Must Watch Chinese Dramas Before there were Asian dramas to binge-watch instead of doing productive work, there was anime. Even before the world became obsessed with romantic Korean dramas or Japanese shows they would find on Netflix, Asian cinema and entertainment was always popular — just not on a mainstream level. In recent years, the drama world has opened up the floodgates for many different countries to release their content on streaming platforms. Netflix has even invested millions of dollars on their Korean entertainment, making them a solid place to go for dramas. But one of the most underrated forms of East Asian dramas are Chinese language dramas.
From Taiwan and Mainland China, these shows come with their own tropes and tend to be longer than their Japanese and Korean counterparts. Some shows run for up to 50 episodes in a single season, stretching out the storylines in the way one wouldn’t see in a typical Korean one. Chinese dramas are most known for their romance and historical elements, and they truly don’t skimp on the production value. Netflix has been a great place to find Chinese dramas, too, in recent years, as they’ve expanded their selections, and that’s good timing considering they’re getting more popular. That said, these 12 dramas must be watched on Netflix before it’s too late.
The Untamed
Tencent Penguin Pictures
Xiao Zhen and Wang Yibo star in the series The Untamed, which is adapted from a novel by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. The television show ran for 50 episodes before concluding its run in 2019. In it, 16 years prior to the present day, two teenagers meet and realize they are soulmates. But when one of them, Wei Wuxian, is tortured and begins to dabble in the dark arts, it leads to his death. 16 years pass, and now, he is resurrected, and only his soulmate recognizes him. The series was a massive success in China when it first came out.
Put Your Head on My Shoulder
A series that aired in 2019, Put Your Head on My Shoulder is a classic take on a trope in the drama world: a coming of age story set at a Chinese university. The main character is Si Tu Mo, who is on the brink of graduation. An accounting student, she doesn’t know what she actually wants to do with her life, but has an idea that she might want to work for a digital marketing or advertising agency. When she crosses paths with Gu Wei Yi, a physics student at her school, she finds herself falling deeper for him, and with some meddling, it looks like their romance might actually become a real concept.
Eternal Love
Jiaxing Media
Yang Mi and Mark Chao star in Eternal Love, which was adapted from a xianxia novel, or a book based on Chinese mythology. Bai Qian (Yang Mi) is brought to a mythical mountain, where she ends up becoming the God of War. Over the course of 20,000 years, she trains and becomes a target of many issues throughout the land, but when she ends up becoming the reason a war is declared, she disguises herself as someone else and falls in love with a prince of the Ghost Tribe. The war does not end well for her, and 70,000 more years pass. She becomes a mortal, and finds love again with a different divine being.
Use For My Talent
Hunantv Interactive Entertainment Media
2021’s Use For My Talent is based on a Korean webtoon, one that ended up having a popular Korean adaptation as well: Clean With a Passion for Now. The male lead in the show, Gu Ren Qi, has a fear of germs and doesn’t open up to anyone because of it. On the opposite end of things, Shi Shuang Jiao comes from a family that broke after her mother’s death, leading her to become less clean. When she starts to work for Gu’s cleaning company, the two end up clashing quite a bit because of their beliefs, but as many tend to know, hate can quickly turn into love.
The Ghost Bride
A promo picture of the Netflix Malaysian fantasy mystery drama featuring Huang Pei-jia as Pam Li Lan and Kuang Tian as Lim Tiang Ching against a fiery wall background.Netflix
A joint production between Taiwan and Malaysia, The Ghost Bride is in Mandarin and takes place in the former British colony of Malacca, which is located in present-day Malaysia. Set in the 1890s, a woman finds herself in a peculiar situation. When she is asked to marry a deceased son of a wealthy family, she has to contemplate becoming a ghost bride. Despite not wanting to get caught up in the situation, she is forced into it anyway, leading her to realize that there’s a murder mystery at play here. The ghosts and afterlife come to haunt her, which means she has a direct link towards figuring out what really happened here.
The Princess Weiyoung
Yuehua Entertainment
Tiffany Tang stars in the 2016 series The Princess Weiyoung, which is adapted from a Qin Jian novel. She is Feng Xin’er, the daughter in a royal family during the period now known as the Northern and Southern Dynasties. When their general decides to throw a coup and slaughters the entire royal family, Feng flees with the help of a Prime Minister’s daughter. When the Prime Minister’s daughter is killed in the process, Feng decides to assume the identity of the slain girl, and then decides to use her new position to get revenge against those who killed her family.
Love O2O
Gcoo Entertainment
Yang Yang and Zheng Shuang lead Love O2O, which was a massive hit when it first came out, but has since been banned in China due to a series of scandals involving lead actress Zheng. She portrays Weiwei, a dedicated computer science student who has a passion for an online role playing game. After her online husband dumps her, she finds the best player in the game and marries him instead, and they end up really getting along while gaming together. They don’t know each other in real life, but when Weiwei realizes a senior at her school is her virtual husband now, it becomes a source of not only shame, but love down the road.
Unrequited Love
In Unrequited Love, the series follows the romance between two characters over the course of 15 years. They first meet as children, when their parents bring them together as playmates. Despite having this history together, they weren’t friends throughout their school years, and both of them choose to attend the same university. Despite them not ever intending to date, they end up growing closer throughout the years — this a drama truly about the journey of getting to that point of romance.
Falling Into Your Smile
New Style Media
One of many iconic Chinese-language dramas to come out in recent years, Falling Into Your Smile has been a fan favorite. In this world, a fictional e-sports team full of boys dominates the scene, but when one of the players gets a hand injury and is no longer able to play, they need to find a replacement or lose their spot in the e-sports world. Enter: Tong Yao, a girl who loves to game in her free time. When she’s recruited as the next potential member of the team, it ends ups being a question of whether she’s got the chops to join the team right now. As things progress, and she joins the team, romance strikes between her and their leader.
Find Yourself
Huace Media
Find Yourself came out in 2020, and stars Victoria Song and Song Weilong. Victoria Song portrays a design company’s director who, despite her turning him down, is pursued by a younger intern (Song Weilong) that wants to date her. Eventually she cracks and tells him she will allow them to date if they keep it a secret for three months, but when a man her age appears ready to woo her, it turns into a love triangle situation. The director now has to make a decision despite her being emotionally attached to both situations, forcing her to choose based on what her heart feels.
Love Between Fairy and Devil
Hengdian World Studios
In this series, the title of Love Between Fairy and Devil can be taken quite literally. After the Lord Devil is sealed away, a prophecy declares a goddess can only stop him. Enter: Xiao Lanhua, a fairy who accidentally unseals the Lord Devil. The two find out they’re connected, and he can feel her pain, basically forcing him to protect her unless he wants to find out what happens if she dies. Over the course of the series, despite all the twists in the story, the two end up falling in love.
A Love So Beautiful
Huace Media
A Love So Beautiful came out in 2017, and received over 10 billion streams in China when it first aired. Two classmates who’ve known each other for years are polar opposites. They’re getting ready to take the Gaokao, which is a college entrance exam, which will change their lives forever as they prepare for college. With their friend group, they will prepare for whatever life throws at them, even if it means they end up growing closer in a way that’s clearly not just as friends.
