TV drama 'Blossoms Shanghai' creates new travel boom with nostalgia for the megacity

Chinese television series "Blossoms Shanghai" ended on Tuesday, but discussions about the drama, its era, its characters and Shanghai culture still continue on social media. Posts about the drama alone have been read 4.3 billion times on China's micro-blogging platform Weibo.

The TV series commenced on December 27 and immediately set off a new upsurge in cultural tourism in Shanghai, with many citizens and tourists checking out the real-life locations of scenes depicted in the series.

As of January 5, the search volume for Shanghai as a travel destination has increased by over 20 percent compared to last month's, with pre-orders for both private and group tours jumping by 75 percent and 30 percent, respectively, according to data from Chinese travel ticketing platform Ctrip.

Directed by Oscar nominee Wong Kar-wai, the 30-episode show is adapted from a 2012 novel of the same name written by Shanghai writer Jin Yucheng. The drama is the Hong Kong film director's first television series, and according to many viewers, it has the quality of a well-made film.

"I was born in Shanghai and went to Hong Kong with my parents in 1963. I've been traveling between two cities for decades. My siblings have always been in Shanghai, and I have more than 20 cousins who are basically of the same generation as the characters in the novel," said Wong during an interview. "I really wanted to know what they went through, so I decided to adapt the novel (into a TV series)."

Written in Shanghai dialect, the novel won the 9th Mao Dun Literature Prize, one of China's highest literary honors, in 2015. John Balcom, the translator of its English version, said the novel "could almost be called a Shanghai encyclopedia."

Set in Shanghai in the 1990s, the drama tells stories about a young man, Ah Bao, who rises from humble beginnings to become a successful businessman in the space of 10 years. It was also the era when Shanghai became a key center of foreign trade and finance in China, riding the wave of reform and opening up. Many seized the opportunity to get rich on the land, which boasts the Chinese mainland's first stock exchange and first pilot free-trade zone.

Hu Ge, who plays the leading male role, Ah Bao, said the drama is not a story about Ah Bao alone but a group portrait of that era.

The show put a lot of effort into recreating the look and feel of 1990s Shanghai, including roads, buildings, food and dialect. Enthusiasts of the novel and viewers were amazed by the dazzling scenes of the landmarks featured in the drama, such as Huanghe Road, Fairmont Peace Hotel and the Cathay Cinema.

The bustling Huanghe Road, named after the Yellow River, was one of Shanghai's most famous food streets. Emerging in the early 1990s, it later lost its glory as the city developed. But now, the road is gaining new popularity due to the series, along with Tai Sheng Yuan, the inspiration of the most grand restaurant in the drama.

While some viewers were surprised by the shocking prices of the signature dishes in the drama, others arrived at Tai Sheng Yuan, ready to relive their memories of old-school Shanghai in the 1990s.

Chen Zongyu, the manager of the Shanghai-style restaurant, said the restaurant has been fully booked every day since the drama became a hit.  

"Customers have already started making reservations to dine at our restaurant in February," said Chen, adding that tables for the upcoming Chinese New Year's Eve dinner on February 9 have all been booked.

Other traditional Shanghai dishes, such as pork chops and rice cakes, chicken feet and Dingsheng cake, have also attracted many curious viewers during the same period. In the week the drama was broadcast, the number of orders for pork chops and rice cakes jumped 237 percent compared to the previous week on ele.me, a major food delivery platform in China.

The show also boosted the popularity of the Shanghai dialect, as it was aired in both the Shanghai dialect and Mandarin Chinese, the official language of China. The TV series' lead actors were all born and raised in Shanghai and spoke the local dialect while filming, bringing an extra layer of Shanghai authenticity to the drama.

"We insisted on using the Shanghai dialect because it is a story that took place in Shanghai, and we also want to let the local dialect thrive and pass down to younger generations," said Chen Long, an actor who plays a good friend of Ah Bao.