Review of Amidst a Snowstorm of Love / 在暴雪时分

I have a confession to make when it comes to Chinese dramas from the mainland: there was a time when I actively avoided them. I think it didn’t help that I had an aversion to any television series that had more than sixteen episodes, which is the standard in the Korean drama world, but I also watched a drama that I didn’t care for once and then never came back to an entire country’s television.

I don’t know why I had that aversion beyond this, but I recently began getting more back into Asian dramas as a whole. It helps running this blog has been a fun time of reflecting on the shows that I’ve been watching, but I also turned back into Chinese television series specifically because I wanted to learn more Mandarin again.

For many years, I took Mandarin courses. I even almost minored it in college, and it was always my dream since middle school to go to China and wander the streets and countryside. Dramas have been helping me learn more Mandarin when everything else in my life seems to be too busy.

That said, I watched Amidst a Snowstorm of Love with this in mind. When I began watching, it was available on both Netflix and Viki, and I ended up watching it on Netflix because that was easier at the time. It certainly was a fun little ride getting through this drama.

I don’t want to ramble too much, so let’s get into the review!

Two billiards players meet abroad, in a heavy snowstorm, and gradually fall in love as time passes.

This series begins in a foreign country, not China, that seemed Nordic to me. I can’t recall if it was ever mentioned what country they were in specifically, but I was assuming maybe Finland. It wasn’t too clear. The later half of the series takes place more in China.

Our female lead is Yin Guo, who is a rising star in the world of Nine-ball. She’s come to this country to continue her studies and compete, and her life is about to change one night when there’s a big snowstorm. She goes to a bar, where she stays inside as the snow becomes heavier. It’s there she meets Lin Yiyang, a fellow Chinese student.

This marks the beginning of these two continuing to meet throughout their time in this country. At first it’s more like a friendship, but as they continue going out together in a way that looks like dates, the attraction definitely becomes more clear to the viewer—and them as well.

They begin dating, and this series becomes even more of a slow burn. We also learn why Yiyang is so good at billiards himself—he was a professional player that was once considered one of the top rising stars in the field. He quit his career after arrogantly disagreeing with a referee, and hasn’t returned to the competitions since.

But it’s through his relationship with Yin Guo, who’s becoming more prominent in Nine-ball, that he starts becoming more inspired to return back to his career. Eventually her time in the country will come to an end, and so will his, but when she leaves he formally throws himself back into his career.

And it certainly won’t be the easiest journey, that’s for sure. He’s coming back into a field with little support, and when it comes time to start competing again, people are going to be shocked that he has returned to make a name for himself. But he is determined, and he is also ready to go hard after his love.

I’d say this is definitely a slow burn series throughout, and is very much a study of how their relationship progresses along with how their careers continue to thrive. That said, if you’re looking for a lot of conflict or action, this isn’t going to be the drama series for you. Not much actually happens, and there are quite a few scenes that are just straight up dialogue heavy.

Overall Thoughts

If we’re going to be honest, I don’t know if I cared for this series. I love slice of life movies and shows if they’re done right, but I didn’t have any emotional investments for who these characters were as people.

Don’t get me wrong—there are some gorgeous moments and lines scattered throughout the show. Cinematography and those “vibes” I mentioned earlier are definitely some of the highlights of the show. The romance is also pretty consistent throughout the series as well, and it’s straightforward without much of a love triangle.

I just feel like something was missing for me; maybe a better way to phrase this is that the series felt kind of empty. We see a relationship progress on-screen to the beginning stages to full on devoted to each other and willing to marry, but I wanted something more.

However, I can see how people love this show. It just wasn’t my cup of tea at the end of the day, which is fine. Taste is subjective, and neither of us are wrong if you liked the show more than me!

If you’re interested in the synopsis though, go ahead and give it a shot. You might love it a lot more than I did.

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