From new adaptations of beloved stories to murder mystery dramas, the first half of 2023 has seen an exciting array of highly-rated Chinese shows arriving on streaming platforms everywhere.
Tencent’s Three-Body, a long-awaited adaptation of Liu Cixin’s sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem, as well as hit suspense series The Long Season, top the list with high Douban ratings and massive audiences.
Others have also racked up impressive ratings, with one — The Knockout — taking the cake as possibly the most talked-about show of 2023.
Without further ado, here are the best Chinese dramas from the first half of 2023.
The Long Season [漫长的季节]
Released on April 22, The Long Season is a fast-paced, suspenseful drama about a taxi driver trying to solve a brutal murder that rocked his small town twenty years prior.
Unlike , The Long Season has just twelve episodes, an embrace of the HBO-esque short prestige drama format. These twelve episodes, though, are enough for the show’s director, Xin Shuang, to paint a rich, wistful portrait of a fictional Northeast China town and family.
The elegiac realism of The Long Season won over Chinese audiences, who have given the show a rarely-seen Douban rating of 9.4/10. “[The Long Season] is a panoramic portrait of a group of people, with a palpable sense of history,” one reviewer wrote.
Audiences can find The Long Season with English subtitles on YouTube and Tencent Video.
Three-Body [三体]
Though there are already at least two adaptations of The Three-Body Problem [with one from Netflix on the way], Tencent’s Three-Body is the first to truly satisfy discerning fans of the Liu Cixin novel — though the Minecraft animation certainly had its appeal. The 30-episode Three-Body hews closely to the plot of its namesake novel, which is the first of a trilogy; the cast is also stacked with well-known actors like Zhang Luyi and Wang Ziwen.
The show follows a nanomaterials expert named Wang Miao who begins investigating a string of mysterious suicides connected to a video game, which ultimately reveals an existential threat to humanity.
This sprawling sci-fi epic has a Douban score of 8.7/10, with nearly 400,000 ratings. Watch it on Youtube, Tencent Video, or Rakuten Viki.
Meet Yourself [去有风的地方]
China’s ‘fairy sister,’ Liu Yifei, is the star of this romantic drama about starting over in your 30s. In Meet Yourself, Liu’s character, distraught over the untimely death of her best friend, moves to a rural village where she heals and falls in love with another big city transplant, played by a dreamy Li Xian.
With a rating of 8.7/10, Meet Yourself is popular for its emotional focus and its charming rural setting, and, of course, Liu, who has some 70 million followers on Weibo. In some ways, the show also exemplifies the ‘lying flat’ trend, letting audiences know that they're not the only ones who want to give up on the corporate rat race.
Find Meet Yourself on Apple TV or Rakuten Viki.
The Knockout [狂飙]
Crime drama The Knockout took the Chinese internet by storm when it began streaming in January, becoming so popular that it temporarily crashed streaming platform iQIYI. The 39-episode drama follows a two-decade power struggle between a policeman and the leader of a criminal gang in the fictional city of Jinghai.
Suspenseful, gritty, and unafraid of depicting deeper societal flaws, The Knockout was an instant hit. Now, with over 840,000 ratings, it has an 8.5/10 on Douban, signifying its vast appeal. You can watch it on iQIYI.
An Ancient Love Song [古相思曲]
The newest drama on this list, An Ancient Love Song is about a historical fiction author who gets transported back to the era of one of his stories, though he discovers his subject, an empress named Lu Yuan, is nothing like the history books described her. Surprisingly, the 14-episode drama is based on a fan-made video edit uploaded to Bilibili; the original video became so popular that Bilibili commissioned the show.
With a rating of 8.5/10, An Ancient Love Song has been praised for its cinematography, heart-wrenching plot, and strong female lead. Audiences can stream it on Rakuten Viki.
Need to seriously relax while recovering from a holiday food coma? Look no further, cause RADII has prepared a list of the best Chinese dramas from the second half of the year, following up on our roundup back in July.
