A Dream Within a Dream character visuals, drama poster drop – Liu Yu Ning and Li Yi Tong drama nears premiere

I swear, I am about to have a nervous breakdown. What with all the amazing Chinese romance drama’s threatening to drop over the next few months, it is quickly seeming like I won’t be getting any sleep.

Along with the just-ended filming In the Moonlight on Tencent possibly arriving early next year, Qiao Chu looking like it’s airing soon, and The Princess’s Gambit also dropping this month, we have now got word from iQIYI that the latest Liu Yu Ning drama is also about to premiere.

That drama is titled A Dream Within a Dream, and co-stars Li Yi Tong.

Today, the Chinese drama got a new teaser poster, and a whole slew of character visuals, along with a comment from iQIYI that we need to “stay tuned”, as it’s likely premiering soon.

The rest of the drama’s staff includes Zhu Xu Dan (Love Game in Eastern Fantasy), Wang Yi Lun (Egg and Stone), Wang You Shuo (Young Blood), Wang Cheng Si (The Prisoner of Beauty), Su Meng Yun (A Journey to Love), and Chang Long (Love’s Rebellion).

All of whom got character visuals earlier today. (above and below)

The C-drama is also now available for reservation on the platform.

A Dream within a Dream production details

The iQIYI-produced drama ended its filming on September 11th, 2023, and was originally slated for a 2024 release, which was then postponed.

It is now rumored to be dropping on iQIYI towards the end of June. Fingers crossed, eh? As this one has been a loooong time in coming.

The Chinese drama is directed by Guo Hu (Mysterious Lotus Casebook), and is written by Ren Zhuang Liu (Story of Kunning Palace).

In other words, with those two amazing people collaborating, I think we are almost guaranteed that A Dream Within a Dream will be one of the best C-dramas of 2025, don’t you?

Particularly as the plot is one of those “died and reincarnated into the plot of a favorite novel” series that sounds like a whole helluva lot of fun.

And, from the just-released Liu Yu Ning character visual, he appears to have a secret identity as well. (see above). Sign me up, eh?

Here’s the A Dream within a Dream plot:

What should you do if you accidentally transmigrate into a novel’s world—as the female lead who gets used, abused, and killed by the villainous male lead?

Song Xiaoyu (played by Li Yi Tong) doesn’t even need to think: Run as far as possible!

But her well-laid escape plans crumble against harsh reality. Every time she tries to change the plot—like marrying a side character—she gets stuck in an infinite loop of glitches, forced to relive 108 unique, horrifying deaths.

Game over before it even begins.

Finally, Song Xiaoyu accepts the truth: No matter what she does, the “plot” will always drag her back to the male lead, Nan Heng (Liu Yu Ning), forcing her to reenact every iconic, tragic scene from the original story.

And in this paper-thin world, countless characters are trapped by their “settings”:

• Some are locked in palace intrigues, others caged in aristocratic households.

• Some are exhausted by petty rivalries, others enslaved by power struggles.

• Some yearn for love and freedom, yet dance in shackles.

• Some dream of soaring like mythical rocs, but are ground down by mediocrity.

This isn’t just a battle between cowardly, survival-mode Song Xiaoyu and ruthless overachiever Nan Heng—it’s a war waged by every “small self” against their prewritten fate.

 

Check out the new A Dream within a Dream character visuals, and the latest official poster for the drama (see below), and I will be back with premiere details as soon as they drop. Likely within the next week.