Chasing Fan Xian Across China: A Real-World Travel Guide to the Filming Locations of Joy of Life (庆余年)
I still remember the exact moment I got hooked. It wasn’t the palace intrigue or the razor-sharp dialogue — it was a single shot of golden canola fields stretching to the horizon, two figures walking through them like they owned the world. I paused the episode, opened a map, and started planning. That’s how Joy of Life (庆余年) turned me into a location pilgrim.
Across two seasons, the production team scattered their cameras from the futuristic libraries of Tianjin to the ancient city walls of Xiangyang, from the karst stone forests of Yunnan to the Tang Dynasty grandeur of Guizhou’s studio cities. This is the guide I wish I’d had before I went.
1. Tianjin Binhai Library — Where the Story Begins
The opening sequence of Joy of Life drops you inside a space that looks like it was designed by a civilization a thousand years ahead of ours. That’s not CGI. That’s the Tianjin Binhai New Area Cultural Center Library, designed by Dutch architecture firm MVRDV, and it is every bit as surreal in person as it is on screen.
Floor-to-ceiling cascading bookshelves wrap around a glowing spherical auditorium at the center. The effect is somewhere between a cathedral and a spaceship. When the drama used it as a framing device for Fan Xian’s “future memory,” the choice made perfect sense — nothing in China looks quite like this.
Practical tip: Entry is free, but you need to book in advance by scanning the QR code at the entrance. Weekday mornings are your best bet — by noon on weekends, the atrium fills up fast and the light gets harsh for photos. The library is in Binhai New Area, about 45 minutes from central Tianjin by metro (Line 9 to Tanggu, then a short taxi)
2. Luoping County, Yunnan — The Golden Fields and the Waterfalls
Two of the drama’s most visually arresting scenes were shot in Luoping County in Yunnan Province, and they couldn’t be more different in mood.
The Canola Fields
The scene where Fan Xian and Lin Wan’er share their first kiss was filmed in Luoping’s famous rapeseed flower fields — hundreds of acres of electric yellow that roll across the valley like a slow tide. In person, the scale is almost disorienting. You walk in and the world turns gold.
The fields bloom from February through April. If you’re planning a trip specifically for this, aim for mid-March when the color is at its peak. Early morning light is the move — the tour buses arrive around 9 AM and the paths get crowded quickly.
Jiulong Waterfalls
A short drive from the canola fields, the Jiulong (Nine Dragon) Waterfalls served as the dramatic backdrop for several outdoor chase and confrontation sequences. Ten cascades drop across a 4-kilometer stretch, with the largest falls plunging nearly 200 meters. In winter and spring, mist hangs in the gorge and, on clear days, you’ll catch rainbows rising off the spray.
Practical tip: Budget two full days in Luoping — one for the fields, one for the waterfalls. The county is accessible by high-speed rail from Kunming (about 1.5 hours). Accommodation options are limited, so book ahead during peak bloom season.
3. Shilin Geopark (Stone Forest), Yunnan — The Ancient Labyrinth
About 90 minutes by car from Kunming, the Shilin Yi Autonomous County Stone Forest is one of those places that makes you feel like you’ve walked into a different planet. Hundreds of towering limestone pillars — some reaching 30 meters — rise from the earth in formations that shift and change as you move through them. The production team used this landscape for several of the drama’s more otherworldly exterior scenes.
Shilin is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of China’s most visited natural attractions, which means crowds are a real consideration. The main scenic area gets packed by mid-morning. If you arrive at opening time (around 7:30 AM) and head straight to the inner forest sections, you’ll have the stone corridors largely to yourself for the first hour.
Practical tip: Combine Shilin with a Luoping trip — they’re both in eastern Yunnan and make a logical circuit. From Kunming, take the high-speed train to Luoping first, then loop back through Shilin before flying out.
