Creating a floor plan for Zhao Yunlan's apartment (with a detour through Shen Wei's)

[cyberbrain]

Today, by which I mean "yesterday" because typing this took forever, I decided to spend my day doing something I'd been putting off for months–figuring out what the hell is going on with Zhao Yunlan's apartment (and also Shen Wei's, because their layout is actually the same).

So this is what I came up with:



But... that "bedroom turned office thing"... we were never shown that! ...Or were we?
(We kinda were, but not exactly.)

Spoilers: Fun fact: I've officially come to the conclusion that Shen Wei's apartment doesn't have a kitchen.

First, the full size floor plan:



Before I begin, I want to note that I did this purely as a logic exercise for myself and to test my floor planning skills. (Turns out they're average? pretty bad? Voice your opinion in the comments!) I'd actually like to make a full 3D model of Zhao Yunlan's apartment one day. I suppose this is the beginning of that project.

So please, don't think I'm trying to dictate the "correct way" or force my opinion on anyone. Feel free to disagree!

In fact, do disagree! Tell me how the door to the "bedroom turned office" is actually a door to a different dimension that opens randomly and butterflies flutter around the PC, singing in a language no one knows. Tell me where you would put Shen Wei's kitchen. What about that "bathroom"? What if there's no bathroom, like Shen Wei has no kitchen? I want to hear all your theories!

All right! Let me explain myself now.

During one of my rewatches I noticed that Shen Wei's apartment's layout is very similar to that of Zhao Yunlan's. Actually, the layout is exactly the same; it's just decorated differently enough that it's not immediately obvious. Let's look at some screenshots from both.

(All pictures here, except the above full size, are displayed in some percentage of their size. Right click, open image in new tab for full size.)

(May 4, 2020 edit: added a second version in which I finally included the balcony, mentioned later in this post, adjacent to the "bedroom turned office."
May 5, 2020 edit: solo pointed out I had missed the fridge. I've now added it.)

1	2
3	4
5	6

(I promise I tried to come up with a logical way to order them but the angles didn't match well enough.)

Okay, now I can compare them.

First, let's look at 2 and 3 (these are from episode 6). The camera pans from 2 to 3. Note the positions of the windows: the bay window (2), the big sliding window doors (2), and the window seat (3); between 2 and 3, while the camera is panning, we see another bay window, of which I didn't manage to get a good screenshot (it's in the same place as the bay window in 5).

Now, let's take a look at images 4 (episode 40), and 6 (episode 8). Looking at the bay window and window seat (4), it's visible they're in the same places as in Shen Wei's apartment; the kitchen archway (6) aligns with the big sliding doors from 2. Having these reference points, mentally aligning the apartments on top of one another isn't too hard. I didn't take screenshots of their front doors but those align as well.

But why does this matter?

Because the drama never gives us a good frame of the wall opposite Zhao Yunlan's bed, the one with his TV, the one with the "bedroom" door. But! It does give us a frame of that wall in Shen Wei's apartment.

How did I measure the floor plan?

Full disclosure, I didn't–I eyeballed it. Actually, I did do some measuring–the ceiling height. It's 2.5m.

I looked at this image:



Then did this:



So, if we know that Zhu Yilong is 180cm tall and he is represented as 5cm in the image, while, according to the same scale of measurement, the wall is represented as 6.85cm in the image, how many apples does Ye Zun give to children in a year? what is the wall's height in real life?

The math went as follows:
5*x=180 and x*6.85=?
x=36 so x*6.85=246.6

Meaning that, allowing for perspective/camera angle distortion, the wall's height is probably 250cm, or 2.5m. Pretty standard ceiling height.

That was too much drawing and math for me, so I decided I was going to eyeball it.

Alrighty! That was the living room part of the apartment. Now, how did I do the bedroom?

It's not based on fantasy, just some conjecture.

Look at this (it's one of the few okay-ish screenshots that show the "bedroom" door open and things inside are visible; episode 6, some more good shots are in episode 40):



There is a window!! And a monitor. But! The window!

In a rewatch, different from the one in which I noticed the weilan apartments, I noticed someone else's bedroom and its very specific window. Take a look:



This is Zhou Weiwei's bedroom from episode 6. The bay window is exactly the same style as those in Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's apartments. But when I was looking at this frame today, at first, I was stuck. I knew what I expected to see and I was seeing it–the window aligns with what is seen through Zhao Yunlan's "bedroom" door–but I was staring at this image and it looked like the room had no freaking door!

Fuckity. (╯°益°)╯彡┻━┻

But then–this scene! I'd totally forgotten about it! The camera angle is shifted and that made my day!! (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ



┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

The sliding doors also fit! (Side note: Damn, Dragon City is cool!) And for the best part: look at the rightmost side of the picture, a bit bellow the middle. A light switch and a door frame on an angled wall! Just like it should be in Zhao Yunlan's apartment, exactly in the place where the door to the "bedroom" is seen in picture 1 above.

(The sliding doors open into a neat balcony, which I didn't add in my floor plan for reasons even I don't know. Oops. visible in the second version of the floor plan.)

How did I decide which way the "bedroom" door opens?

Here: the door would open inwards, like most inside doors, and the handle is on the right side.



Close-up:



Okay, but what is this about Shen Wei not having a kitchen?

Knowing where Zhao Yunlan's kitchen is, as well as having been and lived in lots of apartments, I would expect Shen Wei's kitchen to be, if not in the same, in a similar place at least. It's not. At the place where Zhao Yunlan's kitchen resides, Shen Wei has a balcony with some plants. (ratbones spotted that the balcony with plants isn't there), looking at picture 2, a wooden shelf to the right and a very short, low shelving unit running along the entire length of the wall, not leaving space for any kitchen appliances.

This is behind the sliding doors from picture 2. (most probably) Shen Wei's bedroom balcony, which very prominently has a glass table and metal chair, which cannot be seen behind the living room sliding doors. (Edit: added an image of the sliding doors for easier comparison.)




Of course, there isn't a rule that plumbing in buildings needs to be logical in any way. And of course, behind the "bedroom" door Shen Wei could have multiple rooms.

But listen, I like the idea of Shen Wei's apartment being weird and not having a kitchen. If, for a moment, I imagine Shen Wei wasn't lying his ass off when he told Zhao Yunlan that rent cost matters more than location to poor university professors, everything explains itself. Maybe his apartment really is cheap... due to the lack of kitchen. Maybe that's another reason Shen Wei likes to hang around in Zhao Yunlan's apartment so much.

So, speaking of rooms that exist and such that don't: the "bathroom!"

Is it a bathroom? Is it another balcony? Is it a door to a wormhole? This poster doesn't know for sure.

If it is a bathroom, why does it have a window that looks inside the apartment? So one can yell for toilet paper when they run out?

It does have a light switch, as seen in the picture of Shen Wei and the consultant. But balconies also have light switches don't they?

I'm lost. I'm also happy. This drama is the best show I've ever watched!

Comments

[china_shop]

This is awesome!! And Zhao Yunlan has the weirdest fridge placement! *g*