From martial arts mysteries to an intense medical drama, here’s what was a hit with viewers over the past six months:
Ripe Town [繁城之下]
This Ming dynasty-set story unfolds across two timelines, featuring Lu Zhi and Qu Sangeng as parallel protagonists who are astute yet somewhat morally ambiguous, each holding access to hidden truths. In their respective circles, they are influenced by a formidable father figure, a scholarly friend, and a more straightforward individual with a strong sense of morality. The narrative is tightly woven, and the dialogue is infused with understated dark humor, complementing the story’s serious and suspense-filled ambiance.
The story highlights the immense challenge of being a decent individual, in particular when striving to meet Confucian moral standards. In a feudal hierarchical society, where the voice of a scholar overshadows that of a servant and the justice system is so labyrinthine that it fails even exceptional talents, many find themselves on a slippery slope of morally dubious compromises.
Ripe Town boasts a Douban rating of 8.5, and can be watched on Youtube.
The Heart [问心]
This drama about cardiologists stands out in part due to its strong casting choices, with Mark Chao playing a stoic doctor, and Kim Scar [Jin Shijia] playing a younger and more naïve one. Sharp and efficient editing quickly establishes the characters’ personalities and relationships in just a few shots, proving that domestic production teams can indeed produce good medical dramas. Notably, the portrayal of the hospital environment as outdated and messy adds a touch of realism to the plot.
The Heart features intense dramatic conflicts, posing the question of whether doctors be indifferent to life and death, constantly maintaining extreme rationality and reverence for medical skill, or if they should always empathize with their patients and strive to heal with emotion. In doing so, the drama highlights the dilemmas that arise from the conflict between doctors’ professional ethics and human relations.
The Heart is available on Youtube, and has a strong Douban rating of 8.4.
Mysterious Lotus Casebook [莲花楼]
Combining the martial arts genre with aspects of a detective story, Mysterious Lotus Casebook is enlivened by actor Cheng Yi’s excellent portrayal of protagonist Li Xiangyi. The show is based on the novel Auspicious Pattern Lotus House by author Teng Ping. Compared to the original, the logical reasoning behind the mysteries in this adaption are less complex, and themes of horror, violence, and ethics are significantly reduced, possibly to censorship concerns. However, instead of simply focusing on martial arts and Jianghu [the outlaw milieu of the martial arts world], Mysterious Lotus Casebook looks at what it means to say “farewell” in life.
Before he leaves this world Li Xiangyi seeks to resolve the emotional entanglements of everyone connected to him, bidding them a solemn farewell. Being able to gently and calmly say goodbye to the world is the most meaningful aspect of this character. Such a transparent character is indeed hard to portray, and clearly required a subtle touch from Cheng Yi, along with the series’ scriptwriters and directors Guo Hu and Ren Haitao.
Check out this Wuxia mystery on Youtube.
Be With You [我有一个朋友]
The premise of this martial arts series is quite interesting: a group of four friends including fallen knight Meng Sanxi open a store to support themselves, while also taking justice into their own hands, killing to stop killers. They punish everyone who has killed or done evil deeds. This might seem righteous and noble in some senses, yet the show is shaded with moral ambiguity. The four partners also run up against the government of Muyun City.
Director Bi Xinye does an excellent job in Be With You: his vision and the manner in which he crafts the characters overcomes the sometimes-limited skills of the actors. Still, the show has earned a high Douban rating of 8.6.
What is the top 10 Chinese drama?
Best of Chinese Dramas list.
The Blessed Girl [2021] ... .
My Fated Boy [2021– ] ... .
Cry Me A River of Stars [2021– ] History, Romance. ... .
You are My Glory [2021] Comedy, Drama, Romance. ... .
My Bargain Queen [2021] 45 min | Romance. ... .
Miss Crow and Mr. Lizard [2021] ... .
Surgeons [2017– ] 45 min | Drama, Romance. ... .
Jun Jiu Ling [2021– ].
Are Chinese dramas getting popular?
In recent years, Xianxia dramas have become a huge pop culture phenomenon in China. The internet is full of 'top 10' Xianxia series lists. Many Xianxia dramas have been widely discussed and debated by their audiences, and songs from the dramas have also become very popular. Fans have even emerged outside of China.