{ "id": "epmf566f4j", "slug": "summer-rose", "title": "Summer Rose (盛夏芬德拉)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials", "label": "International serial drama and telenovelas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia", "label": "East Asian drama series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials", "label": "East Asian web and streaming serials", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials.alpha-sp-to-z", "label": "Titles Sp to Z", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials.alpha-sp-to-z" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials", "label": "China · 2021 and later: East Asian web and streaming serials", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021", "label": "China · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials", "label": "International serial drama and telenovelas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials", "label": "East Asian web and streaming serials", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Summer Rose (盛夏芬德拉, Midsummer's Vendela) is a 2025 Chinese vertical-screen micro short drama, 82 episodes, starring Liu Xiaoxu and Guo Yuxin, a contract-marriage romance spin-off of Shen Qing Yin Yi that reached 4.4 billion plays on Hongguo and Douyin.", "snippet": "Summer Rose (盛夏芬德拉, Midsummer's Vendela) is a 2025 Chinese vertical-screen micro short drama, 82 episodes, starring Liu Xiaoxu and Guo Yuxin, a contract-marriage romance spin-off of Shen Qing Yin Yi that reached 4.4 billion plays on Hongguo and Douyin.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials.alpha-sp-to-z", "markdown": "# Summer Rose (盛夏芬德拉)\n\n**Summer Rose** (*盛夏芬德拉*, also translated *Midsummer's Vendela*) is a Chinese vertical-screen micro short drama that premiered on 20 September 2025 on the Hongguo and Douyin platforms, telling a slow-burn contract-marriage romance between a freelance photographer, Bai Qingmei (白清枚), and a wealthy business heir, Zhou Sheng'an (周晟安)[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956) • [2](https://www.cpophome.com/midsummers-vendela-liu-xiaoxu-guo-yuxin/). With 4.4 billion plays by December 2025 it became a breakout hit of the 2025 autumn season, and it drew wide attention for applying feature-film visual craft to a format usually built on fast conflict and rapid reversals[3](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32128074).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Premiere | 20 September 2025, simultaneous release on Hongguo and Douyin (马厩制片厂 account)[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956) |\n| Format | 82 episodes of roughly 2 to 3 minutes each, vertical screen[3](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32128074) • [2](https://www.cpophome.com/midsummers-vendela-liu-xiaoxu-guo-yuxin/) |\n| Leads | Liu Xiaoxu (刘萧旭) as Zhou Sheng'an and Guo Yuxin (郭宇欣) as Bai Qingmei[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956) |\n| Source material | Adapted from the novel *Cold War for Three Years, He Regretted the Divorce Until His Eyes Turned Red* (《冷战三年，扯证离婚他却悔红了眼》); a spin-off of the 2024 hit *Shen Qing Yin Yi* (《深情诱引》)[4](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31751454) |\n| Opening records | First-day \"double 100 million\" (Hongguo heat value and plays both passed 100 million); 1 billion plays in 4 days, 2 billion in 8 days, 3 billion in 18 days[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956) |\n| Total reach | 4.4 billion plays by December 2025; Douyin topic plays of 2.43 billion by 11 October 2025[3](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32128074) • [1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956) |\n| Official recognition | Selected among the National Radio and Television Administration's excellent online audiovisual works for the fourth quarter of 2025[5](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2026032609244258029122) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and characters\n\nBai Qingmei, a freelance photographer, and Zhou Sheng'an, the head of a family conglomerate, are pushed into an engagement by their families. Their relationship moves from deliberate distance to growing affection through daily life; Bai Qingmei, fearing intimacy because of the shadow of her mother's fate, breaks off the engagement, and the composed Zhou Sheng'an pursues her openly, ending in mutual emotional healing[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956).\n\n**A different kind of male lead.** Commentators highlighted the character design as a break from the standard domineering-CEO template. Zhou Sheng'an is a \"respect-style\" CEO whose appeal lies in restraint and consideration rather than coercion; he changes into slippers for Bai Qingmei when her high heels hurt, tells her he does not want to tie her down, and answers her whistle at a banquet with a deadpan \"thank you for the compliment\"[9](https://zjnews.zjol.com.cn/zjxc/202510/t20251021_31296816.shtml?mode=m2pc) • [10](https://news.hangzhou.com.cn/zjnews/content/2025-10/14/content_9101479_0.htm). The female lead has more independent consciousness than the genre norm, and the drama touches on themes of family of origin and mental illness while keeping \"do they love each other\" as its central conflict[3](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32128074).