Zhong Hua Er Nu

English Title: Hero
Mandarin Title: Zhong Hua Er Nu
Cantonese Title: Jung Wah Yi Nui
Genre: Martial arts
Time period: years after the Qing ended
*I will be using Mandarin names throughout the review*

Mandarin Cast:
Yuan Biao as Hua Zhen Yang
Alyssa Chia Jing Wen as Shi Wan Ting
Lian Kai as Qi Xiang Zhong
Huang Yi as Yong Lai Chuan Ying Zi
Yang Ze Lin as Qi Xue Li
Wang Ya Nan as Wang Song
Cao Ying as Wang Xiao Rong aka Rong Rong

Cantonese Cast List:
Yuen Biao as Wah Jun Yeung
Alyssa Chia as Si Yuen Ting
Lian Kai as Kei Heung Jung
Huang Yi as Wing Lai Chuan Ying Zi
Yang Ze Lin as Kei Hok Lai
Wang Ya Nan as Wong Chung
Cao Ying as Wong Siu Yung

Brief Introduction for Hua Zhen Yang
He is the youngest son of a great martial artist. However, at a very young age, he developed asthma and his father didn't allow him to practice martial arts. He later rescued Shi Hei Long, a national hero who was wanted by English troops. The two later would become great friends. Because Zhen Yang rescued Shi, the English troops are also after him. His family had no other choice but to send him to the city...

Hua Zhen Yang--Shi Wan Ting--Wang Xiao Rong aka Rong Rong
Zhen Yang met Wan Ting in the streets. He was chasing after someone and when she opened the car door, he bumped into her. These two started off as "harsh" enemies. They would argue and argue and once, Wan Ting actually got so angry that she deliberately threw bowls at him. Life was already hard for this young man who was forced to leave home. After he met Wan Ting, life was even harder. He then later met Rong Rong who actually saved him from being shot. Rong Rong fell for him, but didn't know that Wan Ting also was falling for him. Foreigners came one by one to compete with Zhen Yang and before each competition, Wan Ting would pray for him. He too, fell in love with Wan Ting but was too afraid to express it. But his expressions show that he indeed cared for Wan Ting. Rong Rong and Wan Ting became as close as sisters and Wan Ting knew that Rong Rong also loved Zhen Yang. Since she knew that Rong Rong once saved him, Wan Ting always tried to tease Zhen Yang about him and Rong Rong. But in fact, she really wished that Zhen Yang would somehow tell her that he loved her. Zhen Yang finally got a chance to return home and brought along his disciples, Da Niu and Wang Song, Rong Rong, and Wan Ting. His mother was very sick and Rong Rong took care of her. Zhen Yang's parents seemed to like Rong Rong more since Wan Ting was always dressed like a foreigner and they didn't like foreigners. Soon, his mother was dying and she made him marry Rong Rong. He tried to explain many times as to why he didn't want to marry Rong Rong. Wan Ting only hoped that he would tell everyone that he loved her but he didn't have the courage to. Wan Ting knew that somehow she had to forget about her feelings for Zhen Yang. She couldn't make herself hurt Rong Rong. This dumb Rong Rong didn't even know that Zhen Yang wanted to marry Wan Ting, not her!

A couple of days before the wedding, Wan Ting and Zhen Yang bumped into each other. Wan Ting visualized that he hugged her and that he will tell everyone that he will not marry Rong Rong because he only loved Wan Ting. However, he never did. On the day of wedding, Wan Ting tried hard not to show her love for him in front of Rong Rong. Zhen Yang ended up marrying Rong Rong. Wan Ting left the next day. Months later, Rong Rong was pregnant and Zhen Yang showed a great deal of concern for his wife. However, she ended dying because of some man named Qi Xiang Zhong which you will read about later. His child survived and the story sped to 8 years later. Zhen Yang and Rong Rong's son, Zhan Pang, has grown to treat Wan Ting as his real mother. Wan Ting admits to her best friend that she still loves Zhen Yang, but if he doesn't say anything about his feelings, she won't either. Later, her parents are killed and he goes to comfort her although his son is in the hospital. Wan Ting kills the man who murdered her parents and she is taken to be beheaded. Luckily, Zhen Yang saves her and sends her to Nanjing. However, sending her Nanjing was wrong. Although she became the disciple of Shi Hei Long, this led to the death of Shi and the disappearance of Wan Ting herself. For 3 episodes, she was forgotten. Then she made herself appear as Bai Mei Gui, a flirtatious and snobby woman. She hid her identity for one reason: to complete a mission that would help the country. Zhen Yang knew that Bai Mei Gui was actually Wan Ting but she made herself look so snobby and unlikable so that her identity would not be discovered. She failed to complete her mission. Everyone knew why she was being so mean. She ended up being held hostage by Qi Xiang Zhong who claimed to love her (NOT!). Zhen Yang saved her from that jerk Qi Xiang Zhong. She was badly injured but Zhen Yang was by her side, telling her that throughout his whole life, he loved her the most. Near the end of the series, she died with the name of Hua Zhen Yang's wife. Yeah, he married her and on the wedding day after she said I do, she died. (If you do watch this series, avoid watching the wedding and the hospital scenes because it was so SAD....or if you think you want to see it, grab tons of tissue boxes and get ready to CRY!)

