Meet Yourself

Xu Hong Dou is career orientated, she is front desk manager at a 5 star Beijing Hotel who has not had a holiday for 3 years because she wants advancement. She is devoted to her job has no relationship, answers her phone at all hours to deal with problems and shares a flat with her college friend who also works in the tourist industry and spends a lot of time travelling. A tragic event in the first episode jolts her out of her mindset and she realises she has nothing more to give so quits her job and honours a promise to travel to Yunnan province for a holiday.

She ends up in a farmstead with several other quirky characters who are also lost and healing and she forms an immediate support group helping each other through tough periods and forming lifelong friendships.

Hong Dou relaxes onto the slower pace, and begins to realise what is important in life, not advancement and strict routine but friendships, relations and enjoying the moment.

Xie Zhi Yao has returned to the vilage after graduating and quiting a job in Bejing in finance, he hates to see his childhood friends struggling and having to leave the village for a better life in the city so has suported several ventures. Internet store, tourist attractions and craft workshops to make the village a desirable destination and build employment.

However the main character here is the environment, shot in a beautiful rustic setting, the side characters are all engaging. The internet web novelist struggling for inspiration, the rich girl who is hiding a secret, the musician living in fear of his father or the tea guru spending his days practising Yoga. And thats just the farmstead. The grannies with their traditional head dresses and the village kids make this the drama you need to watch if you need to chill out, wind down and relax.

While I have enjoyed watching many Chinese dramas, I always felt there was something lacking in all of them. Maybe it was creativity or chemistry between the leads or poor acting by some of the characters. This one however is so terrific that the small flaws are more than compensated by the wonderful characters, beautiful cinematography and the enchanting story of the grief stricken, burnt out hotel executive who takes a break from life at a charming rural village. The show is chockful of intriguing characters and their back stories. The granny is "THE" granny everyone would love in their life. The male lead is virtuous, handsome and enterprising yet clumsy in love. I have never wanted to travel to China until I watched this show and now would love to travel to the area. It highlights the traditions, craft and food of the Bai people but it is very well integrated into the story so it never feels out of place. I could not recommend this show enough.

The acting is perfect. The location is awesome. The actors, actress are outstanding. The storyline is so touching. You can relate to every emotion in the drama. If you are tired of your daily routine and want to watch something that make you relax, decompress you, and give you hope, watch this. Now when I am trying to watch any other dramas, my mind try to compare it with "Meet Yourself". I wish, I have just started watching it again so I could enjoy this drama again. Although I know, I will come back to rewatch it in a few months/years.

I wish we all the courage and the luxury to be able to leave everything behind when we need the most and go somewhere that no one knows us and perhaps start again.

Sigh...

I absolutely adore how beautifully this drama is made, the editing and production too. ( and the music!)

The scenery and the locations where it was recorded are so out of this world and so gorgeous you will find yourself googling trying to see how much the flights to Kunming are.

A series thats extremely emotional, raw and heartbreaking pulling your heartstrings and making you thinking A LOT about the meaning of life and what's important. A journey of the female lead trying to overcome her feelings when her best friend dies but also the beautiful stories of everyone she meets during that journey.

When you finish you will feel elated, filled with hope and renovated. The message is very lifting and hopefully you change your perspective about life and start doing things that makes you happy and not what society expect from you.

The acting is just natural, it looks like they are just living their life and someone left a camera and recorded everything by accident.

Crystal Liu has a very unique, sweet and subtle way of acting and I have been a fan since I watched the amazing A dream of splendor.

But my surprise was to see Li Xian in this role, I have only watched him on Go Go Squid and woow what a change. His previous role was the super typical cliché bad cold guy that they love in cdramas (he literally frowns during the whole series). But in this one??? He will make you melt. Naturally charming, goofy and tender, he won't stop smiling. I genuinely enjoyed his role and how he played this character. I also need to mention this has to be the LEAST toxic male lead ever he was just empowering and confident the whole time.

The chemistry between the leads is great although is a very real life kind of relationship, so don't expect typical romance cliches you are used to in dramaland you won't find them here. But that's a good thing.

I would have maybe given less rating because the drama is the literal definition of slow burn, very slooooow and if you are impatient like me, you will struggle at times. But you have to stop, focus on what's happening and the conversations going ( all of them very relevant) and enjoy the journey.

Watch it, you won't regret it and I hope they will make more dramas like this!

I absolutely loved this drama! Every episode was so enjoyable and it had that charming small town feel to it. This drama takes place in a very picturesque small village in the Yunnan province. It is so beautiful to look at, each episode in itself. Charming story, slow romance, great and lovable cast, the entire cast is so perfect in this! Great direction and quality production. Such a happy and fun story, this is definitely a feel good and relaxing drama. I could watch this drama again and again, and I can imagine visiting this place myself one day and falling in love with it and wanting to stay! I've never seen a more picturesque place with such charming historical buildings and architecture. This show is very cinematic in that it has all the small and special details that make it so endearing to watch. This is a must watch drama!!!