# Light the Night (华灯初上)
**Light the Night** (华灯初上) is a Taiwanese mystery drama series released on Netflix in three parts of eight episodes each between November 2021 and March 2022, set in 1988 in the red-light district of Taipei, where the hostesses of a Japanese-style nightclub become entangled in a murder case.[1](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/%E5%8D%8E%E7%81%AF%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A?hl=zh-CN&id=2E9F868AF27DFB8FSH) • [2](https://www.netflix.com/tw/title/81477952?fromWatch=true) It was produced by and stars [Ruby Lin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruby-lin) (林心如) as the mamasan Luo Yu-nung, known as Rose, alongside Cheryl Yang (楊謹華) as Su Ching-yi, known as Sue.[3](https://www.vogue.com.tw/fashion/article/inside-the-costume-%E8%8F%AF%E7%87%88%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 華燈初上 (Light the Night) |
| Format | 24 episodes released as three parts of eight, on November 26, 2021, December 30, 2021, and March 18, 2022[1](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/%E5%8D%8E%E7%81%AF%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A?hl=zh-CN&id=2E9F868AF27DFB8FSH) |
| Setting | 1988, the tiaotong (條通) district around Linsen North Road, Taipei, and the Japanese nightclub "Light"[3](https://www.vogue.com.tw/fashion/article/inside-the-costume-%E8%8F%AF%E7%87%88%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A) |
| Lead creators | Director Lien Yi-chi; writer Tu Cheng-che, a Golden Bell Award winner; producer and star Ruby Lin[4](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/in-star-studded-light-the-night-a-unique-taipei-subculture-comes-alive) |
| Budget | NT$250 million (about S$12.08 million), the most expensive production Lin had led[5](https://www.zaobao.com.sg/entertainment/story20220306-1249337) |
| Filming | Began September 11, 2020; wrapped January 27, 2021[1](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/%E5%8D%8E%E7%81%AF%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A?hl=zh-CN&id=2E9F868AF27DFB8FSH) |
| Reception | IMDb 7.4/10 from about 1,800 user ratings; 11 nominations at the 57th Golden Bell Awards with no wins[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15808044/ratings/) • [1](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/%E5%8D%8E%E7%81%AF%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A?hl=zh-CN&id=2E9F868AF27DFB8FSH) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and setting
The story opens in 1988, when teenagers find a dead body in the woods; the investigation that follows frames the rest of the series, which then moves back to the months before the killing.[2](https://www.netflix.com/tw/title/81477952?fromWatch=true) The victim is identified only by red heels and a box of matches from the Light nightclub.[7](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/international/review/2021/Nov/28/light-the-night-series-review-an-engrossing-series-capturing-the-lives-of-women-28085.html)
**The Light nightclub.** Rose and Sue are two best friends who run Light, an exclusive Japanese-style nightclub in Taipei's red-light district, and are addressed as mamasan, the madams who run the establishment. The club, modeled on the etiquette of a geisha house, caters mainly to wealthy middle-aged Japanese businessmen. Each hostess works under a stage name, usually Japanese, and her job is conversation and revelry rather than sex; the more expensive alcohol she can order for a table, the larger her cut. When patrons become too handsy, the mamasans intervene.[7](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/international/review/2021/Nov/28/light-the-night-series-review-an-engrossing-series-capturing-the-lives-of-women-28085.html)
The hostesses' private lives supply the drama. Ah-chi (Cherry Hsieh) is the oldest hostess, losing clients to age and entangled with the Triads. Aiko ([Puff Kuo](https://www.edgepedia.org/puff-kuo)) is a university student hiding her job from her family, in love with her classmate [He Yu](https://www.edgepedia.org/he-yu)-en ([Derek Chang](https://www.edgepedia.org/derek-chang)), who is himself infatuated with Sue. Hana (Esther Liu) is a former prostitute, and Yuri (Nikki Hsieh) is persuaded by her boyfriend to sell drugs to selected clients. Rose is involved with the screenwriter Chiang Han (Rhydian Vaughan), a man who withdraws once anyone gets close, and Sue develops feelings for him as well.[7](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/international/review/2021/Nov/28/light-the-night-series-review-an-engrossing-series-capturing-the-lives-of-women-28085.html) The friendship between Rose and Sue, strained by betrayal but never fully broken, is the relationship critics identified as the show's center.[7](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/international/review/2021/Nov/28/light-the-night-series-review-an-engrossing-series-capturing-the-lives-of-women-28085.html) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/light_the_night/s01)
The tiaotong district itself is treated almost as a character. In the early twentieth century it was a residential area for Japanese elites in Taiwan; after World War II it kept its Japanese character, and from the 1960s, with the arrival of the red-light trade, it became a place Japanese businessmen frequented.[4](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/in-star-studded-light-the-night-a-unique-taipei-subculture-comes-alive)
