General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

What if (生活在别处的我)

What If (生活在别处的我, pinyin: Shēng Huó Zài Bié Chǔ De Wǒ; also translated as Another Me) is a 2024 Chinese urban romance drama adapted from the 2016 Taiwanese series Tea Mì (荼蘼), directed by Han Qing, written by Zou Jiani, and starring Zhong Chuxi, Liu Xueyi, and Lin Yushen. It premiered on Tencent Video on May 6, 2024, and ran for 20 episodes of about 45 minutes each.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Original title	生活在别处的我 (Shēng Huó Zài Bié Chǔ De Wǒ); English titles What If and Another Me³
Basis	Remake of the 2016 Taiwanese drama 荼蘼 (Tea Mì), written by Xu Yuting and starring Rainie Yang⁴
Broadcast	20 episodes, about 45 minutes each; Tencent Video from May 6, 2024²
Main cast	Zhong Chuxi as Xia Guo, Liu Xueyi as Yu Jian, Lin Yushen as Xue Yuming (special lead), with Yao Chi, Liu Mengmeng, and Liu Dan⁵
Premise	A woman's choice between a Shanghai career and small-town life is shown as two parallel timelines⁶
Reception	Douban 5.2/10 (1,870 raters) and Tencent Video 8.2/10 (131,000 raters) as of July 19, 2025⁷

Spoilers

Premise and structure

The drama follows Xia Guo (夏果), a young woman living a stable, comfortable life in Leshan, Sichuan, with her boyfriend Yu Jian (郁见), an interior designer. She unexpectedly receives a job opportunity in Shanghai, and the series presents her decision as a fork between two lives: the fast-paced, opportunity-filled metropolis, or the predictable small-town existence she has always known.⁶

The story is told through parallel narration. In one timeline, Xia Guo goes to Shanghai, endures workplace challenges, and grows close to her boss Xue Yuming (薛宇明). In the other, she stays in Leshan, marries Yu Jian, and has a child, leading to a very different domestic life.⁴ The series keeps the original's core concept of a "life multiple-choice question": neither path is framed as right or wrong, and each carries its own regrets and rewards.⁴ Late episodes follow both lines to their outcomes; in the finale, both versions of Xia Guo find happiness.⁶

Origin and adaptation

The source, 荼蘼, aired in Taiwan in 2016 with Rainie Yang and Yan Yu-lin in the lead roles, written by Xu Yuting. It received three nominations at the 52nd Golden Bell Awards along with international recognition.⁴ The mainland remake expands the story considerably: the Taiwanese original ran six episodes of roughly 84 to 85 minutes, about 8.5 hours in total, while the 20-episode Chinese version runs about 16 hours, nearly twice the original's length.⁸

The setting also moved. Where the original was rooted in a comparatively traditional Taiwanese family culture, the remake places Xia Guo in Leshan, Sichuan, a change one commentary noted as raising the heroine's relative standing in the story's family context.⁹ Local media praised the series for its depiction of everyday Leshan life and its "down-to-earth" texture.⁷

Production and release

The drama was produced by Shanghai Tencent Penguin Pictures, Horgos New Vision Media, and Shanghai Qingxin Culture, with Zou Jiani as screenwriter and Han Qing as director.¹ Filming began in December 2022 and wrapped in early 2023.³

On Tencent Video, members received two new episodes daily at 18:00 from May 6 to May 9, 2024, starting with four episodes on the first day, then one episode daily from May 10, with a finale advance-screening package on May 13.⁷ On WeTV in Taiwan, episodes 1 through 4 went up on May 6, 2024, and the final seven episodes arrived together on May 13, completing the run in eight days.⁸

Reception

Early platform metrics were strong. On May 8, 2024, two days after launch, the drama's Tencent heat value passed 21,000; by May 20, 2024, it had accumulated 82 Douyin hot-search entries and its main topic hashtag had surpassed 2.1 billion plays.¹ Early press coverage described the premiere as a word-of-mouth success, with the platform score reaching 8.8 on the first day of release.¹⁰

Aggregated scores later diverged by platform. As of July 19, 2025, Douban recorded 5.2 out of 10 from 1,870 raters, while Tencent Video recorded 8.2 out of 10 from about 131,000 raters.⁷ Commentary during the run was mixed: some critics argued the double-timeline premise lost coherence and dramatic tension in later episodes, and that the romance lines reduced the two lives to relationships with two male leads.¹¹^•¹² Others placed the series within the 2024 wave of "slice-of-life" female-centered dramas, alongside Spring Colors Bring Lovers and Dim Light of Fire, that traded strong plot contrivances for realistic depictions of women's choices.⁹

References

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

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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