Yun Niang

I never thought I would ever return to watching Mandarin series. When I was in primary school, I was absolutely crazy about Mandarin series. I remember my frequent visits to the video store to rent any Mandarin series I could get my hands on. One of the most memorable series I have watched is entitled "Liu Ge Mong" which when translated means "Six Dreams." The series is divided into 6 different stories which portray women as the protagonists. They show how women are treated in the olden days in China. These women protagonists are often forced into loveless marriages, tortured by their mothers-in-law, and have to go against all odds to find their true selves and happiness.

I was extremely bored the other day and I decided to walk into a DVD shop. I browsed through the collection of DVDs and I happened to stumble upon a series entitled, "Yun Niang." The first thing I will always look at when deciding to buy or watch a series is the actors. I found the female protagonist very pretty and of course the male protagonist fairly presentable. I also saw a familiar face. It was the actress who acted in quite a number of stories in the "Six Dreams" series. It was then that I decided to purchase the box set. And I must say that I definitely made the right choice.

Being a Mandarin series set in olden China, I expected a lot of tragic events to take place and a lot of tears to be shed, and I was right. But melodrama and tragedy aside, Yun Niang is a really good series. I love the actress (Ady An) who plays the title role. I have never seen her act before, so she is obviously a fairly new actress. Her performance as the sweet, gentle and kind-hearted Yun Niang is to be applauded. Having no idea that she does not really belong to her parents, Yun Er (as they call her) grew up poor and had to work hard for a living. She lives with her adopted parents, her retarded half-sister and her father's student ( a guy who is head over heels in love with her and is willing to do almost anything to make her happy). However, Yun Er falls in love with a rich man's son, Hao Chung (William Feng) and after many challenges and trials, they finally come together and get married. She loves her husband but from the first day of her marriage to him, her mother-in-law seems to hate her and immediately proceeds to torture her verbally. She does not understand what she has done wrong.

The secret that Yun Niang is not aware of is that she has actually married into her own family! Her father-in-law is none other than her biological father and her mother-in-law is her stepmother. We find out from the beginning of the series that Hao Chung is not the biological son of his parents, therefore there is no incest involved! Phew!!! Anyway, to cut a long story short, after discovering her true identity, Yun Niang is reunited with her father in the most touching scene in the series. Her stepmother/ mother-in-law has to suffer the consequences of her evil and deceitful actions towards Yun Niang and Yun Niang is finally reunited with her true love, Hao Chung at the end of the series.

The series was rather long, but I did not find many boring scenes in it. I enjoyed all 32 episodes and would recommend this series to anyone who is a fan of the "Six Dreams" series and other Mandarin series. Watching Yun Niang get her happy ending was most satisfying indeed!