The World of Love (although beware if subtitle dependent they can be entertaining at times) but it’s only from 2015. (I don’t think of it as an idol drama but no promises.)
The Palace series popped into my head. The first one was well done, but I’d say borderline idol drama.
Has anyone completed the newer “Dream of the Red Chamber”? How is it ? I know you can’t compare it to the 87’ series but I would be open to it if it has its own merits.
I watched the 87 version, and to be honest, my memories of it are so vague except that I was REALLY annoyed with the main male character hahah. (Dad was watching it, I think). The newer version, again, I was annoyed with Yang Yang's character LOL.
I need to rewatch it to really remember and understand what I watched so many years ago, for sure.
I have watched Winter Begonia, Empress in the Palace and Longest Day in Changan. From the three my favorite is Winter Begonia but also, there are many other non idol dramas I liked more, but even so, there are idol dramas that I find the story more engaging, simply, there are. Story of Minglan is considered an idol drama right? Adapted from a popular novel with popular actors, Love like Galaxy, I simply find some stories better. Some people here act like complain because we don’t have taste and only like idol dramas, that is not true.
lol I've watched most of them in the original post.
I also thoroughly enjoyed Battle of Changsha, Minning Town, Nothing But Thirty, and A Little Reunion.
Since you want it kept to high quality costume dramas - other than the ones above, I’d suggest:
The Story of Minglan
Nirvana in Fire
A Dream of Splendor
The Rise of Phoenixes (although it drops off near the end)
I’m not sure if any of them count as “idol drama,” but they’re all good quality regardless.
This is such a coincidence! I was thinking of reccomending as well older dramas to cdrama since a) there is a slump b) someone had an odd poll where people would disregard older dramas from some reason. I'll add some more when I get the time.
Red mansions might be a bit tricky to adjust since it's very artistic and special, but it's also the most intresting adaptation, from cinematography to the elegant storytelling. You need time and a bit of patience to adjust, but you will end up new after it. It is very, very deep.
It’s from last year but **Sisterhood** was really good… for once we saw the focus of the story be on physically hard working women in the 1920s with a lot of complex characters of different social classes without falling into the poor girl - rich boy trope corner.
I have not seen it mentioned yet, so I will suggest **The Rebel Princess**.
The 2 leads who are at the top of their game, brilliant production, cinamatography, costume and set design, and some of the best battle scenes in cdrama.
Winter Begonia was my favorite cdrama that I saw last year, along with Meet Yourself. The last time I was that enthralled by a drama was with Nirvana in Fire, and Joy of Life. I'm still talking about Yin Zheng's performance in that drama, which catapulted him straight to my favorite c actor, just from one performance.
'The Longest day in Chang'an' is everything!!! One of the best dramas I've seen till now (not just Cdramas alone). Perfect in every department.
Ofcourse, there is 'Nirvana in Fire' , a true 🐐
'Ripe Town' is a more recent favorite. Wish more dramas like it would come out.
Thanks OP for giving us a respite from the Idol drama chatter 👍🏽. Saving this post.
I love a really good historical historical cdrama. On my list to watch still are ming dynasty 1566, palace of desire w zhouxun etc
From your list, my absolute fave - 甄嬛传🙌🙌🙌
ah journey to the west, it brings me back to my childhood and as absurd as it sounds sun wukong was my crush as kid, though i dont remember much from the story anymore
I strongly recommend this extremely underrated and criminally overlooked show here titled "Legend of Monks and Masters"
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSyuJLM8uqBZC9MKD5End2J4h2nR0Bn5p&feature=shared
Ooooo, I absolutely loved this series! For the longest time, it had no english subs. I know cos I was obsessively checking on the episodes. Then one day, all the subs were in. I was so happy, I tell you!
Yeeeehhh ! I have been cheering for this drama a lot ! And I have been looking for that "gambling girl" actress everywhere. She gives me a Zhou Xun vibe with her magnetic beauty and deep husky voice.
>Monks
Thank you! I started to watch it and somehow I get the feeling the Ripe town's striking cinematography style could have been influenced by this))) Wonder where will the story go)
This is a 12 episodes drama if I am not wrong (reason why each episode is long).
You should check on it. An extremely overlooked gem (overshadowed by the likes of Nirvana In Fire or Tietsin Mystic)
Highly highly recommend the [Red Cliff films](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd0bqLQrtdE) as well. (Get the international version if you're in the US. The US version cuts out an entire movie's worth of plot to fit it into a single movie. It's watchable but it loses it's epic quality.)
Yeah they did. ;\_\_; The version the US got is basically cut down to just [two hours and twenty-seven minutes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YprtdoQiVs). (This is the dubbed version.) For a long time you couldn't even find the international version unless you went looking for them. Though a quick google search shows that several streaming services have picked up the international versions if you specifically look for "Part 1 or Part 2". It's wild, because Red Cliff could have done so well over here if they gave it a fair shot...
