Nothing But Thirty 💍 3 Women, 3 Very Different Stories

Nothing But Thirty: China Hit Drama (in 2020)

艺术来源于生活而高于生活
yìshù láiyuán yú shēnghuó ér gāo yú shēnghuó
Art comes from life and goes beyond it

We’ve got a brand new Chinese TV Show to recommend to you today. The show is really popular, so let’s find out why.

It is called 三十而已 sānshí éryǐ – Nothing But Thirty in English.

Nothing But Thirty: Brief Introduction

Nothing But Thirty: Main Characters

Nothing But Thirty: Brand Mishil Bag

Nothing But Thirty: Vocabulary For You

Nothing But Thirty: Where To Watch

Nothing But Thirty: Independent Women

Nothing But Thirty: FAQ’s

If you want to discover other amazing Chinese Drama’s out right now, here’s about favourites…

Nothing But Thirty: Brief Introduction

Nothing But Thirty tells the various crises and perplexities faced by three women at the age of 30, and records their resilience and growth.

It unfolds from the perspective of three 30-year-old urban women, discussing the plight of women at this age in their work and life.

Three women, with different personal backgrounds and different living environments, represent three different classes, and also represent groups of women in the three states of unmarried and childless, married and childless, and married and childbearing.

Although the show also includes clichés, it still shows the way they view and treat life at the age of 30…

Facing a life full of challenges, they do not compromise, do not get discouraged, and live for themselves.

The refreshing point in the show lies in the pleasure of quick counterattacks.

Different lives, the same persistence, the encounters of the three women in the show are based on different urban female models to seek resonance with people in reality.

Iron Ladies (2018) // The Perfect Taiwanese Drama For Chinese Learners

Iron Ladies (姊的時代 zǐ de shídài) is a 2018 Taiwanese drama about three successful career women in their 30s.

Nothing But Thirty: Main Characters

• Gu Jia 顾佳 gùjiā , her name sounds like 顾家 gùjiā.

顾 means to take care of, 家 means home or family.

She is the enviable upper level of the pyramid.

Having both high IQ and EQ (emotional intelligence), she transformed her husband from a firework programmer to “General Xu” – the company’s CEO, and she also made herself a full-time housewife of the top inside and outside.

However, when another girl comes between her and her husband what will Gu Jia do?

Will she divorce her husband or will she try and save her marriage?

There is a strange phenomenon among Chinese women. After they get married, their focus will shift to the family, wanting a relaxed job, or even giving up work and concentrating on being a full-time housewife instead.

Here is another great show from the same actor of Gu Jia, it’s called Get Married or Not.

Get Married or Not 💒 Get to Know the Popular Concepts of Marriage in China

Get Married or Not drama is a Chinese TV show released in 2020. The Chinese name is called 谁说我结不了婚 shuíshuō wǒ jiébùliǎo hūn – find out more about it here.

• Wang Manni 王漫妮 wángmànnī, sounds like “want money” in English.

She is a maverick rebel, convinced that she has both good looks and brains and is always worthy of better.

However, she also has her own worries.

You might be jealous that she worked as a senior salesperson in a luxury designer store called Mishil and earned a lot of money.

However, she had been in Shanghai for 8 years and had no house, no car and no boyfriend.

The rent accounted for half of her salary. Facing being 30 years old, her life is still unstable.

There are more and more women like Wang Manni in China. Working hard in the cities, trying to be independent, wanting to change the traditional thinking of…
干得好不如嫁得好
gàn dé hǎo bùrú jià dé hǎo
Meaning – marrying a good husband is better than having a good job.

• Zhong Xiaoqin 钟晓芹 zhōngxiǎoqín represents that standard life of most Chinese women.

Her husband is a public servant and she has an ordinary job and can be an ordinary wife with peace of mind.

In her spare time she writes novels as a hobby, but then is offered a huge sum of money by a book company to publish her work.

The status between the couple changes overnight.

The new relationship of a strong woman now married to a weaker man throws everything out of balance.

