The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung (新楚留香) is 2001 wuxia series. I think its a joint TVB and CTS production, but the majority of the cast is from Hong Kong. The series stars Richie Ren as Chu Liu Xiang. There very few characters that show up in all the story arcs. But among the supporting cast are Ruby Lin, Gigi Lai, Anita Yuen, Kristy Yang, and Dicky Cheung.
The version I watched was 40 episodes long and had 4 main story arcs. Most of the story arcs run 10 episodes and there's a clear change of direction with the 3rd and 4th story arcs.
The first story arc introduces us Chu Liu Xiang as an expert thief. Nothing is untouchable for this guy. Including the hearts of women! When he is taught 小李飛刀 to go along with his expert thief skills. This now makes him a very formidable opponent. It is also during this arc that we are introduced to Ruby Lin, Gigi Lai, and Anita Yuen. However, Chu Liu Xiang and Anita Yuen's character, Xi Hu, have a forbidden love. Xi Hu eventually makes the ultimate sacrafice for Chu Liu Xiang.
The second story arc goes for all out action as Chu Liu Xiang's nemesis is revealed and he must stop him. Chu Liu Xiang and Gigi's character, Rong Rong, get serious. But it is not meant to be as their worlds collide, but is ultimately split apart.
The third story arc goes to the desert and is the strangest by far. Ruby Lin, Sing Er, and Chu Liu Xiang were getting along fine and headed for love. But Sing Er loses her memory and is tricked into loving another person. This splits them up and ends a very strange affair.
The final story arc ends the series and a storyline that's been hinted at since the second story arc. In this arc, almost all the characters are new. The shadow warriors that haunted Chu Liu Xiang in the 2nd and 3rd story arc are revealed. A new love interest played by Kristy Yang is introduced. Can Chu Liu Xiang make it out alive?
This ranks as one of my favorite wuxia series because it had so many characters. Unlike the 2007 version, the characters were only around for 8-10 episodes. The only constant was Richie as Chu Liu Xiang. The fighting was descent and the mythos were right on target. There was love, mystery and everything that made Chu Liu Xiang what he is! I loved Ti Lung as Chu Liu Xiang in the Shaw Bros films of the 70s. Adam Cheng and Michael Miu's Chu Liu Xiang from early TVB are classics. Richie isn't going to go down as a classic, but he was serviceable as Chu Liu Xiang.
If you like wuxia that has a lot of mystery and revolving door of love interest, this is a series for you!
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