Li Yingyi
BIOGRAPHY
Li Yingyi, also credited as Yi Bao Zi (怡宝子), is the director of Double Helix (双程, 2026).
Double Helix ran twelve episodes from 8 May 2026 and finished airing on 13 June 2026. It is a Mandarin-language danmei series based on a web novel, produced by Here We Go Production Company and Mejoy Entertainment as a China and Singapore co-production, with ANITA as producer. GagaOOLala is the distributing network, and the series was released worldwide outside Japan and South Korea on GagaOOLala, Viki, YouTube and Viu.
The novel was written by 蓝淋 (Lan Lin). Her 双程系列 was adapted once before, in mainland China, as a web film called 《雙程》 (English title A Round Trip To Love). That film was produced by 次元影业, written, directed and produced by 秦榛, and released online in two parts on 12 and 28 September 2016. Its lead characters, Lu Feng and Cheng Yichen, are the same two the 2026 series is built on.
The 2026 cast is led by Ayden Sng as Lu Feng and Lü Sitong as Cheng Yichen, with He Jiashu playing the same character at a younger age, and Fa Xuange, Li Keyi and Yang Kexin in support. Miao Jing’ou, Qiu Ziyi and Long Jiayu complete the wider cast.
The story follows a model student and a rebellious heir whose relationship ends when a photograph of them circulates, and who meet again years later when one has become the other’s boss.
The same novel reached the screen twice, in 2016 as a two-part mainland web film and in 2026 as a twelve-episode series.
The 2016 release was promoted with a set of posters paying tribute to earlier queer films, among them Farewell My Concubine, Happy Together, Brokeback Mountain, Lan Yu, The Wedding Banquet, The Love of Siam and Eternal Summer.
The 2026 version is a China and Singapore co-production with a Singaporean lead actor, distributed by GagaOOLala.
The two adaptations also divide their credits differently. In 2016 one person, 秦榛, is named as writer, director and producer of the film, so a single credit covers three jobs. In 2026 the same jobs sit with separate names and companies: Li Yingyi directs, ANITA produces, Here We Go Production Company and Mejoy Entertainment make the series together, and GagaOOLala distributes it. The format has changed in step, from a film released in two parts sixteen days apart, on 12 and 28 September, to twelve episodes spread across five weeks. The ten years between the releases also show in the casting: the two leads, Lu Feng and Cheng Yichen, are unchanged, but the 2026 version adds He Jiashu to play the same character at a younger age.
What stayed with me is how much the director’s work here is about structure. The choice to give the younger version of Lu Feng to a separate actor reads to me as a telling built around two clear periods rather than one long flashback. If you want to see that choice at work, start with the first two episodes and then jump to the finale.
PROFILE DETAILS
- Real Name
- Li Yingyi
- Nickname
- Yi Bao Zi (怡宝子)
- Profession
- Debut
- 2026 · Double Helix (双程, 2026), as director
- Languages
- Mandarin Chinese
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