| THE WHITE OLIVE TREE |

Chinese Pinyin : 白色橄榄树 | Báisè gǎnlǎn shù

The White Olive Tree; a haunting symphony of human emotions — pain, hope, and resilience, woven into a beautifully tragic love story. Set against the backdrop of a conflict-ridden country, the story follows Li Zan (potrayed by Chen Zheyuan), a dedicated explosive engineer, and Song Ran (potrayed by Liang Jie), a brave journalist searching for the truth. Their meeting is serendipitous, their bond undeniable, but their journey is anything but easy.

Te AmoA Lin

4:05

The series dives deep into the emotional turmoil of love born in the most unforgiving circumstances. The chemistry between Li Zan and Song Ran is magnetic yet fragile. Every glance, every tear, speaks volumes. The olive tree becomes more than a symbol — it mirrors their hope for peace amidst the ruins of war.

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

The drama starts with Song Ran, a journalist, in the Eastern Country called Uglai City for interviews in the past three months. It shows the lives of the people living in the city, doing about their daily routine. Song Ran was about to pack her stuffs when a hotel waitress named Rina came into her hotel room to have a chat before she departs back to mainland when an explosion occurs in the city. Song Ran hurriedly captures the moments in a livestream broadcast to her TV station before riding the bike and head off to the airport but couldn't get pass a gantry on her way, and decided to seek help only to step on a land mine.

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Li Zan who was volunteering as a demining instructor in the Uglai City, together with the military team was interogating a rebel at a nearby hut when he saw Song Ran and rushed towards her to save her.

Song Ran fell in love with Li Zan, her saviour without even knowing how he looks like but only through his eyes. When she returned to the mainland, she searched for him everywhere but to no avail until a renovator (I think he's a retired engineer some sort - who's actually Li Zan's father - SPOILER!) came over to her house to fix her bursting pipe told her, "Looking for someone is like looking for something. The harder you try, the more you can't find it. If you stop looking for him, maybe he will appear one day."

I would fall for his eyes too! Wouldn't you?

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Song Ran finally found Li Zan after she interviewed Luo Zhan (portrayed by Ding Ye; whom she mistook it to be the Ah Zan she was looking for since she didn't know his first name. Like Li Zan, Luo Zhan was also a volunteer in the Eastern Country before, thus the misunderstanding in Song Ran's part.

They continued contacting each other before Song Ran was deployed back to Uglai City to assist an injured reporter from her station and subsequently went to Happo after. There, she met Li Zan when he volunteered once again and rescued her from rebels at Haru where she got lost.

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Their lives went on as normal as they could before a devastating suicide explosion changed everyone involved in the mission. Shen Bei (portrayed by Zheng Ying Chen), Song Ran's colleague and love rival, could not bear the trauma, went back to mainland and transferred to another department before deciding to head back to Happo and assist wherever she can.

After Rina's (portrayed by Florence Tan) death in Happo, her son Sa Xin (portrayed by Gu Zhi Sheng) who was once a reporter partnered to Song Ran, joined the military to avenge his mother's death under the guidance of Benjamin (portrayed by Wang Tian Chen). Benjamin took over the role of commanding leader after Jiang Lin (portrayed by Wang Zuo Cheng) was killed in the explosion while saving Li Zan. Initially, Benjamin was adament not to let Sa Xin join in on any missions as Rina made him promised to look after him on her behalf. But he gave in after some time and got hit protecting him.

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

This eye candy? He survived the hit, don't worry ladies! Did he?

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Sidetracking a little bit,

On the other hand, I still cannot get over how ironically similar Benjamin's love interest, Liu Yongxi who portrayed Dr Pei Xiao Nan is to Kang Han-na. I kept thinking that it was Kan Han-na playing that role throughout the drama. Not that I am not seeing Park Chan-yeol in Chen Zheyuan, but maybe because I have seen him in Hidden Love as well as Detective Chinatown so I could get over how similar they look like.

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Photo Credit : iQIYI

Back to the story,

Song Ran and Li Zan both experience Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder (PTSD) which they hide from each other as well as their love ones. Song Ran is gradually losing her eyesight while Li Zan is experiencing extreme tinnitus and currently wearing a hearing aid as he lost his hearing.

Throughout the rest of the episodes, it shows how they both overcome their PTSD, their love for each other, trying to live a normal life in order not to make their love ones worry about them.

This drama will break your heart and slowly piece it back together, literally!

I'm not giving anymore spoilers because this is a MUST WATCH so you're able to at least understand how someone experiences PTSD. Let's make this world a better place for you, me and everyone else by understanding each other. Look for signs and assist wherever we can.

You will need lots and lots of tissue for this because you will be crying buckets for every episode - this drama surpasses Descendants of the Sun as well as Goblin: The Lonely and Great God in terms of tears rolling down my cheeks! And the OSTs are not helping either!

WHERE TO WATCH?

iQIYI

This drama was released on Feb 2025 and just finished its last episode last week on iQIYI for VIPs! If you're not a VIP yet, it's currently playing at episode 5 for FREE! Running at 45 minutes per episode and going strong with 38 episodes, its a must watch if you are a Descendants of the Sun and Crash Landing on You lover!

Thank you butterflies for the amazing casts and story! May you elope and find your resting peace.

Assalamualaikum,

N.A