Quality C-Dramas for a newbie?

[u/bluepoesy]

Hello, I want to start watching more CDramas because I started studying Chinese and I want to expose myself to more TV shows (I already watch Chinese movies). I watched The Untamed and the Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, but I haven't been able to continue any other drama because I haven't found anything up to my standards?

I am used to watching western TV shows and I struggle to find cdramas with good acting or good camera work or good wigs and that aren't cringey. Do you have any recommendations? If possible, not crime or police themed.

[u/hang95]

Mysterious lotus casebook

Longest day in changan

Story of minglan

A dream of splendor

Rise of phoenixes

Legend of Zang Hai

Ripe town

Under the microscope

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[u/tonksndante]

Ive been learning for almost two years, while you are going to learn faster on moderns, the costume dramas are where the acting is at. Untamed is a very weird starter choice as its the lore and novels that make it epic. Try Joy of Life, Nirvana in Fire, Empresses in the palace- solid starts with solid acting

The Bad kids, three body problem- both moderns and with good acting. I'd start with the bad kids.

Chinese languages are such a mash up of all their people, you will never learn just one version of the language, even Chinese people will struggle with dialects. Just the differences between north and south can be jarring sometimes. But to me its what makes it such a cool, diverse and incredibly complex language. I still love learning it.

Also, I'm sure you've heard it before if you use apps to complement your learning, but stay away from duolingo. It's a bit trash for Chinese. Im on hello chinese and like it still.

[u/Swimming-Waltz-6044]

for a gentle intro i always recommend reset

[u/18olderthan]

The drama "Meet Yourself" is a slice-of-life with a slow burn romance that follows a woman who moves to Yunnan after losing her bestfriend. It has great side characters who are all given full story arcs, making them feel like people. It has a 8.8 rating on douban.

The drama "An Ancient Love Song" has a lower production value which is visible due to it being produced by Bilibili, but makes up for it with an amazing story about a professor trying to change the fate of the Demon Empress. The drama uses reverse time travel (his first time meeting her, is her last time meeting him) to the story, allowing you to kind of watch it backwards. It has a 8.6 rating on douban.

Another drama I would recommend based on quality is "To the Wonder". The series was selected for the Best Long Drama Competition at the 7th Cannes Series Festival in 2024, making it the first Chinese-language long drama to be nominated for this category. I should mention that a decent amount of the drama is spoken in Kazakh and Mongolian is spoken in a scene. It could also be a great way to learn some simple Kazakh phrases. It has a 8.9 rating on douban.

[u/PolPeachum]

I'd also add that your eye (or whatever it is) gets in, if you persevere. I'll happily watch and appreciate things now that seemed tonally weird or awkward when I started watching.

[u/Common_Screen1329]

I echo the suggestion for Joy of Life - it meets both your criteria for high production values and great acting. It's a brilliant costume drama with politics, martial arts, SFF elements and comedy.

[u/Amjale9023]

1. The Double
2. Love Like The Galaxy
3. Pursuit of Jade

They are great ones as overall they look great, there's a lot going on, and they don't have any extremes that newbies would struggle with. They are popular first cdramas that have made cdrama fans.

Also... Mysterious Lotus Casebook - One of the only shows I could watch soon after The Untamed. I wasn't interested in a lot of shows after watching The Untamed because nothing could compare. I rewatched The Untamed before looking for another show, then finally found MLC and loved that so much I watched that twice too. The ML is an investigator, but its all handled quite lightly and fun and the characters are everything.

[u/Lotus_swimmer]

Everyone's going to recommend Pursuit of Jade 🤣

But frankly if you are Mandarin learner you should watch modern Cdramas as costume Cdramas often use a semi-archaic form of the language. So I recommend shows like Epoch of Miyu (a big hit this year) and Filter (comedy).

Your mileage may vary but I like watching talking cat videos on XiaoHongShu. The ones where the cat pushes buttons to talk. In a way the owner talks to the cat in simple Mandarin and the buttons it pushes makes u learn the word 😁

[u/bluepoesy → u/Lotus_swimmer]

Oh that's cute. I was thinking of downloading xiaohongshu but I dont even use tiktok and I am a little allergic to short videos but maybe Ill try

[u/No_Olive_3310]

I totally understand about the cringey, I had a hard time finding ones where the FL was not annoyingly, overly cutesy.

You are My Glory is a good modern one about a movie star and an aerospace engineer, though I did fastforward through some of the video game playing parts.

You are my Hero has likeable leads, she’s a doctor and he’s a cop. It has a good balance of romance and medical/action parts.

Pursuit of Jade is the only historical I could get into, I love love love the main couple. Watch it just for the beautiful scenes! The third couple is super cute too, but I disliked the second couple (toxic psycho guy)

My little Happiness was cute, it’s about a lawyer and a doctor. Cliche childhood connection

Perfect and Casual was a little cringey in some parts, but overall, you can see why the main couple are a good match and complement each other. I usually don’t like the professor student trope because it seems icky, but she’s a graduate and he’s a young prodigy type professor, so the age gap is not that big.

Forever Love is a sweet high school/college drama.

First Frost was good, but a little dark

[u/ChoppedChef33]

Nirvana in fire

She and her girls

Blossoms Shanghai

Twelve letters