Ice Fantasy (Chinese: 幻城; pinyin: Huànchéng) is a Chinese epic fantasy television drama based on Guo Jingming's bestselling novel, City of Fantasy. The drama was produced by Shanghai Youhug Media, directed by Ju Jue Liang, and stars Feng Shaofeng, Victoria Song, Ma Tianyu, Zhang Meng and Madina Memet. It was broadcast on Hunan Satellite Television Diamond independent broadcast theater starting 24 July to 10 November 2016 for 62 episodes.^[2]

A 16-episode modern sequel, titled Ice Fantasy Destiny, started airing on Tencent Video on 8 March 2017.^[3]

The release of the last episodes were delayed because of censorship reviews.^[4]

When the second prince of the fire tribe, Xin Jue (Jiang Chao), was mysteriously killed during his visit to the Ice Tribe for Ka Suo's coming-of-age ceremony, the Fire King Huo Yi (Hu Bing) uses this as an excuse to start a second war between the Fire Tribe and Ice Tribe. With their parents captured and older siblings killed, the two remaining Ice Princes Ka Suo (Feng Shaofeng) and Ying Kong Shi (Ma Tianyu) escape to the mortal world and seek help from realm guardian Li Luo (Victoria Song) to help obtain ice crystals from six tribes in order to restore the Ice Wall, so that the Ice Tribe can be saved.

After the Fire Tribe was defeated with the Deicide Sword, Ka Suo reluctantly battles his brother for the throne, but he wants nothing more than the freedom to be with his lover Li Luo.

Ying Kong Shi does everything in his power to take the throne away from Ka Suo, to ensure that Ka Suo has his freedom, while Yan Da (Zhang Meng), the Fire Princess, is willing to give up everything for Shi.

Then, Ka Suo's loved ones all die off one by one under the conspiracies of Yuan Ji (Yan Yikuan) and Lian Ji (Kim Hee-sun), and he is determined to find the legendary "veiled lotus". A war between the Ice and Fire Tribe commences again, with Li Tian Jin joining the Fire Tribe to get his revenge on Ka Suo.

Guo Jingming's novel City of Fantasy sold over 1.5 million copies and ranked second in the bestseller's list.^[38] Since City of Fantasy's release in 2003, there have been plenty of early attempts to produce a movie adaption. However, the attempts failed as many felt that the novel's fictional universe was too complicated and massive to condense into a movie.^[39] The idea of a possible drama adaption of City of Fantasy had been formed since November 2014.

During Ice Fantasy's drama press conference held in August 2015, Hong Kong screenwriter Shen Zhining stated that the plot of the drama would have more stories, conflicts and background information compared to its book counterpart. The history of the tribes and their world's creation had been incorporated into the plot. The Fire Tribe's role in the story would also be expanded.^[40][41] On June 10, 2015, the creation of the script and preparations for filming were finished.^[42]

Academy Award-winning set designer Dan Hennah, who designed the sets for Lord of the Rings, was enlisted to design the sets for the production, which were inspired by the buildings, landscapes and other aspects of ancient China as well as western cultures.^[39][42] One particular set, called the "Endless Sea", was reported have an area size of 7,000 square meters, built using 500 tons of artificial snow.^[43] It had also been reported that about 300 million yuan was invested for the drama's production, with 2 million yuan to create the main palace alone.^[43] Furthermore, more than 100 craftsmen were enlisted to make 6,000 props, with many used in large-scale battle scenes.^[44] Around 70 to 80 percent of post-production was centered around the special effects and CGI.^[45] Youhug stated: "This should be an unprecedented investment in a domestic drama, we also hope to achieve good visual effect as much as possible."^[43]

Guo Jingming acts as the artistic and visual director for the production. Other notable players in production include Dong Cheng Guang as art director, A Ju for make-up guidance, Zhong Jiani as costume and prop designer, and Ma Yucheng as choreographer.^[46] The international visual effects company Pixomondo was also enlisted.^[47][48] Additionally, Boston Symphony Orchestra were also engaged to play the instrumental of the drama's background music.^[49] Shi Xiao Xi, the designer of the production's posters, is also a fan of the novel.^[50]

It was announced that Feng Shaofeng, Victoria Song, Ma Tianyu, and Zhang Meng would play the main characters, Ka Suo, Li Luo, Ying Kong Shi, and Yan Da. Supporting characters were later revealed through character posters that were posted on the drama's official Weibo account.^[46]

This is Feng Shaofeng and Victoria Song's second collaboration, after the Chinese remake of My Best Friend's Wedding.^[51]

On August 12, 2015, Hennah and director Ju Jueliang, who is known for his martial arts films, brainstormed possible designs as well as visited a number of possible locations for filming.^[52] The drama was scheduled to shoot for six months, starting from August 16, 2015. Principal photography filming was held in Beijing, China, with location filming held in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia; Beijing and Hebei's Jinzuan Movie City.^[47][53] Filming finished in late February 2016 after lasting 187 days, and thereafter the drama entered into post-production phase.^[54]

The series received low ratings on Douban where it was criticized for its special effects, acting and storyline.^[55] However, it was a commercial success and has over 16 billion views online.^[56]

The drama was released on July 24, 2016 on Hunan Satellite Television Diamond independent broadcast theater,^[59] with 62 episodes.^[60] Its distribution rights were also bought by Viki globally and jointly by the 7 Chinese video-sharing websites: Tencent, iQiyi, Youku, LeTV, Mango TV, Sohu and PPTV.^[61]

Produced by Youhug Media and Tencent Penguin Pictures, the modern sequel series of Ice Fantasy premiered on March 8 on Tencent Video. The series was directed by Zhou Linjao, and written by Shen Zhining and ran for 16 episodes. Primary cast members Feng Shaofeng, Ma Tianyu, Zhang Meng and Madina Memet starred as new versions of their characters, while Zhang Yuqi replaced Victoria Song, who made occasional appearances via stock footage. Supporting cast members Xu Ke (Xing Jiu) and Cheng Peipei (Feng Tian) reprised their supporting roles, while Chen Xinyu, Huang Deyi, and Lu Zizhen returned in new roles.^[62]

In the year 2020, the CEO of a technology company, Feng Suo, suddenly reclaims the powers of his distant previous incarnation, Ka Suo.

At the same time, he meets Luo Luo, the reincarnation of Kingdom Guardian Li Luo.

The two reignite the love that defined their past lifetimes and undergo a series of adventures.

Tracking them is Ying Kong Shi - the original - and a reincarnation of Yan Da, determined to stop him before his plans for Feng Suo come to fruition.

As the four work towards outrunning their respective destinies, old friends and new enemies emerge to write a new chapter of the Ice and Fire tribes' story.