The press conference for “Whirlwind Girl 2” was held the afternoon of 14 July at the Beijing Wanda Sofitel Hotel.  The main and secondary cast members were all in attendance, along with director Cheng Zhi Chao (成志超), producers Zhang Yong (张勇) and Zhou Wen Jie (周文洁), and screenwriters Ming Xiao Xi (明晓溪) and Li Lei ( 李雷).  Streamed live via several Chinese online platforms, the press conference itself did not actually begin until 3:30pm… and not without its usual share of technical glitches so common with live events.  Here are some highlights gleaned during the live feed watch!

During the 90 minutes prior to the actual start of the press conference, roving reporters attempted to walk the halls of the venue and interview the cast “guerilla-style.”  When it became Ji Chang Wook’s turn to be interviewed, the feeds kept freezing up and left him laughing uncontrollably.  Of course, that means it’s time to make funny faces with the selfie stick!

On to the main event!

Lots of fan support for JCW!

The cast members were instructed to appear behind shoji screens and punch their way out of them during each individual introduction:

It was quite steamy in the auditorium, as evidenced by these photos taken after a fan had unexpectedly run up to the front of the stage to hand a flower bouquet to Ji Chang Wook.  That gave him the opportunity to move to the back of the stage to (a) put the flowers in a safe place; and (b) wipe himself down in order to not drip all over his co-stars.

As previously announced in the press run-up to this event, a yuan wu dao exhibition was staged amongst the cast members:

More random shots here:

One thing that made a huge impression during Wook’s interview time was the choice of photos shown across the big screen behind him.  If anything, this is going to be one gorgeously-filmed show.

But before the cast members went offstage to change out of their uniforms for the second half of the programme, Ji Chang Wook was asked to sing a few bars of “Pei Ni,” which turned into a sing-along with the audience.

After changing into street clothes, the event continued with more cast member interviews… including recreating the much talked-about “Princess Hug” scene between Chang An and Bai Cao:

As always, the usual promises were made by the cast if the ratings hit a certain threshold.  Actor Chen Xiang (Ting Hao, who is Chang An’s rival for Bai Cao’s affections) stated that if the viewership rating goes over 2%, he will release a new album.  If it goes over 3%, he will hold a concert.  Ji Chang Wook chimed in, “If the viewer rating goes over 3%, I will sing at Chen Xiang’s concert.”

In addition to everything shown above, another teaser video featuring the “Whirlwind Girl 2” theme song was released a few days ago entitled “Reckless,” sung by Chinese ballad singer Yin Zi Yue (who also sang the theme song for the first “Whirlwind Girl”).  Take a listen here:

Plus a 2:00-long teaser was uploaded today by Hunan TV:

“Whirlwind Girl 2” premieres 20 July 2016 at 10:00pm CST, and runs for 28 episodes every Wednesday and Thursday nights on Hunan TV.  We have good news in that Viki.com has obtained the license for WG2, and the link to that fan channel is here.  (Note:  Due to geographical limitations, Viki may not be available in your country.)

And one last photo from Coordi Sang-eun’s Instagram to sum up the evening:

Credit:  Whirlwind Girl 2 Weibo; mgtv.com Weibo; Hunan TV Weibo; sina.com; ssang0821 IG