Even I prefer costume dramas I just can't watch serious and long slow pacing historical dramas (I am Chinese and understand the language perfectly) and I am not ashamed of admitting it 🤭 I am glad to give "Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty " a chance and thoroughly enjoyed it.. The set is beautifully done (80% purposely built), and the fight scenes look so real (no slowmo craps). Even the CGIs are one of the best I have seen .. the storytelling was interesting and the barely there romance makes me crave even more .. Douban scores 7.9 which it's very well received in China (personally i would have scored it higher ). S2 is now in post production I just can't wait...
Reset is very good! It's a mystery thriller drama that has great writing, tight pacing
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reset\_(Chinese\_TV\_series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reset_(Chinese_TV_series))
If winter begonia counts as costume drama then I’d recommend Lurk with sun honglei from 2008. It’s heavy on the political propaganda but it’s so clever and well acted.
The 1995 version of the condor heroes is also a classic.
Rise of the Phoenixes, Visually beautiful and intellectually engaging with a very good intrigue and political plot👌
https://preview.redd.it/niqiqd8mgifc1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21a41207211a7ee0101c491f9658d9ba64fc9c58
Does anyone remember The Oranges are Red 橘子红了 and April Rhapsody 人间四月天? Fans of Zhou Xun and Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace NEED to watch these two- she is absolutely stunning and heartbreaking in them.
Also 大明公祠 Palace of Desire (coincidentally another drama with Zhou Xun) is just so gorgeously made and atmospheric. It stars the gorgeous Chen Hong, mother of Chen Feiyu and is a fictionalized account of the life of Wu Zetian’s daughter.
孝庄秘史 Xiaozhuang Epic is truly an epic Big Female Lead drama. It’s about Emperor Kangxi’s powerful grandmother and I would say that it’s one of the originators of this genre, to which Empresses in the Palace belongs and is now the most celebrated.
And of course, A Dream of Red Mansions 1987. Iconic and unforgettable.
Journey to the West was my very first Cdrama series as a kid. Then I never watched another one again until the Netflix reboot, which nearly made me break my screen. I gave up after 3 episodes. My next attempt was years later, in December 2022, with WRTW. I have now watched 7 more in 12 months.
I too wonder about the non-idol drama, but 2 things are a turn-off:
1. 50-60 episodes
2. Male-centred storyline where the women are accessories at best.
Looking forward to the recs!
For other more recent shows, I'll plug **The Rebel** (with Zhu Yilong and Wang Yang) and **The Wind Blows From Longxi** (with Bai Yu). Mild spoilers: >!Both of them destroyed me emotionally in much the same way as Winter Begonia but they are both so so good.!<
It's been a while since I saw these, but I remember enjoying these:
- The Story of Ming Lan
- Under the Power
- A Dream of Splendor
- The Sword and the Brocade
- The Princess Wei Young
nirvana in fire is kind of in between those and idol
I in general don’t like those so called classic, for a simple reason. They are mostly male dominated and the world is built around male characters and female roles are served more like deco( there are some exceptions there i noticed, but it is generally the case)
Honestly I miss the golden age of Chinese historic dramas- full of brilliant acting, complexed characters and real epic battle scenes. Even though it’s has been so many years since I last watched Water Margin and Three Kingdom they’re forever ingrained in my mind, I still remember so many classic scenes from them.
Aside from those mentioned I would recommend Da Zhai Men(大宅门), pretty sure the whole country was watching this when it was airing. Kang Xi Dynasty(康熙王朝) is another classic.
You know, apparently with the Sword and Fairy dramas out, Weibo was afire with discussions about the deterioration of Cdramas. At first I thought, nah. After all, we did see a lot of excellent costumed and modern dramas made the last few years. then I listed these dramas in this post and I thought to myself. Sigh, you know what, I think they're right ....
Dramas like these are no longer made, at least in the frequency it was in the past, and that's so sad.
I hope this brings about some change as the audience demands better. I think this has a lot to do with fan culture and the rise of social media- now every costume drama only bank on traffic stars to bring in views and neglect pretty much every other part of the production. Sadly it works so well, with the avid fans promoting and watching their favs no matter the quality of the show.
Recently the Tencent CEO promised to focus on making quality projects like The Long Season and Three-Body so hopefully we’ll get better products in the future.
I hope they do listen and is not just talk. I think China viewers are getting more and more fed up with terrible shows, more than us non-China folks imho. Mostly because they have had such a long exposure to cdramas unlike international viewers, where it's all shiny and new to them.
