Costume drama destined for success

Costume drama Destined is airing on streaming site iQiyi and CCTV-8, making a big splash online and striking a chord with many viewers.

According to iQiyi, the series is the first to achieve 10,000 in terms of its trending number, an index to measure popularity of a drama on the platform based on its number of views, real-time audience comments and other criteria. It is also one of the most popular five dramas on the platform as of now.

Starring actor Bai Jingting and actress Song Yi, the 40-episode production recounts the story of an unwanted marriage which ends in a happy state. It tells how the couple fell into the marriage due to a strange combination of circumstances, fell in love with each other and supported each other in a turbulent time and achieved success in each other's career.

According to Yin Tao, director of the series, the hero Gu Jiusi and heroine Liu Yuru are both upright and independent. They continue to improve themselves and serve to protect their country.

He highlights a wedding scene, which displays many folk wedding customs that ancient Chinese followed in the drama. "We want to show an ancient Chinese wedding ceremony, and extend the beauty in traditional Chinese culture to the audience," says Yin.

The series is an adaptation of a popular namesake online novel.