The wait for the new fantasy romance drama A Chan is officially over for fans who have been following production updates since last year. Chinese streaming platform Youku released the full official trailer on February 10, 2026, giving audiences their longest and clearest look yet at the time-bending story starring Lin Yi and Ai Mi.
This is not just another trailer release. The drop came alongside the official filming wrap announcement, confirming that the cast and crew completed production after a two-month shoot in Chongqing. The drama, adapted from Ding Mo’s popular novel of the same name, is now fully in post-production and scheduled for a 2026 release exclusively on Youku .
The ‘A Chan’ Trailer Reveals A Wild Body-Swap And Time Loop Premise
What makes A Chan stand out from typical Chinese fantasy dramas is its double-layered supernatural mechanic. The newly released trailer focuses heavily on the soul swapping and time travel elements, showing that the leads do not simply go back in time; they swap bodies while doing so .
Lin Yi plays Zhang Jingchan, a wealthy CEO who carries 1 billion yuan (approx. 137 million USD) in debt. He witnesses both of his parents die. Ai Mi plays Li Weiyi, an ordinary office worker whose sister suffers from domestic violence and eventually takes her own life. The two characters come across an antique pocket watch that grants them the ability to travel eight years into the past. But there is a catch. When they travel, their souls switch places .
The trailer shows Zhang Jingchan waking up inside Li Weiyi’s body. He must use her identity to save his own family business and prevent his parents’ death. Meanwhile, Li Weiyi operates inside Zhang Jingchan’s body. She works to stop her sister from marrying the abusive partner who eventually drives her to suicide .
This setup creates a major personality swap on screen. The trailer captures Lin Yi acting cute and flustered, a huge departure from his usual cool and serious image. Ai Mi, on the other hand, is seen wearing sharp suits and speaking with cold, calm authority—behaving exactly like the male CEO whose body she now occupies .
Lin Yi And Ai Mi Face Their Most Challenging Roles Yet
For both lead actors, A Chan marks a significant shift from their previous projects. Lin Yi, known for romantic leads in dramas like Exclusive Fairytale and Put Your Head on My Shoulder, is doing something entirely new. In this drama, he is required to play a man acting like a woman who is actually a strong-willed female character. It is a layered performance. The trailer shows him crying, panicking, and displaying soft mannerisms that belong to Li Weiyi’s personality .
Ai Mi faces the opposite challenge. She transforms into a cold, debt-burdened businessman who rarely shows emotion. Her character must navigate boardrooms and corporate threats while trying to save the Zhang family from collapse .
On February 10, Ai Mi posted 18 behind-the-scenes photos on her social media to mark the end of filming. She captioned the post: “If it doesn’t work the first time, we try a thousand times. One day, we will shake the ending.” Fans quickly recognized this as a direct reference to her character’s determination in the time loop narrative .
Full Cast Confirmed As Production Officially Closes
The A Chan production team took the trailer release as an opportunity to announce the complete cast list. Alongside Lin Yi and Ai Mi, the drama features Zhao Zhiwei, Xi Wang, Zhang Shu, Liu Shuailiang, Zhou Kui, and Gao Wentian in main roles. Veteran actor Tan Kai joins as a special appearance, while Guan Zijing appears as a specially invited actor .
The involvement of Tan Kai, known for his strong supporting roles in major productions, adds weight to the cast. Zhao Zhiwei and Xi Wang are also expected to play key parts in the 24-episode storyline .
What The ‘A Chan’ Trailer Confirms About The Story Structure
Unlike standard romance dramas where couples meet cute and fall in love, A Chan is built around repeated time loops. The trailer suggests that Zhang Jingchan and Li Weiyi do not fix everything in one go. Every time they change the past, the deaths of their loved ones happen again in a different way. They are trapped in a cycle. Only by working together—while literally being inside each other’s bodies—can they uncover the truth and stop the tragedy permanently .
The official synopsis confirms that the story takes them from a warm, bright campus timeline to a cold, high-stakes corporate warfare timeline. The contrast is visually clear in the trailer. Early scenes are soft and youthful. Later scenes shift to sharp suits, dark offices, and intense negotiations .
Streaming And Release Details For Global Audiences
Youku has confirmed that A Chan will be available for global streaming on its platform. While an exact premiere date has not been locked in, the production is targeting a 2026 broadcast. Based on standard post-production timelines for 24-episode fantasy dramas, the window is expected to be between late 2026 .
For international viewers, access will depend on regional licensing. Youku typically streams content via its own app and website with subtitles in English, Thai, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Arabic for major dramas. Viewers in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and India can expect the drama to be available on Youku’s official platform with English subtitles either at launch or shortly after the domestic Chinese broadcast .
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Why ‘A Chan’ Is Drawing Attention Beyond The Usual Romance Crowd
The body-swap trope is common in comedy, but A Chan mixes it with suspense and high emotional stakes. The trailer does not hide the heavy themes. Both leads are dealing with debt, death, and domestic violence (referred to sensitively in the source material). The story does not use the supernatural element just for laughs. It uses it as a tool for two broken people to fix each other’s past .
This emotional weight, combined with the visual polish seen in the trailer and the growing popularity of both Lin Yi and Ai Mi, has positioned A Chan as one of the most anticipated fantasy titles on Youku’s 2026 slate.
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