Hua Zhen Yang----Qi Xiang Zhong----Qi Xue Li
Hua Zhen Yang and Qi Xue Li are good friends. Xue Li has a son who is half Japanese. The son, Xiang Zhong, always wanted to be Chinese like his father. But whatever he did, he never pleased his father. He was jealous of Zhen Yang mainly because Zhen Yang was good friends with Xue Li and that Wan Ting loved Zhen Yang. This horrible jealous monster left his family and became the assistant of a Japanese general, Yong Lai Chuan Xiu Fu. He wanted to use Japanese power to destroy Hua Zhen Yang. He even tried to court the general's daughter, Ying Zi, in order to have Hua Zhen Yang die. He knew that Ying Zi loved Zhen Yang. Ying Zi's father put some kind of stuff in Ying Zi and Zhen Yang's drink but Zhen Yang woke up from it. That major jerk Qi Xiang Zhong raped Ying Zi and she thought that Zhen Yang had done it. She then later married Xiang Zhong because she didn't a thing about his "plan". The Japanese Emperor gave him power and he started to treat Ying Zi as a slave. She was later pregnant with his child. I don't want to continue writing about this MAJOR JERK who caused the death of poor Wan Ting. All I can say is, "HE IS A MAJOR JERK AND IF I EVER SEE HIM AGAIN, I'LL TAKE THE GUTS OUT OF THIS GUY!!!"

Hua Zhen Yang----Yong Lai Chuan Ying Zi
One is a Chinese hero and one is a Japanese general's daughter. These two met when Zhan Pang was poisoned with some kind of mind controlling medicine. Zhan Pang ran into the streets and was hit by Ying Zi's car. Ying Zi and Zhen Yang became good friends since she often took care of Zhan Pang when he was in the hospital. Like most women, Ying Zi fell in love with him, but he was still waiting for Wan Ting. Ying Zi ended marrying Xiang Zhong, gave him a son and forgot all her love for Zhen Yang.

SO, WHO ARE THE OTHER CHARACTERS?
Wang Song, Li Da Niu, Chen Shang Wu are all Hua Zhen Yang's disciples. Hua Rui is the best friend of Wan Ting and the love of Wang Song.

PEOPLE WHO CAN ACT
Yuan Biao - He can act. Simply three words. NOT! Besides his good acting, I enjoyed his every kung fu move. It's a shame that not many Americans know him. All they know is Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Yuan Biao should make a movie in Hollywood. I think he'll be better than Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

Alyssa Chia - She really looks like Ruby Lin Xin Ru but I say Alyssa is prettier! I love her performance as the hard headed yet charming Shi Wan Ting. There was no moment where I hated her. When she was Bai Mei Gui, I still liked her because I knew that she was still Wan Ting at heart. Alyssa Chia was really good. This is my first time seeing her on television. I hope to see her new released series, "Fei Long Zai Tian".

Huang Yi - Although I didn't like her "Ying Zi", I did like the way how she acted. The scenes where Qi Xiang Zhong tortured her were poorly written but Huang Yi did an excellent job portraying her character throughout those scenes.

Wang Ya Nan - His performance of Wang Song was really good. At first, Wang Song was a very unlikable man but when he was saved by Hua Rui, he decided to be a good boy and became the first disciple of Hua Zhen Yang.

PEOPLE WHO CAN'T ACT
Cao Ying - I am sorry but she is one person that I dislike. She is not pretty nor can she act. Her expressions are so FAKE! God help me continue writing about her! All I can say to her is, "GO BACK TO ACTING SCHOOL!"

10 THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THIS SERIES:
1. Excellent leading actor Yuan Biao
2. Excellent leading actress Alyssa Chia
3. Great background music
4. Excellent setting
5. Great supporting cast
6. Beautiful houses
7. Beautiful backgrounds
8. Great theme song
9. Nice cars
10. Nothing complicated

10 THINGS I DISLIKE ABOUT THIS SERIES
1. People who cannot act
2. The people who played the Japanese and English people
3. Some ugly clothing
4. Bad trains
5. Frustrating love relationships (especially the one between RongRong, Zhen Yang and Wan Ting!)
6. Poorly written scripts (blame the scriptwriters for such lousy endings)
7. Some Traditional Chinese characters is written incorrectly
8. Dirty places
9. Heart breaking ending
10. Terrible beginning (this means anything before Hua Zhen Yang meeting Wan Ting)

SO, WHO DID HUA ZHEN YANG TRULY LOVE AFTER ALL?
I conclude that the only one he did truly love throughout his whole life was Shi Wan Ting. You can just tell by his nervousness around her. Even when he was married to Rong Rong, he still loved Wan Ting. I remember a couple scenes where Wan Ting got into some trouble and when he heard about it, he looked very worried even though his wife was also there with him. And even before that, he had refused to marry Rong Rong because of Wan Ting. When Rong Rong died, the story sped to 8 years later and during those 8 years, he claimed that he still loved Wan Ting.

BASICALLY THIS STORY IS ABOUT:
Martial arts. I may not talk about it much but basically this is a martial arts series.