General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

In Spite of the Strong Wind (纵有疾风起)

In Spite of the Strong Wind (纵有疾风起; pinyin: Zòng yǒu jí fēng qǐ) is a 2023 Chinese urban emotional drama directed by Fei Zhenxiang (费振翔), written by Li Xiao (李潇) and Jiang Wuji (姜无及), and starring Jin Dong (靳东), Song Jia (宋佳), Tian Yu (田雨), and Yang Jue (杨玏)¹. It premiered on January 1, 2023 on Beijing TV and Jiangsu TV, with simultaneous streaming on Tencent Video and iQIYI². The story follows a public relations executive whose career and engagement collapse in one night, and who rebuilds his life by founding a new PR firm with a group of misfit partners³.

Key fact	Detail
Original title	纵有疾风起 (Zòng yǒu jí fēng qǐ)⁴
Format	Urban emotional drama; 39 episodes of about 43 minutes per JustWatch, though WeTV lists 40 episodes⁴^•³
Broadcast	Premiered January 1, 2023 on Beijing TV and Jiangsu TV; streamed on Tencent Video and iQIYI²
Conclusion	Satellite broadcast ended January 20, 2023; non-member streaming finale on February 8⁵
Source material	Adapted from the novel of the same name by author Cha Zou (茶走)⁶
Ratings	CSM64-city average 1.808% and 35-city 1.995% on Jiangsu TV, first in its timeslot as of January 11, 2023⁷
Audience score	Douban 5.8 from 16,170 raters as of March 13, 2024⁸

Spoilers

Plot

Tang Chen (唐尘), played by Jin Dong, is a public relations company owner at the height of his career, about to sign the client Ye Shouru (叶守中, played by Sun Chun), whom he has cultivated for years, when his fiancée Shuo Bing (烁冰), played by Song Jia, betrays him¹. In one night he is forced to declare his company bankrupt, takes on heavy debts, and loses his relationship¹. In the opening episodes Shuo Bing uses Tang Chen's trust and his personal account to leak internal scandal material about a client company, ruining the client and collapsing his firm⁹.

After a period of depression spent living off his old friend Sha Zhou (沙舟), played by Tian Yu, Tang Chen resolves to start over¹. Sha Zhou, a talented but stagnant newspaper reporter, becomes his first ally and invests his savings as startup capital¹. The two recruit Hou Zhi (侯志, played by Zhou Maijie), a well-connected fixer; Bai Ying (白鹦, played by Wang Yuwen), a charismatic saleswoman; and Zhu Ran (祝燃, played by Yang Jue), a brilliant but timid lawyer, and together they found the Gray Whale public relations company (灰鲸公关)³.

The team takes on a series of cases, including building a public image for the stingy pig-feed magnate Xie Liqiang, promoting a viral song, and winning a PR contract from the Feida company³. In competition with a rival firm, Tang Chen discovers a secret connection between Shuo Bing and Ye Shouru³. After rounds of rivalry and reconciliation between the former couple, Tang Chen comes to understand why Shuo Bing made her seemingly heartless choice: she was carrying a family vendetta, and Ye Shouru was responsible for her father's suicide³^•⁵. The two join forces to punish Ye Shouru and reunite, and each member of Gray Whale finds personal fulfillment³.

Production and broadcast

The drama was produced by New Classics Television (新丽电视), Xianjun Film (贤君影视), Baijing Pictures (白鲸影业), and Seven Impressions (七印象)¹. Filming began on October 14, 2020 in Hangzhou, with Song Jia and Yang Jue attending the opening ceremony¹⁰. Screenwriter Li Xiao had previously written dramas including Mr. Right (好先生), Big Daughter Getting Married (大女当嫁), and Big Man Getting Married (大男当婚); she said the project began at the invitation of Jin Dong, and that the male lead Tang Chen was written with him in mind¹¹.

The series aired as a New Year opener from January 1, 2023 in the evening prime-time slots of Beijing TV and Jiangsu TV, with Tencent Video carrying the network premiere and iQIYI updating nightly². The satellite run concluded on January 20, 2023, and the streaming platforms released the finale to non-members on February 8⁵. A CMBIS industry report listed the drama with 1.17 billion views and a 1.5% share among early-2023 releases on iQIYI and Tencent Video¹².

Reception

Ratings were strong in the opening weeks. Jiangsu TV reported a CSM64-city average of 1.808% and a 35-city average of 1.995%, placing the drama first in its timeslot among satellite channels as of January 11, 2023; on Tencent Video its internal heat index passed 24,000, first on the platform's drama chart⁷. The Weibo main topic surpassed 240 million reads, and the drama drew 341 trending-search placements in its first week⁷.

Critical response was mixed. Guangming Daily praised the drama for fusing workplace, business, and emotional elements and for its portrayal of striving urbanites, and He Tianping, deputy secretary-general of the film and television arts committee of the China TV Art Exchange Association and a researcher at Renmin University of China's News and Social Development Research Center, wrote that under its light-comedy surface the drama conveys the courage to face life without giving up⁵. Other critics were harsher: a Wenhui Bao commentary by Gui Lin, a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, used the drama's poor reception as the starting point for a broader discussion of why Chinese workplace dramas rarely produce hits, noting that many viewers dropped the show after its first episodes¹³. The extreme characterization of Shuo Bing in the opening episodes drew particular controversy, and the production team responded that the unconventional character and plot were deliberate choices¹¹. On Douban the drama held a score of 5.8 from 16,170 raters as of March 13, 2024⁸.

Themes and title

Director Fei Zhenxiang described the series as not a conventional workplace drama but a story about human feeling, saying it is really about "the warmth and coldness of human relationships"¹⁴. He compared the five-person team's journey to a Journey to the West-style story of companions growing together, and said he preferred ensemble storytelling over a two-person romance⁹. Commentators noted that the drama spends less time on the PR industry itself than on its characters' marriages, parent-child bonds, and friendships, framing the workplace story through emotional repair¹⁵.

The title alludes to the phrase 纵有疾风起，人生不言弃 ("though the strong wind rises, life never gives up"), which a Japanese translation study cites as the Chinese rendering of the phrase 風立ちぬ、いざ生きめやかも¹⁶.

International availability

Under the English title In Spite of the Strong Wind, the series is listed by JustWatch as available in the United States on Rakuten Viki, free with ads on The Roku Channel, and for purchase on Amazon Video, and in the United Kingdom on Amazon Prime Video⁴^•¹⁷.

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026