Life Plan A and B 🇹🇼 A Taiwanese Mini Series

Life Plan A and B 🇹🇼 A Story of Two Parallel Lives

Life Plan A and B is a Taiwanese drama with an unusual twist: it follows two parallel story lines.

This is a must watch series for anyone who is a fan of the British film Sliding Doors.

I’m sure that everyone at some point in their life has asked themselves “What if…” about a life decision or choice they’ve made.

Well this show does exactly that and explores the two very different lives our main protagonist would have had when she is faced with a crossroads in her life.

Life Plan A and B – Introduction

Life Plan A and B – Main Characters

Life Plan A and B – Why it’s Great for Chinese Learners

Life Plan A and B – Useful Vocab

Life Plan A and B – Where to Watch

Life Plan A and B – Introduction

Life Plan A and B was released in 2016. The Chinese name for the show is 荼蘼 tú mí, which is taken from the Faye Wong song 开到荼蘼 kāi dào tú mí (The Last Blossom).

Life Plan A and B starts off in Taiwan with what is assumed to be a chance encounter between Zheng Ruwei (郑汝为 zhèng rǔwèi) and Tang Youyan (汤有彦 tāng yǒuyàn).

They meet at a convenience store where they end up eating instant noodles together. (You’ll see that instant noodles play a big part in this series).

Fast forward to a few years later and the two are in a relationship and planning a future together.

They don’t have much money, with Ruwei working for an instant noodle manufacturing company and Youyan working as an aspiring architect.

However, opportunity comes knocking when Ruwei is offered a promotion with higher pay at her company’s Shanghai centre. She convinces Youyan to move to Shanghai with her and when he secures a job there with a celebrity architecture firm it looks like everything is set to work out perfectly.

But of course, what drama would that be if everything goes as planned?

Instead, shortly before they are due to leave for Shanghai Youyan’s father is in an accident and has to have an operation on his legs which may leave him in a wheelchair for life.

Given the circumstances Youyan decides that there is no way he can move to Shanghai and leave his mother to care of his father on her own.

But what will Ruwei do? Will she follow her head and pursue her career in Shanghai or will she follow her heart and remain in Taiwan with Youyan?

This life changing decision sparks off two parallel stories: Plan A where Ruwei decides to still move to Shanghai and attempt a long distance relationship with Youyan and Plan B where Ruwei decides to stay and help Youyan look after his parents.

Which path will make Ruwei happiest? Was Plan A the right decision or Plan B? Well you’ll have to watch the series to find out!

Life Plan A and B – Main Characters

Zheng Ruwei (郑汝为 zhèng rǔwèi)

The female protagonist of Life Plan A and B is Zheng Wurei, an orphan who was raised by her grandparents.

After graduating from university she starts working for an instant noodle manufacturing company in Taiwan. She wants more than a mundane, simple life and dreams of becoming a successful career woman.

When she is offered the promotion in Shanghai it looks exactly like the opportunity she was looking for.

Ruwei is played by the famed Taiwanese singer, actress and TV host Rainie Yang (杨丞琳 yáng chénglín). She rose to fame through her role in Meteor Garden (the 2001 Taiwanese version not the Chinese 2018 version). Her first leading role was in the popular Taiwanese teen drama The Devil Beside You.

Make sure you look at our list of the best Chinese dramas for learning Chinese!

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Tang Youyan (汤有彦 tāng yǒuyàn)

Our male protagonist is Tang Youyan, who has his whole life carefully planned out.

He is a faithful son to his elderly parents and believes that following your heart is more important than pursuing your career.

He does not have the same aspirations as Ruwei and is happy with a more simple life.

When his father has an accident he feels that it is his duty to stay in Taiwan and help his parents because his sister is already married and living in the US.

Youyan is played by actor Yan Yulun (颜毓麟 yán yùlín). He is relatively new to acting, appearing in his first film in 2012, this was his first ever role in a television series.

Ms Zhang “Sister Zhang” (张姐 zhāng jiě)

Ms Zhang, or “Sister Zhang” as Ruwei calls her, is Zhang’s manager and also her close friend.

She got married very young and regrets not putting her career first, she often urges Ruwei not to make the same mistakes as her.

