Romance in the Rain is a 2001 Chinese television historical drama made together by Yi Ren Communications Company (怡人傳播有限公司) in Taiwan and China International Television Corporation (中国国际电视总公司) in mainland China. The show was based on Chiung Yao’s 1964 novel Fire and Rain (and a 1986 version called Lovers Under the Rain), but the story’s setting was changed from 1960s Taipei to 1930s Shanghai. The series was filmed in Shanghai in 2000 and first shown in Taiwan on China Television in April 2001.

The drama features actors Zhao Wei, Ruby Lin, Leo Ku, and Alec Su. Zhao, Lin, and Su previously worked together on the popular 1998–1999 television series My Fair Princess. Romance in the Rain became widely popular in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Characters

• Lu Yiping (陸依萍/陆依萍), played by Zhao Wei

Lu Yiping is the main character in Romance in the Rain. She is one of the children of Lu Zhenhua, a retired general who had nine wives. Her mother, Fu Wenpei, is the general’s eighth wife. Yiping and her mother were sent away from the Lu household because of the actions of Lu Zhenhua’s ninth wife, Wang Xueqin. Yiping has ten half-sisters, including Ruping and Mengping, many half-brothers, including Erhao, and one stepbrother named Erjie. Her father and stepmother treated her unfairly, making her resent the Lu family, which she calls the “other side.” At first, she was angry with her half-brother Erhao and half-sister Ruping, but later she learned to accept them as her family. She has an older full sister named Xinping, who died seven years before the story began at age 15. Yiping meets a reporter named He Shuhuan at a nightclub in Shanghai. Shuhuan is drawn to Yiping’s singing talent and emotional depth. After learning that Ruping loves Shuhuan, Yiping tries to win his love, partly as revenge (as Shuhuan reads her diary), but she truly loves him. Her love for Shuhuan helps her forgive her father. After her father’s death, Yiping becomes the only one supporting the Lu family financially because Erhao joins the army. Yiping is loud and direct, with a strong sense of justice because of the hardships she and her mother faced. She often compares herself to a porcupine that grew spines to protect itself. To show her love for Shuhuan, she removes her spines one by one, leaving her vulnerable and hurt.

• Lu Ruping (陸如萍/陆如萍), played by Ruby Lin

Lu Ruping is the daughter of Lu Zhenhua and Wang Xueqin, making her Yiping’s half-sister. She is the full sister of Erhao and Mengping and the half-sister of Erjie from her mother’s side. Her mother, Xueqin, is Lu Zhenhua’s ninth and final wife. Ruping is kind and comes from a wealthy family, but unlike others in her family, she does not treat Yiping unfairly. She sometimes feels angry or jealous but always puts others’ needs before her own. Ruping’s first love interest is He Shuhuan, whom she meets after helping him guard some negatives. She also meets Du Fei, Shuhuan’s coworker, who falls in love with her. During the story, Ruping faces many problems, including Shuhuan leaving their engagement, her mother being found guilty of cheating and stealing, and being blamed for losing the Lu family’s money. She runs away from home with her father’s gun to commit suicide but decides to join the Red Cross instead, becoming a battlefield nurse. While working, she realizes that Du Fei is her true love. They meet again and have a “battlefield wedding,” working together until the war ends.

• He Shuhuan (何書桓/何书桓), played by Leo Ku

He Shuhuan is a reporter from Nanjing. He is friends with Lu Erhao and Du Fei and is the love interest of Lu Yiping and Lu Ruping. He has romantic feelings for Yiping but sees Ruping as a close friend. At first, everyone assumes he and Ruping will be together, especially Xueqin, who encourages Ruping to pursue him. Despite arguments and switching between Yiping and Ruping, Shuhuan remains loyal to Yiping. After reading Yiping’s diary and learning she only loved him to get revenge on her family, he breaks up with her. Later, he becomes engaged to Ruping but leaves her during the engagement party to be with Yiping. He eventually realizes Yiping truly loves him and promises to never break her heart again. At the end of the story, Shuhuan goes to fight in the war between Japan and China, leaving Yiping to wait for him. In the final episode, Yiping finds him in China, and Shuhuan tells her, “I love you” many times before kissing her.

• Du Fei (杜飛/杜飞), played by Alec Su

Du Fei is a reporter like Shuhuan. He deeply loves Ruping, but she tries to refuse his feelings. He is kind and helps others but can be clumsy. During the war between Japan and China, Du Fei searches for Ruping on the battlefield. After years of searching, he finds her and learns she loves him. They marry.

• Lu Erhao (陸爾豪/陆尔豪), played by Gao Xin

Lu Erhao is the son of Lu Zhenhua and Xueqin. He is the brother of Ruping and Mengping and the half-brother of Yiping and Erjie. He is the love interest of Yiping’s best friend, Fang Yu. His relationship with Fang Yu becomes complicated when he learns that his childhood love, Keyun, had a child with him and is now mentally disabled. At first, Erhao hated Yiping but tried to be friends with her for Fang Yu’s sake. Over time, he stopped hating Yiping and accepted her as his sister. Later, he joins the army, leaving Fang Yu waiting for him.

• Fang Yu (方瑜), played by Li Yu

Fang Yu is Yiping’s best friend and falls in love with Yiping’s half-brother, Erhao. Yiping initially opposes their relationship, especially after learning about Keyun, but Fang Yu continues to love Erhao despite the challenges.

• Li Keyun (李可雲/李可云), played by Xu Lu

Li Keyun is the daughter of Li Zhengde and Li Yuzhen. She had a childhood romance with Erhao, which led to a pregnancy. She did not tell Erhao about the baby. After the baby’s death, Keyun developed a mental illness. Throughout the story, Yiping, Shuhuan, Erhao, Ruping, Du Fei, and Fang Yu try to help Keyun recover her memory. Keyun improves when she sees a baby without a mother during the war and decides to care for him.

• Lu Zhenhua (陸振華/陆振华), played by Kou Zhenhai (Episode 01–45) Deceased

Lu Zhenhua is Yiping’s father, a retired general who had nine wives. He lost interest in all of them after a tragic romance with a woman named Ping

International broadcast

• Taiwan — China Television (April 2001)
• Hong Kong — TVB (May 2001)
• South Korea — Gyeongin Broadcasting iTV (May 2001, as 안개비연가)
• China — China Central Television (September 2001)
• Singapore — Singapore Cable Vision (September 2001)
• Malaysia — RTM TV2 (December 2002)
• Vietnam — VTV3 (November 2001, as Tân dòng sông ly biệt)
• Indonesia — Indosiar (March 2002, as Kabut Cinta)
• Thailand — Channel 3 (2007, as มนต์รักในสายฝน)
• Philippines — Radio Philippines Network (January 2007), SolarFlix (2023, as A Kiss in the Rain)
• In mainland China, the series had the highest ratings of the year, with an average rating of 12% and the highest episode rating of 20%. (Source: AGB Nielsen) This was the first television series made together by China International Television Corporation and Taiwan.