# Blossoms Shanghai (2024) Review: Wong Kar-wai Goes Long > Blossoms Shanghai is Wong Kar-wai's first TV series, a lush 30-episode saga of money, love and memory in 1990s Shanghai, anchored by a magnetic Hu Ge. Canonical: https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/blossoms-shanghai-review/ Published: 2026-07-22 Last updated: 2026-09-25 Author: Kaiser Khan — Founder & Editor Language: English Review basis: direct-viewing Spoilers: none Rating: 4.5/5 ## Verdict Yes. It is a gorgeous, ambitious drama for Wong Kar-wai admirers and patient viewers who enjoy period sagas, though its length and elliptical plotting demand commitment. ## Is Blossoms Shanghai worth watching? **Yes. Blossoms Shanghai is a sumptuous, often dazzling drama that brings Wong Kar-wai's romantic, neon-soaked style to long-form television without losing its ache.** It is a portrait of a city getting rich fast and of the people who are changed, or left behind, as it does. The reservations are length and density: 30 episodes of business deals, shifting alliances and unspoken feelings make it a demanding watch, especially for viewers unfamiliar with the period. ## What is Blossoms Shanghai about? In early 1990s Shanghai, China's economy is opening up, and fortunes can be made almost overnight. A Bao ([Hu Ge](https://celluloidscore.com/stars/asia/china/hu-ge/)) is a young man with ambition, charm and very little money when the story begins. Guided by a mysterious mentor and his own instincts, he throws himself into the city's new markets, including foreign trade and the stock exchange, and rises quickly. Along the way, his life becomes entangled with three women: Ling Zi (Ma Yili), who runs a bar that becomes his base; Miss Wang (Tang Yan), an ambitious young woman in the foreign trade business; and Li Li (Xin Zhilei), the formidable owner of a glamorous restaurant on the city's most competitive street. [Blossoms Shanghai](https://celluloidscore.com/shows/blossoms-shanghai/) is directed by Wong Kar-wai, adapted from Jin Yucheng's acclaimed novel. It is a Chinese production in Mandarin. This review covers the complete series: one season of 30 episodes, and the story has ended. ## A director's style scaled up Wong Kar-wai is famous for films of longing and missed connections, and Blossoms Shanghai shows how well that sensibility adapts to television. The series is visually extraordinary: rain-streaked windows, glowing neon signs, slow-motion crowds and saturated colours turn 1990s Shanghai into a place of memory as much as history. The music and editing give ordinary business meetings the charge of romance. The style is more than decoration. The series is interested in how people perform success, and the glamorous surfaces reflect a city dressing itself up for a new era. At its best, the show captures the exhilaration and emptiness of sudden wealth in a single image. ## Hu Ge and the women around him Hu Ge gives A Bao a quiet magnetism. He is confident and generous in public, guarded and melancholy in private, and the performance lets the audience see the cost of his ambition without spelling it out. It is a star turn that anchors the whole series and brought him the Magnolia Award for best actor, one of several major prizes the show won. The women are equally compelling. Tang Yan's Miss Wang, who grows from an eager junior employee into a sharp operator, has one of the show's most satisfying arcs, and Ma Yili brings warmth and wounded pride to Ling Zi. Xin Zhilei's Li Li is a figure of glamour and mystery who commands every scene she enters. Each relationship shows a different side of A Bao and a different way the city's transformation affects people. ## Where the saga demands patience The series asks a lot of its audience. Its plotting is elliptical, often skipping over the mechanics of deals and relying on implication, and viewers without some knowledge of China's economic reforms may struggle to follow the stakes in business storylines. The style, so intoxicating at first, can become repetitive over 30 episodes, and some middle stretches circle around similar conflicts. The payoff is real, but it requires commitment. ## Who should watch Blossoms Shanghai? It suits admirers of Wong Kar-wai's films, fans of lavish period drama and anyone interested in modern Chinese history or stories about money and ambition. Thirty episodes of around 45 minutes each is a significant commitment, best spread over several weeks. Availability varies by region, with arthouse services such as The Criterion Channel and MUBI carrying it in some territories. Content is mild, with little violence and no graphic material. If it draws you in, try these next: - [Minning Town](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/minning-town-review/), for another Chinese series about the transformations of the reform era, told on a more rural scale. - [The Long Season](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/the-long-season-review/), a stylish, time-hopping drama that is equally attentive to memory and place. - [Nirvana in Fire](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/nirvana-in-fire-review/), for Hu Ge in one of his most celebrated earlier roles. ## The verdict Blossoms Shanghai is a triumph of style with real emotional depth: a lush, melancholy portrait of a city and a man remaking themselves. It is long and sometimes opaque, but few series look this beautiful or capture ambition and longing so vividly. **Rating: 4.5/5** ## Related title - [Blossoms Shanghai (2024)](https://celluloidscore.com/shows/blossoms-shanghai/) ## Editorial - [Editorial standards](https://celluloidscore.com/about/editorial-policy/) - [Report a correction](https://celluloidscore.com/about/corrections/)