\n\n## Production and background\n\nThe drama was produced by the studio 马厩制片厂 (Stable Studio), produced by Hangzhou Xinglian Wuxian Media, and co-produced by Hubei Television Production Company, a subsidiary of Hubei Changjiang Film Group[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956). Credit for direction differs among sources: the Hubei group's announcements and a People's Daily Overseas Edition report name Mu Yu (穆裕), founder of Hangzhou Xinglian Wuxian Media, as director[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956) • [6](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/pc/attachement/202512/29/36e85d2a-f605-44fb-b3ea-3864165fb921.pdf), while several Pulse (The Paper) features credit Zhang Dama (张大马), described as the head of Stable Studio, as director[7](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31726210) • [4](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31751454). The screenwriter is listed as Yu Hang (宇航)[2](https://www.cpophome.com/midsummers-vendela-liu-xiaoxu-guo-yuxin/).\n\nThe story originated as a roughly 100,000-character side-story (番外) about Zhou Sheng'an and Bai Qingmei in the novel behind *Shen Qing Yin Yi*; the series expanded that material into an independent narrative centered on \"mutual healing under an arranged marriage of two powerful families\"[8](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31681837) • [4](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31751454). It belongs to what commentators call the studio's \"deep affection universe\" of linked romance titles, which also includes *Shen Qing Yin Yi* and *Xing De Xiang Yu Li Hun Shi*[4](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31751454) • [7](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31726210).\n\n## Style and reception\n\nThe series is best known for what critics call its \"atmosphere aesthetics\" (气氛美学). It uses low-saturation color, restrained lighting, soft scoring, and cinematic framing, and it turns settings into narrative devices: an old teahouse, the light of a \"blue tunnel,\" and a recurring white \"Fendela rose\" whose state, from bud at the first meeting to full bloom at the ending, tracks the couple's emotional progress[11](https://www.zgwypl.com/content/details24_446328.html) • [12](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31776758). The rose's flower language, \"devoted to you alone,\" echoes the title[12](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31776758). Director Mu Yu described shooting the memorable scenes with overhead shots of a rain-soaked umbrella and low-angle shots of the male lead's protective stance, and developing vertical-screen camera movements in which long takes carry emotional continuity[6](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/pc/attachement/202512/29/36e85d2a-f605-44fb-b3ea-3864165fb921.pdf).\n\nUnlike mainstream short dramas built on \"strong conflict, fast reversal,\" the series slows its pace, reserving room for transitions and foreshadowing and spending much of its length on the gradual development of the relationship[3](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32128074). It has no conventional villain; the main tension comes from the characters' inner struggles, including reconciliation with the past and the courage to open up to love[8](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31681837). Viewers nicknamed it \"the fine grain of the short-drama world\" (短剧界细糠), slang for unusually high-quality fare[3](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32128074).\n\n**Commercial performance.** On its first day the drama passed 100 million in both Hongguo heat value and on-platform plays, becoming the fifth drama in Hongguo history to exceed 100 million heat and the fastest to do so[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956). It broke the platform's peak heat record on three consecutive days, reaching 123.47 million, more than 30 million above the second-place title, and held the No. 1 spot on the platform's overall hot list for 17 consecutive days[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956). By 11 October 2025 it had more than 6.94 million saves and 12.2 million likes on Hongguo, both platform annual bests[1](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956). The spin-off effect was strong enough to push its 2024 predecessor *Shen Qing Yin Yi* back into trending searches[4](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31751454).\n\n**Breaking out of the niche.** The drama reached audiences that short dramas rarely touch: long-form drama viewers trying short drama for the first time and viewers previously uninterested in formulaic short drama[4](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31751454). Its filming locations became destinations; the blue tunnel scene was shot at the Huaxi scenic area in Pan'an, Zhejiang, and topics such as \"the blue tunnel of Shengxia Fendela is in Pan'an, Zhejiang\" trended repeatedly, with related hashtag reads exceeding 1.8 billion[10](https://news.hangzhou.com.cn/zjnews/content/2025-10/14/content_9101479_0.htm) • [12](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31776758). The two leads moved into mainstream visibility, appearing together on the red carpet of the 2025 Guoju Awards ceremony[13](https://ep.shxwcb.com/2025/12/25/img/021225.pdf).