This is The Bund, the drama that made Chow Yun Fat famous (before his famous movies like A Better Tomorrow and Hard Boiled). He was 25 during filming. It is the Hong Kong Godfather. They are posting two episodes day, currently at Episode 6.
Synopsis.
The series is set in China in the 1920s. Hui Man-keung (Chow Yun Fat) is a Yenching University graduate who served three years in prison for participating in the May Fourth Movement. He decides to make a fresh start in Shanghai, where he meets and befriends Ting Lik, a fruit vendor. He invites Ting to be his partner after seizing an important position in a small-time gang.