Chinese dramas are a whole nother ballgame. Dramas range from 50-70 episodes most of the time, so be prepared to give them a few more days than you would a typical Korean drama. When it comes to Chinese dramas, I find I am more a fan of the historical and mythical ones, as long as it has a happy ending, but don't worry, I've added a few contemporary to the list that are top notch.
1. Eternal Love aka Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms - Not to be confused with The Eternal Love, this drama is a mythical historical drama set in the heavenly realm and on earth. From the costume, acting to set design, you will definitely fall in love with all the characters in this drama. I seriously binged a bunch of shows just so I could keep seeing them after this show ended.
2. Three Lives, Three Worlds: The Pillow Book - I have one rule for my Asian dramas, I never watch unfinished and unsubtitled dramas, I wait till its finished before I watch; I broke my rule big time for this drama. I loved Dijun and Feng Jiu so much in Eternal Love, and I really tried to wait for them to finish airing the show, but I broke down, watched from week to week, watched without subtitles and then came back to watch with subtitles. I ended up going to WeTv because they relesased this drama faster than Viki with subtitles. It is that good.
3. Go Go Squid - This is one of the contemporary ones I was talking about. It stays away from most normal cliches, but is heavy on the propaganda - see if you notice it. It is definitely well done, same actress as in Ashes of Love.
4. The Story of Ming Lan - I am one of those ones that likes to follow a story as far as I can if I like it, and this one delivered. Its never enough for me if a couple overcomes their troubles and get together, I want to see them married, I want to see them have kids, you know the full 9 yards and Ming Lan did just that. Such a cute story, definitely one of the longer ones out there. Also helps that the couple here had so much chemistry here they got married in real life.
5. Love 020 - Another amazing contemporary drama, I rewatched it in 2020 and noticed the lead actress is from Wuhan in the drama. Overlord 1 loved it because of the video game connection, it was well done and realistic. Pretty sure this drama is at the top of most C-drama lovers lists.
6. Oh My General - Take every common trope you've heard about how women should be and act (there's a lot of that in Chinese Dramas), now throw it out of the window and dive into this hilarious historical drama where the roles are switched. She's an army general and he's a pretty boy.
7. Ashes of Love - Another fan favourite. Historical Mythical like the three lives, three world series and literally how I came to fall in love with Deng Lun. Lets pray I don't run into him in an airport because I'll make a fool of myself.
8. Ode to Joy - This drama is so realistic and exposes genuine issues you don't find in most dramas. It's set around 5 women living in the same building with vastly different bank balances.
9. My Mr. Mermaid - I'm watching this right now and it is really good, I hardly ever get bowled over by a Chinese contemporary drama but its drawing me in based on how well done it is. I honestly thought it would be terrible based on the title(I should have taken my own advice - never judge a drama by its title) but the story is actually about a college swim team. Its really nice!
10. The Brightest Star in the Sky - It is a very good drama, but oh so problematic and controversial for me to include on this list. It is a really good drama with a heavy dose of tone deaf racism. I had to wrestle in my mind but ended up included it. Watch with caution, the story and acting is really good, I just hope we can raise more awareness regarding racism in Asia as a whole, I'll talk more about that in another post.
Hope you enjoy this list and watching this drama, If you need me, Ill be the one binge watching My Mr Mermaid and chuckling at the comments on Viki.
1. Eternal Love aka Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms - Not to be confused with The Eternal Love, this drama is a mythical historical drama set in the heavenly realm and on earth. From the costume, acting to set design, you will definitely fall in love with all the characters in this drama. I seriously binged a bunch of shows just so I could keep seeing them after this show ended.
2. Three Lives, Three Worlds: The Pillow Book - I have one rule for my Asian dramas, I never watch unfinished and unsubtitled dramas, I wait till its finished before I watch; I broke my rule big time for this drama. I loved Dijun and Feng Jiu so much in Eternal Love, and I really tried to wait for them to finish airing the show, but I broke down, watched from week to week, watched without subtitles and then came back to watch with subtitles. I ended up going to WeTv because they relesased this drama faster than Viki with subtitles. It is that good.
3. Go Go Squid - This is one of the contemporary ones I was talking about. It stays away from most normal cliches, but is heavy on the propaganda - see if you notice it. It is definitely well done, same actress as in Ashes of Love.
4. The Story of Ming Lan - I am one of those ones that likes to follow a story as far as I can if I like it, and this one delivered. Its never enough for me if a couple overcomes their troubles and get together, I want to see them married, I want to see them have kids, you know the full 9 yards and Ming Lan did just that. Such a cute story, definitely one of the longer ones out there. Also helps that the couple here had so much chemistry here they got married in real life.
5. Love 020 - Another amazing contemporary drama, I rewatched it in 2020 and noticed the lead actress is from Wuhan in the drama. Overlord 1 loved it because of the video game connection, it was well done and realistic. Pretty sure this drama is at the top of most C-drama lovers lists.
6. Oh My General - Take every common trope you've heard about how women should be and act (there's a lot of that in Chinese Dramas), now throw it out of the window and dive into this hilarious historical drama where the roles are switched. She's an army general and he's a pretty boy.
7. Ashes of Love - Another fan favourite. Historical Mythical like the three lives, three world series and literally how I came to fall in love with Deng Lun. Lets pray I don't run into him in an airport because I'll make a fool of myself.
8. Ode to Joy - This drama is so realistic and exposes genuine issues you don't find in most dramas. It's set around 5 women living in the same building with vastly different bank balances.
9. My Mr. Mermaid - I'm watching this right now and it is really good, I hardly ever get bowled over by a Chinese contemporary drama but its drawing me in based on how well done it is. I honestly thought it would be terrible based on the title(I should have taken my own advice - never judge a drama by its title) but the story is actually about a college swim team. Its really nice!
10. The Brightest Star in the Sky - It is a very good drama, but oh so problematic and controversial for me to include on this list. It is a really good drama with a heavy dose of tone deaf racism. I had to wrestle in my mind but ended up included it. Watch with caution, the story and acting is really good, I just hope we can raise more awareness regarding racism in Asia as a whole, I'll talk more about that in another post.
Hope you enjoy this list and watching this drama, If you need me, Ill be the one binge watching My Mr Mermaid and chuckling at the comments on Viki.
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