Now airing
Chinese Drama · 2026
兰香如故 · Lán Xiāng Rú Gù
Tan Songyun (谭松韵) plays Shen Jialan (沈嘉兰), a noblewoman whose house falls on a false treason charge and who re-enters the Lin household in disguise as a low-ranking maid under the name Xu Lanxiang (许兰香), working to clear her family's name. Liu Xueyi (刘学义) plays Lin Jinqi (林锦岐). A Ming-styled period drama of disguise, rank and slow-burning redress, written by Tong Hua (桐华) — of Lost You Forever — with Xiao Lou, and adapted from the novel 《兰香缘》 by He Yanshan (禾晏山). Premiered September 11, 2026 on CCTV-8 and Tencent Video, two episodes a day, and streams internationally on WeTV and Rakuten Viki with English subtitles. The production hand-built a roughly 25,000 m² Ming-style Jiangnan garden at Hengdian, now permanently preserved, and used Su embroidery (苏绣) and kesi silk tapestry (缂丝) — both intangible cultural heritage crafts — for its costumes.
兰香如故
Deep dives
Cultural history, classical references, memorable quotes, and the Chinese idioms worth knowing.
Against the Current never names a reign on screen — so what exactly is it dressed in? The Ming law books its props team put on camera, the two official titles its rival houses hold, and the servant rank that decides everything about the heroine.
The Lin mansion in Against the Current is not a Suzhou garden borrowed for a shoot — it was built brick by brick for this one drama, and it is still standing. Where it is, what the art team copied, and what the couplet on its central hall means.
English subtitles give you Lin Jinqi and Shen Jialan and then a dozen names that sound alike. Who actually sits where in the Lin house, which characters are confirmed, and the one relationship the subtitles keep flattening.
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