Journey to the West

Journey to the West is a Chinese television series adapted from the classic 16th-century novel of the same title. The series was first broadcast on CCTV in China on 1 October 1986. The series became an instant classic in China and was praised for being one of the most original and faithful interpretations. Unadapted portions of the original story were later covered in the second season, which was released in 1999. CCTV released the entire series online on YouTube and in addition has an edited version (all episodes are 45 minutes long) with English subtitles, making a total of 40 episodes instead of the original 41. List of episodes Season 1 Season 1 has 25 episodes and covers 74 chapters of the novel. The first trial episode was aired on 1 October 1986, and filming lasted until 1987. It was aired as a whole series in 1988. With the limited but relatively new special effects, the series received a viewership rate of 89.4% in 1987. The series has been rebroadcast every year since then. As of 2012, the series has been repeated on Chinese local channels more than 2,000 times. Season 2 Season 2 has 16 episodes (covers another 25 chapters of the novel). Filming began in 1998 and finished in 1999. It was broadcast on CCTV in 2000. The internal story of the second season has the four protagonists relating to Emperor Taizong of Tang via flashbacks of their travels and adventures, (namely those episodes not depicted in the first series) upon their return to China. Season 2 differs from the format of the first season, as most episodes end on a cliffhanger, with conflicts being resolved and new ones encountered in the middle of episodes in a more fluid timeline.