Jin Mao Xiang is a Chinese television series first broadcast on CCTV in China in 2004. It was produced in collaboration by a number of companies, including the Communication University of China. Cnmdb.com. "Cnmdb ." 金茂祥 (2005)制作发行公司. Retrieved on 2008-11-09. The series was aired on ATV in 2009 in Hong Kong under the title Yunzhuan Tianxia (運轉天下; literally: "Luck Changes the World"). HKATV. "HKATV." 金茂祥. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.

Story The story begins with the Che family business in the Qing Dynasty. The head of the business was mother Yugui. She had fixed her daughter Jiaoyan's marriage so that she end up with someone who was more financially stable. The daughter however was extremely unhappy since the fixed husband was fat and unattractive. The daughter was actually in love with the poor coolie boy A'long. However society would not allow a girl of reputable social status to marry a boy of low social status. The oldest brother of the family Che Weiren later committed a murder. He has been spoiled by the family riches. When the government was looking for the murderer, the coolie boy A'long innocently admitted to the crime so the brother didn't have to go to prison.

Eventually the house got weak in morale. A fisherman named Gao Lixiang came in to help the Che family business. At first he was looked down upon due to his low society status. Soon he figured out how to dye clothes. He single handed won an imperial clothing competition by making through the obstacle course with his dyed clothes. The Che family was surprised that a simple fisherman could beat the business.

Then one day a major fire broke out in a restaurant and Lixiang saved a daughter and a westerner from the crisis. The daughter turned out to be from the competing Wang family business. She tried to lure him into their family claiming the Che family treats him unfairly. After a number of business competitions he was gaining more respect in the Che family. Eventually the siblings got jealous and tried to get Lixiang kicked out of the household. Eventually the mother made Lixiang the head of the business, since he was most capable.

Eventually the business was in trouble from all the competition. But the westerner who was saved in the fire came back with a bunch of goods from the west such as magnifying glass and music boxes. They started selling western goods and the business improved again, since no one else have seen these merchandise. Later the family went into a feud between the oldest son Che Weiren and Lixiang. In setting Lixiang up, the oldest son killed an outsider, Bai Biao, who later turned out to be his own genetic father.

After a number of twists Lixiang was promoted to be the chairman of the business association above all businesses, but he was put in the chairman position because the government official liked his former fiancée Yang Danping. The oldest brother in the family soon developed a deep jealousy over the Lixiang's success who now owns his family business, his girlfriend Xu Xiaoman and his mother's trust. He sank into depression with opium addictions, and was later bribed by a government official to sell out his whole family business in exchange for unlimited opium. The mother of the family ended up in prison having been set up by the government officials. But her kids did not stand by her since they experienced too much hardship during their childhood. Lixiang ended up rescuing the family business, but soon finds the business to be unmanageable. Worse is that the mother who ran the business indirectly murdered his parents earlier. The story experience more twists and turns eventually to include the death of Qing government officials.

Cast Cast Role DescriptionEric Wang Gao Lixiang高立翔 Main character. Capable, strong individually, despite being born from a poor background. He constantly insist that luck is always on his side.Li Xiaoran Xu Xiaoman徐小曼 Financially well off Christian missionary girl. Understood westerners. He also liked Lixiang.Gao Yuan Che Yugui车玉贵 Mother of the Che family. Head of the household and business.Tammy Chen Yang Danping杨丹萍 Taiwan actress. She was interested in Lixiang.Shen Xiaohai Che Weiren车维仁 Was the oldest and most unwanted son in the family. Became unhappy and depressed since he was constantly useless in the family business.Yu Rongguang Bai Biao白彪 Turned out to be the real father of Che Weiren.Zhao Liang Xu Zhanhong徐展鸿 Tao Huimin Gao Baomei高宝妹 Was the true mother of Lixiang. Was later poisoned to death.Lei Kesheng Father Che车老爷 Head of the Che familyKym Ng Wang Qiang王蔷 Wang Yixuan Che Jiaoyan车娇艳 Daughter of the Che familyXing Minshan He Yilong贺奕龙 The honorable government official who was later set up to be killed by corrupted government officials.Yue Yueli Qu Yunting曲云亭 Father of LixiangQin Yan Wang Siyuan王思远 Dong Yang Che Weide车维德 The youngest son of the Che family who loved Yingzi. He became mentally ill.Lin Jieni Yingzi / Hua Ruxiu英子 / 花如秀 The girl who was neglected by the Che family and died earlier. Another girl Hua Ruxiu later came back to the Che family, and looked identical to the girl who died earlier. The mother of the family thought she was haunted by a ghost.Li Ming Chang Feng常峰 Yang Sheng Lu Qiankun陆乾坤 Zhang Qi Chen Haoliang陈浩良 Tie He A'long阿龙 He confessed to crime he didn't commit and went to prison for the oldest son of the Che family. Because of this he went from low coolie social status to high rank in the family, once he was released from prison.Gao Sen Yang Bo杨波 Fang Xiaoyue Zhou Wei周薇 Liu Fang Li Jinhao李金好 Zhou Yulai Du老杜 Han Zhenhua Yu Sihai于四海 Mi Yang Che Yulan车玉兰 Zhang Jiajun Master Zhou周大人 Zhang Wenyi Master Qi齐大人 Liu Xinyi Qu Xiaowu曲孝伍 Meng Long Master师爷 Zhao Le Wuzhen district government official Zhang Guoqing District grandfather Xiaohei Zhou sing周兴 Song Qing Jia Hong贾宏 Qian Kun Panther黑豹 Cheng Zhi Wolf野狼 Daqiao Gordon高登 Western merchant who sought fortune Sina.com. "Sina." 资料：40集电视剧 (商道) 演职人员名单. Retrieved on 2008-11-09.

Cuisine reference

The show featured a dish called Squirrel whole jumping fish (松鼠活魚) from Wuzhen. The fish is cooked in a rather cruel way where the head is alive while the body is fried. If cooked correctly however, the mouth continues to move/talk even after the dish is finished. It does not contain any squirrel contrary to the name.

References