Michelle Topham 
As I have said in the past, Chinese production companies go all out when it comes to promoting their dramas. Whether it is dramas that will be premiering soon, or those that are ongoing and very successful.
Look at this absolutely gorgeous and completely enormous This Thriving Land advertisement put up by iQIYI that is currently being seen by millions of people in Chongqing, China.
The This Thriving Land visuals appear on what is known as the “Light of Asia” LED screen in the Guanyinqiao business district of Chongqing, and can be seen on two adjacent sides of an enormous building located on a corner lot.
The first side has a static This Thriving Land poster, while the second side features constantly changing 3D scenes from the drama.
And just in case you want to know how big the billboard is, according to Chinese LED screen manufacturer Obvious, it is 3,788 square meters.
That makes it 2.3 times bigger than the large screen in New York’s Times Square. Enormous, eh?
iQIYI promoted the This Thriving Land visuals this week for their Chinese viewers with these photographs, along with a comment about the billboard’s location, so that people can head there to take photographs of it:
#This Thriving Land# #iQIYI Pride# is back with yet another exciting upgrade, making a grand appearance at the “Light of Asia” landmark in Guanyinqiao, Chongqing!
Come join Ning Xiuxiu (played by Yang Mi), Feng Dajiao (Ou Hao), Ning Xuexiang (Ni Da Hong), Fei Zuoshi (Qin Hai Lu), Ning Susu (Xing Fei), Fei Wendian (Zhang Tian Yang), Feng Er (Lin Yong Jian), and Yinzi (Lan Ying Ying) for an offline meet-and-greet photo opportunity.
Soak in the grounded energy of the land and witness the harvest from spring to autumn~
Three episodes air back-to-back every night without break. Tune in at 19:30 to iQIYI’s “Everyone Theater” – now streaming!
Unfortunately, like several recent iQIYI dramas international viewers were looking forward to watching this year, This Thriving Land is not streaming on iQIYI international in the U.S.
Instead, even if you have an iQIYI membership, you will have to pay an extra membership on iQIYI’s YouTube channel if you want to watch each episode as it drops in China.
If not, you can watch it for free on iQIYI’s YouTube channel, but with episodes dropping days later than for premium subscribers. (ie: The drama is only currently available up to Episode 14 for free-to-watch viewers, while those who pay a monthly subscription now have access up to Episode 19).
A real shame that iQIYI seems to be doing this more and more with their newer dramas.
That’s also probably one reason why This Thriving Land has not been as popular with international viewers as it is in China where it is currently breaking all kinds of records.
Update: I am happy to tell you This Thriving Land is available on iQIYI for VIP subscribers, it was just delayed for a couple of days before release.
Meanwhile, if you are interested in the Chinese village-themed life drama, I am currently 11 episodes in and can honestly say it is one of the best C-dramas I have watched all year.
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