## Production
**Development.** Ruby Lin conceived the project after finishing *16個夏天* and spent roughly five to six years developing the script with the writer; the original concept was a warm story of two women supporting each other in the entertainment trade, and the murder-mystery element was added about a year into development when suspense dramas came into fashion.[3](https://www.vogue.com.tw/fashion/article/inside-the-costume-%E8%8F%AF%E7%87%88%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A) Writer Tu Cheng-che, a veteran Golden Bell winner whose credits include *流氓教授* and *16個夏天*, was working in the suspense genre for the first time and used a consultant from a mystery writers' association to check the plot's logic; he has said the identity of the killer changed several times during writing.[9](https://cn.womany.net/read/article/28255)
**Design and scale.** The production spent four years in preparation and NT$250 million, with more than a thousand costumes recreating the fashion of 1980s Taipei, an era of shoulder pads, permed hair, and door-knocker earrings.[3](https://www.vogue.com.tw/fashion/article/inside-the-costume-%E8%8F%AF%E7%87%88%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A) • [4](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/in-star-studded-light-the-night-a-unique-taipei-subculture-comes-alive) Costume designer Hsu Li-wen argued against dressing the hostesses in qipao, deciding instead to dress each woman according to her personality; Lin's own wardrobe included vintage Chanel pieces bought in secondhand shops.[3](https://www.vogue.com.tw/fashion/article/inside-the-costume-%E8%8F%AF%E7%87%88%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A) Because Japanese nightclubs prize privacy, published material on the 1980s tiaotong was scarce, and the team relied on extensive field research.[10](https://meet.eslite.com/tw/sc/article/202201110001)
**Release.** The first two episodes screened as a secret premiere at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival on November 22, 2021, and Part 1 went live worldwide on Netflix on November 26.[4](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/in-star-studded-light-the-night-a-unique-taipei-subculture-comes-alive) Netflix released the series in 190 countries and territories.[4](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/in-star-studded-light-the-night-a-unique-taipei-subculture-comes-alive)
## Reception
Within two days of Part 1's release the series reached number one on Taiwan's Netflix ranking and held the position for more than two weeks; it was still in the top five a month later when Part 2 arrived, and the Part 2 trailer passed one million YouTube views.[9](https://cn.womany.net/read/article/28255) On IMDb it holds a weighted rating of 7.4/10 from about 1,800 users, with the most ratings from Taiwan, the United States, China, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15808044/ratings/)
**Awards.** The series entered the 57th Golden Bell Awards with 11 nominations, including drama series, directing, writing, lead and supporting actor and actress, music, and innovation categories, and was widely favored before the ceremony, but it won none of them.[1](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/%E5%8D%8E%E7%81%AF%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A?hl=zh-CN&id=2E9F868AF27DFB8FSH)
Critics were broadly positive about the ensemble and the friendship at the core while noting the show's soapy texture. Joel Keller of Decider wrote that the friendship between Rose and Sue carries the dramatic load, calling it a frothy, soapy watch that may not appeal to everyone.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/light_the_night/s01) The Cinema Express review gave Part 1 three stars out of five, praising Cheryl Yang's performance and the depiction of the hostess trade, while finding the show occasionally surface-level in its conversations.[7](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/international/review/2021/Nov/28/light-the-night-series-review-an-engrossing-series-capturing-the-lives-of-women-28085.html)
## Legacy
The series brought the tiaotong nightclub culture, a subject rarely touched by earlier Taiwanese screen fiction, to a global audience and was followed by two companion books, a production chronicle (*華燈初上：影像創作紀實*) and a novelization (*華燈初上：影劇改編小說*), both published in 2022.[11](https://meet.eslite.com/tw/sc/article/202203210001) For Ruby Lin, whose producing credits include *傾世皇妃* and the Golden Bell-winning *16個夏天*, the series marked her most expensive production to date and a widely noted turn as the wild, uninhibited Rose.[5](https://www.zaobao.com.sg/entertainment/story20220306-1249337)
## References
1. [《华灯初上》 - Google Play 电视](https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/%E5%8D%8E%E7%81%AF%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A?hl=zh-CN&id=2E9F868AF27DFB8FSH)
2. [華燈初上 - Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/tw/title/81477952?fromWatch=true)
3. [專訪《華燈初上》總製作人林心如、造型及美術指導, Vogue Taiwan](https://www.vogue.com.tw/fashion/article/inside-the-costume-%E8%8F%AF%E7%87%88%E5%88%9D%E4%B8%8A)
4. [《華燈初上》眾星雲集，精湛呈現台北獨具一格的次文化 - About Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/in-star-studded-light-the-night-a-unique-taipei-subculture-comes-alive)
5. [林心如 从格格到霸气皇妃, 联合早报](https://www.zaobao.com.sg/entertainment/story20220306-1249337)
6. [Light the Night (TV Series 2021–2022) - Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15808044/ratings/)
7. [Light The Night Series Review, Cinema Express](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/international/review/2021/Nov/28/light-the-night-series-review-an-engrossing-series-capturing-the-lives-of-women-28085.html)
8. [Light the Night: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/light_the_night/s01)
9. [专访《华灯初上》编剧杜政哲, 女人迷 Womany](https://cn.womany.net/read/article/28255)
10. [《华灯初上》导演连奕琦X总制作人暨女主角林心如专访, 迷诚品](https://meet.eslite.com/tw/sc/article/202201110001)
11. [《华灯初上》影像创作纪实、改编小说, 迷诚品](https://meet.eslite.com/tw/sc/article/202203210001)
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*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 › Hong Kong and Taiwanese serial drama*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license