4. Duyun Qin and Han Studio City, Guizhou — The Imperial Capital
The sprawling palace sequences, the court intrigue, the narrow alleyways of the capital city Jingdou — much of this was built and filmed at Duyun Qin and Han Studio City in Guizhou Province. This is one of China’s three major film and television production bases, and it shares the honor of hosting both Joy of Life and The Untamed.
Unlike some studio cities that feel like theme parks, Duyun has a certain rawness to it — the sets are built for cameras, not tourists, which means the architecture feels genuinely cinematic rather than sanitized. Walking through the reconstructed Han Dynasty streets, you can almost hear the production crew calling action.
Practical tip: Duyun is in southwest Guizhou, accessible by high-speed rail from Guiyang (about 40 minutes). The studio city is in the Duyun Economic Development Zone — take a taxi from the station. Check opening hours in advance as they vary by season.
5. Xiangshan Film and Television City, Ningbo, Zhejiang — Season 1 Street Scenes
For the street-level scenes of the capital — the markets, the teahouses, the narrow lanes where Fan Xian navigates his way through the city’s underworld — the production used Ningbo Xiangshan Film and Television City in Zhejiang Province. This is one of China’s most active studio locations, having hosted dozens of major period dramas.
The sets here are more polished and tourist-friendly than Duyun, with regular visiting hours and guided tours. If you’re a serious drama location hunter, it’s worth a half-day stop on a broader Zhejiang itinerary that might also include Hangzhou or Ningbo’s old town.
6. Xiangyang, Hubei — Season 2’s Tang Dynasty Grandeur
Season 2 of Joy of Life introduced a new visual register — grander, more imperial, more Tang Dynasty in its aesthetic. The production found its home in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, a city with over 2,800 years of history and one of China’s most impressive ancient city walls.
China Tang City (中国唐城)
The largest imitation Tang Dynasty architectural complex in China, China Tang City served as the primary set for Season 2’s palace and city sequences. The complex integrates film production facilities with a tourism experience — you can rent Hanfu costumes (budget around 120–150 RMB for makeup and dress), walk the same streets Fan Xian walked, and catch live performances that run throughout the day and evening.
The recommended route through the complex: Mingde Gate → Zhuque Gate → Ximing Temple → West Market → East Market → Hongqiao → Hu Yulou → Jiannan Bieye. The night session (from 5 PM) is genuinely spectacular — the light shows and water performances transform the space entirely.
Xiangyang Ancient City
Beyond the studio complex, the Xiangyang Ancient City walls — largely intact from the Ming Dynasty — offer a more authentic historical experience. Walking the walls at dusk, with the Han River below and the old city spreading out around you, is one of those travel moments that doesn’t need a drama to justify it.
Practical tip: Xiangyang is well-connected by high-speed rail — about 2 hours from Wuhan, 3.5 hours from Beijing. In the city, buses No. 1 and No. 13 run directly to Tang City. For food, don’t leave without trying the local beef noodles and Nanzhang lard cake.
Planning Your Joy of Life Pilgrimage
The locations span five provinces — Tianjin, Yunnan, Guizhou, Zhejiang, and Hubei — so this isn’t a single-destination trip. The most logical approach is to build it around two separate circuits:
Circuit 1 — Yunnan + Guizhou: Fly into Kunming, spend two days in Luoping (canola fields + waterfalls), visit Shilin Stone Forest on the way back, then take the high-speed train to Guiyang and connect to Duyun. Allow 6–7 days total.
Circuit 2 — Tianjin + Xiangyang + Ningbo: Start in Tianjin for the Binhai Library, then high-speed train south to Xiangyang for Tang City and the ancient walls, then east to Ningbo for Xiangshan Film City. Allow 5–6 days.
The best time to do Circuit 1 is February through April, when the Luoping canola fields are in bloom. Circuit 2 works well year-round, though Xiangyang is particularly beautiful in autumn.
Fan Xian spent his whole life navigating a world that was trying to kill him, and he still found time to appreciate the view. The least we can do is follow his footsteps.