When you see Zhong Xiaoqin, you might see yourself when you first entered to working society after graduating. An ordinary job, meeting all the needs of colleagues, not knowing how to refuse, always wanting to please others, living in a daze and lazily moving through life, not struggling but also not having any ambition.

Leave us a comment on which character you like best.

Nothing But Thirty: Brand Mishil Bag

Every episode of the TV series aroused various discussions as soon as it was broadcast.

The most talked about is that Gu Jia desperately squeezed into the class of the rich wives for the career of her son and husband…

顾佳买包 gù jiā mǎi bāo: Gu Jia bought a bag.

That made many people see the cruelty of reality. As for 30-year-old women, society seems to be not treating them well, and all kinds of troubles continue.

When Gu Jia took her Chanel bag to a party for the first time, they took pictures together, but she was cut off when the wives posted to their Moments (like a Facebook wall for example).

It turns out that the bag she treasures however, in the eyes of rich wives, is not worthy in their class at all.

In order to let the wives truly accept her, Gu Jia asked Wang Manni, the girl who worked in the luxury shop called Mishil to buy a limited edition Hermès bag, that costs all her savings.

Finally Gu Jia carried her bag, attracting the attention of the wives.

How much the bag in Mishil Gu Jia bought?

Roughly 350,000 Yuan (about 50,000USD)!

It is not just about money, it is a Hermès limited edition that even with money is still hard to buy.

We usually say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but maybe people in certain classes just like to judge you by what you wear or carry.

Nothing But Thirty: Vocab For You

• 全职妈妈 quánzhí māmā – Full time housewife
• 搬家 bānjiā – To move
• 房租涨价 fángzū zhǎng jià – Rent increases
• 物质 wùzhí – All your possessions
• 圈子 quānzi – Certain class
• 潜规则 qián guīzé – Unspoken rules in workplace
• 不将就 bù jiāng jiù – Okay is not enough
• 恨嫁 hèn jià – Desperate to get married
• 第三者 dì sān zhě – The person who breaks up someone else’s marriage

Please pay attention that 恨嫁 which doesn’t mean hate marriage (despite the fact the first character actually means hate).

It actually means really wanting to get married.

Nothing But Thirty: Where To Watch

The show was released in 2020 and the setting is in Shanghai.

It has 43 episodes with each lasting 45 minutes.

Search for the name and you can have a look on YouTube to watch it for free with English subtitles.

Check our blog about the best accounts to learn Chinese on YouTube plus some other accounts we absolutely love at LTL!

Chinese YouTube Channels 😂 15 Fantastic & Funny Accounts To Follow

Here are 15 Fantastic & Funny Chinese YouTube Channels (for 2021). These are must follow channels we absolutely love watching daily.

Nothing But Thirty: Independent Women

Polygamy existed in China for more than 3000 years.

It started from the Zhou dynasty. It was abolished in 1912, so has only been abolished for around 100 years now.

Women were told 三从四德 sāncóngsìdé which means three obediences and four virtues.

The 三从 (three obediences) are

• 未嫁从父 wèi jià cóng fù
• 既嫁从夫 jì jià cóng fū
• 夫死从子 fū sǐ còng zǐ

Which translate to:

• If you are not married yet, you must obey your father
• If you are married, you must obey your husband
• If your husband dies, you must obey your son

You can see what a woman’s status is from that.

The 四德 (four virtues) are about how women should behave well to better serve 三从.

Today, some women still have the traditional idea that they need to focus on their husband and children. Some women are trying to be strong in work and have their own choice about being single or not.

There is no standard answer to life, but growing up, cherishing yourself and cherishing life, can be a common goal for all of us.

The idea of women need to be independent is becoming more and more acceptable and popular now.

So, what’s your impression of Chinese women? What do you think about the show Nothing but Thirty?

Leave us a comment below and let’s talk about it!

Nothing But Thirty: FAQ’s

Edited by Katie Coy and Max Hobbs

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