Pursuit of Jade
I’ve recently been binge watching on C-drama, currently finishing Nirvana in Fire after Pursuit of Jade. Most of you might have heard of Pursuit of Jade, the C-drama released this year that catapulted Zhang Linghe, Tian Xiwei and many others to fame.
Tian Xiwei, the female lead won People’s Choice Award and got nominated for a few others (she lost Best Actress of 2026 KISF Global OTT Awards to Shin Hae-sun, another favourite actress of mine.) Shin Hae-sun won for her acting in The Art Of Sarah, where she played multiple roles. I think it’s well deserved but will she have won if Where the Mask Ends was pitted against The Art of Sarah instead? It’s not released yet but I heard Tian Xiwei will be playing multiple roles in the tv series, which is a similar concept to The Art of Sarah.
For the 31st Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards, Tian Xiwei was nominated for the Best Actress but didn’t win either. Yang Zi won from her role in Born To Be Alive (which I haven’t watched). Zhang Linghe, the male lead received a Best Actor nomination at the 2026 Seoul Drama Awards for his role as Xie Zheng in the hit drama Pursuit of Jade. He was the only Chinese male actor nominated in the category among entries worldwide. The ceremony will only be held in October 8 this year.
I could barely recognise Zhang Linghe in this TV series. I’ve first watched him in the TV series, Love Between Fairy and Devil and he looked and gave off a different vibe there (probably also because he’s the second male lead :P).
If you want a polished visual feast, you will find plenty in Pursuit of Jade. The director, Zeng Qingjie is known for his stunning cinematography and bringing out strong chemistry between leads. The cinematography is like telling a story by itself, without much words needed. Although, some might find it too polished, with Zhang Linghe earning the nickname “Foundation General” from his heavily made-up appearance, looking flawless even in gruesome battle scenes.
The music are also pleasant to the ears, with famous singers like JJ Lin singing the ending song. The tv series theme is mainly romance with combat with some comedic elements. It is something you can easily binge watch. It’s based on the historical romance web novel by Tuan Zi Lai Xi.
Nirvana In Fire
Nirvana in Fire is a much older TV series, created in 2015. Tbh, I’ve never heard of it until a friend mentioned it. I was surprised when I checked it out and found out that it has many awards, a total of 39 wins and 25 nominations. It has two seasons, I’m still at the first season totalling to about 54 episodes. A fun fact, the original printed version was a story of two homosexual lovers but their romance was transformed into a bromance because of the censorship in China. The script is based on the famous internet-novel by Hai Yan.
This is the original novel:
To be honest, I was put off by the opening battle scene of Nirvana In Fire. Because watching a 2015 tv series in 2026 makes the difference in CGI technology blatantly obvious. But I persisted and it paid off. The TV series is a masterpiece of strategy, plot and political intrigue. This TV series is a lot to absorb at the beginning and you may or may not be confused at first (it’s not like Pursuit of Jade where you can leave your brain at the door – not that it’s dumb but it doesn’t require as much thinking as Nirvana in Fire).
I’ve never heard of Hu Ge before this TV series (yes I’m outdated :P) but he sings the ending theme song and it’s great. The lyrics are deep and meaningful. I would recommend the music and songs in this TV series too.
I would recommend watching both of them but in terms of favourite, Nirvana in Fire tops my list.
Nirvana in Fire
Music: 10/10
Plot/Story: 10/10
Visuals: 8/10
Pursuit of Jade
Music: 10/10
Plot/Story: 8/10
Visuals: 10/10
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