Starting by Each Step (《步步惊心》Bù Bù Jīng Xīn), December 2010-March 2011

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, this time-traveling (穿越 chuān yuè) romance is set in the Qing Dynasty（1636-1911). The female protagonist Zhang Xiao is a white-collar worker living in the 21st century. One day, she suffers a traffic accident that sends her back three hundred years to the reign of Emperor Kangxi (康熙) in the Qing Dynasty. She finds herself trapped in the body of Ma’ertai Rouxi, a teenage daughter of a Manchu general. With her new name, Rouxi, she begins a new life. She starts off by falling for Prince Yinsi(胤禩), the emperor’s eighth son, and agrees to marry him if he gives up competing for the succession to the throne. Due to her knowledge of the Qing Dynasty, she is aware that Yinsi’s ambition will ultimately lead to his death in prison after the emperor’s fourth son, Prince Yinzhen(胤禛), becomes emperor. However, Yinsi refuses to give up his ambitions. After breaking up with Yinsi, she turns to the fourth prince Yinzhen—the man who would beat the other princes to the crown, and later become known as Emperor Yongzheng(雍正，1678-1735).

Chinese netizens use the phrase “nuexin” (虐心，heart-wrenching) to express their feelings after watching the story. An audience member commenting on Douban writes: “Although the plot is heart-wrenching, the story is very touching. So I can bear it!”

Thanks to popular time-travel shows and historical dramas such as this one, the phrase “穿越” has surpassed its basic meaning of “pass-through” or “traverse” to be shorthand for traveling over time and space.

Nǐ chuānyuèle ma?
你穿越了吗？
Have you been time traveling?