025	Northward	北上	Xia Fenghua	ensemble
2026	The First Jasmine	莫离	Ye Li	Cheng Lei

(A couple of titles often misattributed to her: she is not in The Legend of Shen Li (与凤行) or The Long Ballad (长歌行). Her drama with Dylan Wang is Only For Love (以爱为营).)

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The rise: from The Legends to A-list

Bai Lu's first lead came with King Is Not Easy (2017), but her real breakout was The Legends (招摇, 2019) — her fearless demon-sect leader Lu Zhaoyao, opposite Xu Kai, made her a recognizable xianxia female lead. Arsenal Military Academy the same year (again with Xu Kai) confirmed her as a bankable young huadan (花旦).

The 2021 duology One and Only / Forever and Ever (周生如故 / 一生一世, with Ren Jialun) — a tragic ancient love story continued as a modern reincarnation romance — became a fan phenomenon and won her major popularity honors.

Then came 2023, the year that sealed her A-list status: three big leads in twelve months — the xianxia megahit Till the End of the Moon, the modern romance Only For Love, and the court-intrigue drama Story of Kunning Palace. Till the End of the Moon posted some of the year's strongest period-drama viewership and merchandise numbers, and Story of Kunning Palace was cited as a benchmark hit for a female-led drama.

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Best dramas to start with

1. Till the End of the Moon (长月烬明, 2023) — her biggest xianxia, opposite Luo Yunxi. The spectacle showcase.
2. One and Only / Forever and Ever (2021) — the tearjerker duology; start here if you want the emotional gut-punch.
3. Story of Kunning Palace (宁安如梦, 2023) — court scheming and reinvention; the most plot-driven.
4. The Legends (招摇, 2019) — where it began, with the Xu Kai chemistry that first made her a star.
5. The First Jasmine (莫离, 2026) — the new revenge-romance; the reason you're probably here.

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Why she's a ratings powerhouse

Bai Lu's strength is audience pull, not awards-circuit prestige — her trophies are overwhelmingly popularity and platform honors (Weibo Night, iQIYI Scream Night) rather than jury Best Actress prizes. But for a streaming-era lead, that pull is the whole game: record reservations, top viewership shares, strong merchandise sales, and a large international audience via WeTV, Viki, and YouTube licensed channels. It's exactly why The First Jasmine banked 4M+ reservations before airing.

New to her work? Start with the list above — then watch The First Jasmine as it airs. For the language angle on her new drama, see Learn Chinese Watching The First Jasmine.