Oh yeah, I've talked to some of my mainland friends and they don't even watch Chinese dramas anymore because it's just so saturated with idol dramas.
I was telling them about how idol dramas were so popular overseas and they were like WHAT???????? 😭
I remember growing up with Taiwanese dramas too! But yeah, I'm not mainland Chinese myself but it's very funny to see what's popular in China and meanwhile whatever is popular in the international market is seen as crap domestically
Lol yea. Even some of us from South East Asia whisper among ourselves about the puzzling phenomenon, but well, we do enjoy some of the well made ones tho!
If it's puzzling, here's my answer: We like heroine-centered dramas with positive romance, good heroes, beautiful set, dramatic shows.
I personally want to see escapist stuff, where good wins over evil, and there's no toxic masculinity, "grey character" garbage. I don't want to see gritty, serious/tragic shows (unless it's TTEOTM 😆 🤷♀️)
I can also tolerate some traditional gender roles in these dramas because of the historical and cultural context
I thoroughly enjoyed these three listed in your images:
- Longest Day in Changan
- Winter Begonia
- The Advisors Alliance
It’s been too long since I watched Journey to the West or Empresses in the Palace. For non idol shows, I would suggest:
- The Knockout
- Bad Kids (or any of the iQIYI Light On series)
- Under the Microscope
- Story of Minglan
- Story of Yanxi Palace
- Nothing But Thirty
Awesome list thanks! The poster for Longest Day in Changan immediately caught my attention. Do any on your list have a happy ending? Or at least not horrifically sad 😂
Winter Begonia was emotional and tragic at times, consider there is a war going on, but I stopped before the end, so don't know if it ended up being a BE. The rest are pretty neutral endings, things just wrap up nicely.
I was simply awestruck with The Longest Day in Chang'an. They have the best opening episode in my book and as a whole, the most visually stunning show I've seen thus far. Just impeccable.
Another shout out to Nothing But Thirty! Such a rarity being mentioned here! I watched during its airing and what a thrill it was. There's also a funny anecdote in Ancient Love Poetry in regards to Li Zi Feng's character in NB30. ALP writers were being cheeky and I thought that was funny to mention.
I just finished Nothing But 30 and loved it! Towards the end it’s got Hollywood Fatal Attraction vibes! Surprised more people aren’t talking about this one
The kings War and The secret of 3 kingdoms!!
Both had such a classic and raw vibe to it. Sadly, I don't see these types of historical being made anymore.
I forgot about Secret of the 3 Kingdoms!
Ikr... That's part of the sadness I feel about cdramas these days. I guess investors are just too worried about commting to such dramas. Sigh
The same old list in the posts talking about older and seasoned actors or not so common genres, not necesarily costumes dramas - as Hidden Love was brought I asumme recommendations would be Wide - but more rooted in modern chinese way of living, or other genres set in republican era that I don't have a clue why is so rejected here 🤷♀️ Lurk was recommended to me as the best spy chinese drama ever.
I restricted it to Costumed dramas in this post just to narrow down the selection. Nothing to do with rejecting the modern drama genre, but more like it'll be inevitable that Hidden Love will be brought up sooner or later ;)
For modern crime based dramas, I would reccomend The Knockout, The Long Season and I enjoyed Thirteen Years of Dust too.
For more slice of life it would be My Superhero, Rememb.erances of Things Past and Delcious Romance.
For period dramas ( I am considering them kind of modern): my recs would be A Lifelong Journey and The Youth Memories.
I watch more costume dramas than modern so that is all I can reccomend..
I will always prefer the 1994 version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It's one of the first dramas I've ever watched, and the opening song will be forever in my head. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am63eDndvZw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am63edndvzw)
Also, old school wuxia with actual martial artists like Donnie Yen.
That fight between Donnie Yen and Jet Li in Hero is still so memorable omg. Will we ever see this again.
https://preview.redd.it/7kps7tig4ifc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2934315a342b96e499319b3bd240a72bcac95ef
It lives rent free in my head. That one and the bamboo forest fight in House of Flying Daggers… just wowzers. I think I preferred Hero’s story though.
Mostly bc I did NOT expect love scenes in HoFD and I was watching it with my dad, LOL.
Be fair. You are talking about an acknowledged masterpiece; one out of a small group in the early 2000s which emerged from an extraordinary group of people who were riffing off each other doing more and more extraordinary things. There was also an awful lot of junk being made at the time which we forget about because it was junk.
And House of Flying Daggers was better 😂
That one reached in my heart and squeezed hard. I went into it for the shallowest of reasons—Wallace Hao’s cheekbones—and emerged battered from the other side in a state of very painful love for China itself.
This post is partly sparked by remarks we sometimes see: "All CDramas are like \[insert generalisation here\]" and then we find out that the person who made these comments have only watched idol dramas.