She believes that if you make too many sacrifices in the name of love it will lead to resentments later on, she always encourages Ruwei to chase her dreams.

Ms Zhang is played by Taiwanese actress Hsieh Ying-xuan (谢盈萱 xiè yíngxuān).

You may recognise her from the film Dear Ex which won her the Best Leading Actress award at the 55th Golden Horse Awards.

Rong Yi Chao “Eason” (容亦超 róng yìchāo)

Rong Yi Chao or “Eason” as he is also known, is only featured in the Plan A story line of Life Plan A and B.

He is Ruwei’s boss in Shanghai and is very clever and charming. Him and Ruwei become close, however not everything about him is as it seems.

Rong Yi Chao is played by American-Taiwanese actor Johnny Lu (路斯明 lù sī míng).

He has been in a number of Taiwanese films and TV series.

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Who is your favorite character？ Comment below and let’s chat it out!

Life Plan A and B – Why it’s Great for Chinese Learners

Life Plan A and B is the perfect option for those who are studying Traditional Chinese, or those who want to learn some Traditional Chinese.

Watching a TV show with traditional Chinese subtitles actually make it a really easy way to learn and get familiar with some traditional characters.

If you don’t know any traditional characters it’s also good if you really want to focus on your listening skills and not focus on the subtitles too much.

I myself learnt some traditional Chinese at university, but as that was quite a few years ago I’ve forgotten quite a bit. However, watching this series really helped me relearn a lot of characters.

As I always say any modern TV shows or films are one of the best ways of learning modern vocab and phrases.

A personal favourite of mine that is used a lot in this show is “真的假的 zhēn de jiǎ de” which is basically a Chinese equivalent of “for real?”.

Another big plus is that as it’s a mini series, only six episodes, it’s not a big commitment like a lot of other Chinese or Taiwanese dramas.

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Life Plan A and B – Useful Vocab

Work Related Vocabulary

• 市场 shìchǎng – Market
• 生产 shēngchǎn – Produce
• 专业 zhuānyè – Profession
• 艺术总监 yìshù zǒngjiān – Art director
• 女强人 nǚ qiángrén – Strong woman
• 升官 shēngguān – Be promoted

• 薪水 xīnshuǐ – Salary
• 赚 zhuàn – Earn
• 作品集 zuòpǐn jí – Portfolio
• 面试 miànshì – Interview
• 组长 zǔ zhǎng – Section head
• 人事部 rénshì bù – Human Resources (HR)

First Episode Vocabulary

• 泡面 pàomiàn – Instant noodles
• 真的假的 zhēn de jiǎ de – For real? (lit. means real or fake)
• 不爽 bùshuǎng – Not well, out of sorts
• 名牌 míngpái – Famous brand
• 追 zhuī – Pursue
• 失望 shīwàng – Lose hope
• 深奥 shēn’ào – Profound

• 领悟 lǐngwù – Comprehend
• 远距离恋爱 yuǎn jùlí liàn’ài – Long distance relationship
• 拜 bài – Worship, to pay respect
• 神 shén – Diety, god
• 变心 biànxīn – Cease to be faithful
• 札哈哈蒂 Zhá hāhā dì – Zaha Hadid (famous architect, she designed the new Daxing Airport in Beijing)
• 定义 dìngyì – Define

• 平凡 píngfán – Ordinary, common
• 笔试 bǐshì – Written exam
• 后悔 hòuhuǐ – Regret
• 浪漫 làngmàn – Romantic
• 撞到 zhuàng dào – Bump into
• 埋怨 mányuàn – Blame
• 方案 fāng’àn – Plan
• 版 bǎn – Edition (used in the show to describe A plan and B plan)
• 妄想 wàngxiǎng – Wishful thinking

Life Plan A and B – Where to Watch

This show is available to watch on Netflix. Anyone who is familiar with our blog will know why this is such a big plus, yes you guessed it: Language Learning with Netflix.

This is actually especially helpful if you’re not familiar with traditional Chinese characters as only the traditional subtitles are available on Netflix. However, the Language Learning with Netflix extension allows you to see the pinyin too.

The series is also available to watch for free on YouTube but it only has traditional Chinese subtitles.

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Life Plan A and B – FAQ’s

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