\n\n## Criticism and industry debate\n\nThe drama's success also drew criticism. Commentators argued that its slow pacing fits poorly with short-drama viewers' expectations of quick payoff, that its \"refined\" surface does not reach the plot's core, and that problems of floating, unrealistic logic remain unresolved; on this reading its success came from breaking market homogeneity rather than absolute quality advantage[3](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32128074). A dissenting essay in Pulse's Ideas section argued that the drama's popularity still rests on a conventional, even conservative base: the \"CEO falls for me\" formula, an emphasis on both leads' chastity, and plot points such as Bai Qingmei kneeling in the ancestral hall as family punishment, which the leads do not resist[14](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31823368).\n\nThe debate fed into a broader industry question about what \"premium\" short drama should be. One widely shared view holds that short drama's premiumization should build on the format's strength of extreme emotional efficiency rather than simply matching long-form drama in production scale and pacing, which could weaken what makes the format distinct[3](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32128074). The drama's commercial disruption was tangible for the industry: a January 2026 report in *National Business Daily* quoted producers describing how its success scrambled assumptions about what makes a hit, with lead-actor costs rising two- to three-fold and booking lead times of three months or more[15](https://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2026-01-06/4209710.html).\n\nIn March 2026 the National Radio and Television Administration named the drama among the 99 works selected in its fourth-quarter 2025 excellent online audiovisual works evaluation, in the micro short drama category[5](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2026032609244258029122).\n\n## References\n\n1. [集团电视剧制作公司联合出品短剧《盛夏芬德拉》火爆红果、抖音, 湖北长江电影集团 (11 October 2025)](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2025101122310512889956)\n2. [Midsummer's Vendela (Summer Rose), CPOP HOME](https://www.cpophome.com/midsummers-vendela-liu-xiaoxu-guo-yuxin/)\n3. [《盛夏芬德拉》争议：短剧精品化该如何扬长避短｜微剧评, 澎湃新闻 (8 December 2025)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_32128074)\n4. [解构《盛夏芬德拉》：现象级短剧背后的情感共鸣与美学突破, 澎湃新闻·湃客 (11 October 2025)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31751454)\n5. [集团电视剧制作公司联合出品短剧《盛夏芬德拉》入选国家广电总局2025年第四季度优秀网络视听作品, 湖北长江电影集团 (26 March 2026)](https://www.hbfilm.com.cn/News/2026032609244258029122)\n6. [人民日报海外版 (29 December 2025), PDF](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/pc/attachement/202512/29/36e85d2a-f605-44fb-b3ea-3864165fb921.pdf)\n7. [不\"爽\"也能爆的《盛夏芬德拉》，走向风格化的短剧厂牌们, 澎湃新闻·湃客 (5 October 2025)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31726210)\n8. [在红果追《盛夏芬德拉》，我患上了\"细糠依赖症\", 澎湃新闻·湃客 (26 September 2025)](https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31681837)\n9. [浙江宣传 | 《盛夏芬德拉》为啥让观众上头 (21 October 2025)](https://zjnews.zjol.com.cn/zjxc/202510/t20251021_31296816.shtml?mode=m2pc)\n10. [文娱新论 | 浙产\"芬德拉\"出圈，细数马厩制片厂的爆款密码, 杭州网 (14 October 2025)](https://news.hangzhou.com.cn/zjnews/content/2025-10/14/content_9101479_0.htm)\n11. [网络微短剧《盛夏芬德拉》的气氛美学（王亚芹）, 中国文艺评论网 (30 October 2025)](https://www.zgwypl.com/content/details24_446328.html)\n12. [繁星剧评 |《盛夏芬德拉》的艺术性回归：不止于\"快餐\"，更可反复\"回甘\", 澎湃新闻·湃客 (14 October 2025)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31776758)\n13. [2025年度文体盘点, PDF (25 December 2025)](https://ep.shxwcb.com/2025/12/25/img/021225.pdf)\n14. [短剧《盛夏芬德拉》出圈：更高效的情感代餐，在新旧雅俗之间, 澎湃新闻·思想市场 (2 November 2025)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31823368)\n15. [红果百万分账搅动短剧生态, 每经网 (6 January 2026)](https://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2026-01-06/4209710.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles Sp to Z*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/summer-rose", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/summer-rose.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Summer Rose (盛夏芬德拉)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/summer-rose. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Summer Rose (盛夏芬德拉)](https://www.edgepedia.org/summer-rose)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/summer-rose](https://www.edgepedia.org/summer-rose). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Summer Rose (盛夏芬德拉)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/summer-rose. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Summer Rose is a 2025 Chinese vertical-screen micro short drama, 82 episodes, starring Liu Xiaoxu and Guo Yuxin, a contract-marriage romance spin-off of Shen Qing Yin Yi that reached 4.4 billion plays on Hongguo and Douyin." }