Defying the Storm

In 1937, the city of Beiping fell to Japanese forces. In order to protect both students and faculty, a number of the northern universities decided to move their schools south. Traveling to Changsha, these universities tried to keep their classes going, but war quickly followed them. Having been separated from her parents during the chaos, Meng Hai Tang (Zhang Ruo Nan), a new student at the Fuhua University, found herself having to trek the perilous journey on foot to finally reach Kunming, a relatively safe city in Yun’nan Province in Southwestern China. During her travels, Meng Hai Tang found herself growing closer to Zhang Qi (Hu Yi Tian), the man her parents had betrother her to while she was still just a child. Although firmly against an arranged marriage, she found herself unable to deny the attraction she felt towards the handsome and intelligent young pilot who was dedicating his life to serving the country in a time of national crisis. As captain of Hanguang Squadron, Zhang Qi fought fiercely and bravely against the Japanese forces despite the odds stacked steeply against him. The two of them, along with their friends and pilots, would also fight against a second front where for-profit collaborators were smuggling China’s treasured Shang-dynasty relics, the oracle bones from three thousand years ago, to Japan. Will they survive the turmoil of war or will the sacrifices they're forced to make keep them apart forever? Inspired by true events, “Defying the Storm” is a 2022 Chinese historical romance drama directed by Jin Chen.