tbh I have a real problem with starting and finishing Chinese dramas. Most of them are at least 40 episodes long so it takes a lot of commitment to start one, although I’m learning to drop them without feeling like I’ve wasted my time.
Sadly, there are many that begin really well too, but start to meander and lose their integrity, in a bid to extend show’s longevity.
Most dramas can’t be cleanly categorised but this is a list of those (in alphabetical order) I actually finished and liked. Leave a comment or say hi at hello[at]watchitorskipit.com. 🙂
Modern Crime/Revenge/Suspense
- Reset [Time-Travel]
- The Bad Kids
- The Long Season
Modern Romance
- Day of Becoming You [Comedy] 变成你的那一天
- Delicious Romance
- Falling Into You [Sports] 炽道
- Nothing But Thirty
- Nothing But You [Sports] 爱情而已
- Someday or One Day [Time-Travel] 想見你
- The Rational Life
Slice of Life / Social Commentary / Coming-of-age
- Go Ahead [had mixed feelings about the romance in the second half]
- Meet Yourself [with romance]
- Nice View [Movie]
- Nothing But Thirty 三十而已
- Upcoming Summer [Movie]
Historical – mostly investigative/suspense
- Ancient Detective
- Imperial Coroner
- Luoyang
- Ripe Town
- Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty
Historical – mostly palace intrigue/politics and romance
- Goodbye My Princess
- Joy of Life [Some sci-fi and lots of comedy]
- Nirvana in Fire
- The Rise of Phoenixes
Wu Xia 武侠
- Ancient Detective
- Joy of Life [Some sci-fi and lots of comedy]
Xianxia 仙侠 / Xuanhuan 玄幻
- Eternal Love: 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms
- Love & Redemption
- Once Upon a Time in Ling Jian Mountain [Comedy]
Guilty Pleasures (somewhat fluffy but I managed to enjoy them anyway)
- Arsenal Military Academy
- Fall In Love (watched solely for Chen Xing Xu) 一见倾心
- Parallel Love [Time-Travel] 时间倒数遇见你