Beer and fried chicken — this seemingly unorthodox combo has been the most sought after late-night snack recently in Yang Xiaoqian’s dormitory on the campus of Central China Normal University.

炸鸡和啤酒，这个看似怪异的搭配，最近竟成了华中师范大学学生杨晓青（音译）宿舍里最受追捧的夜宵。

“All of a sudden, on the tables of many dorms and in Weibo and Weixin (or WeChat) updates, the combo went viral,” says Yang, 19, a Chinese literature major at the university in Wuhan, Hubei province.

“突然间，宿舍的桌上、微博和微信上，这种吃法一下子火了。”华中师范大学中文系学生、19岁的杨晓青这样说道。

Thanks to a South Korean drama currently on air, Man From the Stars, this new mix-and-match junk food trend has become popular among young audiences, despite its unhealthy nature.

因为正在热播的韩剧《来自星星的你》的关系，这一垃圾食品的全新混搭组合尽管有害健康，但还是受到年轻观众的追捧。

Indeed, South Korean TV dramas, or K-drama for short, have been a major force in the South Korean pop-culture wave that has captured the hearts of young Chinese audiences.

的确，韩国电视剧（简称：韩剧），已成为推动韩国流行文化潮流的主力军，成功虏获了中国年轻观众的心。

According to iQiyi, a video website that features Man From the Stars, by Feb 15, the number of views for the TV drama hit a whopping 370 million in China, where the drama claimed four out of five hot topics spots on TV and on Sina Weibo on the same day.

来自播放《来自星星的你》的视频网站爱奇艺的数据显示，截止到2月15日，该剧在国内的累计播放量达到3.7亿次，与此同时，电视和新浪微博上五分之四的热点话题都被该剧占据。

Yan Feng, professor of Chinese literature at Fudan University, in an interview with Shanghai Morning Post, believes the new wave of South Korean drama is trying to attract a wider audience.

复旦大学中文系教授严峰在接受《新闻晨报》采访时表示，新一轮的韩剧风潮正在吸引更多的观众群体。

“It is interesting to explore what elements of those dramas appeal to audiences. It’s obviously more than just pretty faces and cool poses,” says Yan.

严峰表示，“探寻这些韩剧走红的因素是个有趣的过程。显然，韩剧的背后不仅仅是俊男美女和帅气造型”。

Echoed by audiences, culture critics, academics and insiders of the industry, youth fantasy, creative storylines, cultural proximity¹, and well-organized production all add up to K-drama’s recipe for success, along with, of course, those handsome and cute faces dressed in the latest fashion trends.

从观众、文化评论家、学者以及业内人士的口中我们可以了解到，青春幻想、创意剧情、文化相似以及制作精良都是韩剧的成功秘诀，当然，更少不了衣着时尚光鲜的俊男美女。

Pretty faces and fashion

俊男美女与时尚的组合

“Everyone fancies a perfect partner, handsome or beautiful,” says Zhou Ying, professor of TV production at Chongqing Technology and Business University. “The South Korean TV industry is feeding this need.” After Lee Min-ho entered the spotlight² for his hit show The Inheritors and appeared on CCTV’s annual Spring Festival gala, he became the most famous South Korean in China. Only weeks later, Kim Soo-hyun, lead actor in Man From the Stars, swept the country.

来自重庆工商大学影视制作专业的周颖（音译）教授说：“每个人都幻想着完美的另一半，希望TA是俊男或美女。韩国电视产业正是满足人们的这一需求。”韩星李敏镐因热门剧集《继承者们》而大放异彩后，又现身央视春晚的舞台。如今他已成为中国最知名的韩星。而仅仅几周之后，《来自星星的你》主演金秀贤再次风靡中国。

“It reinforces the fantasy among young people with faces designed for viewers across the spectrum³: the next door girl; the rebellious⁴, sophisticated woman; the mature gentleman; little-brother faces. You name it,” says Zhou. “Idol⁵ making keeps updating the fantasies among fans and it intentionally⁶ caters⁷ to each generation’s tastes.”

“剧中的人物满足了不同观众群的审美需求，从而进一步迎合年轻人心中的浪漫情节：邻家女孩；精干熟女；成熟绅士；正太面孔，总有一款适合你”，周颖说。“偶像制造不断刷新着粉丝们的幻想，同时也刻意迎合着每一代人的喜好。”

Apart from pretty faces, fashion is another highlight of the series. Each time actors from the series wear a new set of outfits⁸, similar clothes experience a sales spike⁹ online, according to Xiao Yi, a Taobao store owner based in Beijing.

除了俊俏的面孔外，时尚是该剧的另一个亮点。演员每次出场都如同“换装秀”。来自北京的淘宝店主肖逸（音译）表示，同款衣服在网上十分热销。

Zhou says that besides economic gains for South Korean appliances, make-up, food and fashion items, those pretty faces are re-constructing South Korea’s national image.

周颖认为，一方面韩剧带动了韩国家电、化妆品、食品和时尚用品的热销；另一方面，俊男美女们也重塑了韩国的国民形象。

“South Korea is imagined in accordance with those depictions in TV dramas, which is good national branding,” says Zhou.

“人们会根据电视剧里的描写来设想韩国，这是很好的国家品牌宣传。”周颖说。

Creative narrations¹⁰

创造性的剧情

With love triangles, incurable¹¹ diseases, and Cinderella tales, storylines in South Korean dramas may seem a bit commonplace. The Man From the Stars challenges this norm by integrating aliens and time travel into these existing narrations.

三角恋、绝症、灰姑娘，这些韩剧剧情似乎显得太过老套了。而《来自星星的你》将外星人和穿越融入到剧情当中，颠覆了韩剧剧情的定式。

Peng Sanyuan, a Beijing-based screenwriter, says a focus on detail is a key factor in the success of these dramas.

来自北京的剧作家彭三源表示，专注细节是这些剧集成功的关键因素。

“In order to accurately¹² target audiences and find emotional resonance¹³ with them, more and more female writers are emerging in the industry,” says Peng about her experience of exchanging ideas with South Korean colleagues.

彭三源谈起自己曾与韩国同事交流想法：“为准确定位观众，找到与观众的情感共鸣，电视编剧行业不断涌现出女性作家的身影。”

Ma Ke, from Sohu.com, compares K-drama and Japanese drama. “Dramatic twists are more frequent in K-dramas, while urban love stories, a common theme, are often innovated¹⁴ by, for example, adding an alien,” says Ma. “That gives a sense of freshness to people who just want to know how everything is sorted out in such an impossible plot.”

来自搜狐网的马可（音译）对韩剧和日剧进行了一番比较。“峰回路转的剧情在韩剧中更常见，而都市爱情故事这个‘老生常谈’要想出新的话，就可能会加入外星人等元素，”马可说。“这给人一种新鲜感，观众仅仅是想知道在如此不可思议的情境下剧情是如何发展的。”

According to both experts, South Korean writers somehow make sense of these plots, no matter how unlikely it seems.

以上两位专业人士都认为，韩国编剧总是有办法让这些看似离谱的剧情变得合情合理。