Young A Bao (Hu Ge) rides on the wave of economic reform and his own hard work to become a rising star in the business world, garnering recognition along the bustling Huanghe Road.

[6] Shanghainese scriptwriter Qin Wen was invited to the project in September 2017 and given Wong and Jin's extensive research on the period drama adaptation.

[7] In March 2019, Wong Kar-wai revealed his plan on adapting Blossoms, by then an award-winning novel, at the Spring tea party of Hong Kong Screenwriters' Guild.

[9] Han Zhijie, the vice president of Tencent Video, announced that the streaming service has nabbed rights to the series and that the preparations for Blossoms Shanghai have been completed and filming will start the next spring.

Hu Ge, Jin Yucheng, and Wong Kar-Wai shared their old sewing machine, wedding dress, and Shaoxing wine respectively as examples.

[21] Additionally, on the same day, more cast members were announced, including You Benchang, Zheng Kai, Jonny Chen, Dong Yong, Huang Jue, Yang Haoyu, and Chloe Maayan.

[31] In an interview with the Department of Cinematography of Beijing Film Academy, visual director Peter Pau revealed that all color grading LUTs in the show were created by him.

[32] On June 7, 2021, the series released its first trailer, Time Is Like Water (Chinese: 时光如水), showing the flashing memories of Hu Ge's character A Bao.

[33][34] On November 3, 2022, the series released the second trailer, Blossoms Are Like Brocade (Chinese: 繁花似锦), which includes the debuts of three female leads and a sumptuous scene of Huanghe Road in old Shanghai.

The series also attracted numerous additional product placement ads from Rémy Martin, Estée Lauder, Pepsi, Bausch & Lomb, KFC, as well as tailor-made Giorgio Armani suits for actor Hu Ge, the brand's global ambassador.

[39][40][41] Blossoms Shanghai sparked a feeling of nostalgia for many, bringing back memories of the 1990s, and the general mood of positivity and optimism in the early days of market reform.