i know that this is considered a classic/masterpiece/seriesstraightfromgodalmighty, but i really don't get what all the fuss is about. imo, the dialogue was corny and predictable, the plot didn't make sense in some places, (too rushed in the begining), scenery and costumes sucked (what's with huang rong's clothes? most of the stuff she wore was just the same white coverall thing with different colors of lacy material over it. most of the other characters were dressed like beggars!) the actors were ranged from nothing special to horrid (what's with this whole barbara yung thing? sure she was cute, and made her huang rong likeable, but seriously, not an oscar-worthy performance!), etc, etc. this may be because i don't understand cantonese, and had to watch the dubbed mandarin version; maybe that failed to capture the essence that everyone raves about. anyways, i thought the series was slightly above average, but nothing really wonderful. i'd give it a 3.1415926535897932/5.