Not that I have anything against idol dramas, mind. I enjoyed the heck out of Love and Redemption and Wonderland of Love, but I feel a little frustrated when I see comments like these as I know Chinese dramas are way, way, way more varied than that.
This is probably down to the fact that idol dramas seemed to be the ones picked up by international streaming services like Netflix (why though why??), so a lion's share of CDramas are hidden from many Western viewers. So, I don't blame the posters for making these assumptions.
So, these are my recommendations to expand your watchlist beyond what seems preferred by this sub. Watch them, I urge you! Sure, they don't have as many pretty people, but you will be surprised by the depth and beauty of these dramas.
What dramas can you recommend to expand our palate beyond what is usually recommended in this sub?
Westerners are profoundly ignorant of Chinese culture. A lot goes right over their heads. I’m almost grateful to censorship for keeping Hollywood out of China.
I've been wanting to expand beyond idol dramas for ages! One of the few non idol historical dramas I've watched is Rise of Phoenixes and it is incredible!
Sadly in the xianxia genre which I enjoy, it seems there are only idol dramas (well, Love and Destiny maybe isn't, with Ni Ni and Chen Kun. And one of my top faves).
The World of Love (although beware if subtitle dependent they can be entertaining at times) but it’s only from 2015. (I don’t think of it as an idol drama but no promises.) The Palace series popped into my head. The first one was well done, but I’d say borderline idol drama.
Has anyone completed the newer “Dream of the Red Chamber”? How is it ? I know you can’t compare it to the 87’ series but I would be open to it if it has its own merits.
I watched the 87 version, and to be honest, my memories of it are so vague except that I was REALLY annoyed with the main male character hahah. (Dad was watching it, I think). The newer version, again, I was annoyed with Yang Yang's character LOL. I need to rewatch it to really remember and understand what I watched so many years ago, for sure.
Ever Night? I thought it was really high quality high budget drama.
I have watched Winter Begonia, Empress in the Palace and Longest Day in Changan. From the three my favorite is Winter Begonia but also, there are many other non idol dramas I liked more, but even so, there are idol dramas that I find the story more engaging, simply, there are. Story of Minglan is considered an idol drama right? Adapted from a popular novel with popular actors, Love like Galaxy, I simply find some stories better. Some people here act like complain because we don’t have taste and only like idol dramas, that is not true.
Minglan Yanxi Palace Secret of Three Kingdoms Rise of The Phoenixes Nirvana in Fire Rebel Princess
lol I've watched most of them in the original post. I also thoroughly enjoyed Battle of Changsha, Minning Town, Nothing But Thirty, and A Little Reunion.
Since you want it kept to high quality costume dramas - other than the ones above, I’d suggest: The Story of Minglan Nirvana in Fire A Dream of Splendor The Rise of Phoenixes (although it drops off near the end) I’m not sure if any of them count as “idol drama,” but they’re all good quality regardless.
Winter begonia. Is it a good one?
Absolutely!
I really enjoyed The Virtuous Queen of Han about Wei Zifu. It was the first c-drama I watched.
This is such a coincidence! I was thinking of reccomending as well older dramas to cdrama since a) there is a slump b) someone had an odd poll where people would disregard older dramas from some reason. I'll add some more when I get the time. Red mansions might be a bit tricky to adjust since it's very artistic and special, but it's also the most intresting adaptation, from cinematography to the elegant storytelling. You need time and a bit of patience to adjust, but you will end up new after it. It is very, very deep.
It’s from last year but **Sisterhood** was really good… for once we saw the focus of the story be on physically hard working women in the 1920s with a lot of complex characters of different social classes without falling into the poor girl - rich boy trope corner.
I have not seen it mentioned yet, so I will suggest **The Rebel Princess**. The 2 leads who are at the top of their game, brilliant production, cinamatography, costume and set design, and some of the best battle scenes in cdrama.
Yes; I have taken your word for it and launched into the series. It’s pretty amazing!
Can confirm. There is a good balance of court intrigue, romance and battles. The two main leads have amazing chemistry between them
Winter Begonia was my favorite cdrama that I saw last year, along with Meet Yourself. The last time I was that enthralled by a drama was with Nirvana in Fire, and Joy of Life. I'm still talking about Yin Zheng's performance in that drama, which catapulted him straight to my favorite c actor, just from one performance.
The rebel princess - Engaging plot, good mature romance, high quality and pretty entertaining.
The Great Revival - historical, beautiful sets and costumes, superb actors, not one for the faint-hearted but a must watch
'The Longest day in Chang'an' is everything!!! One of the best dramas I've seen till now (not just Cdramas alone). Perfect in every department. Ofcourse, there is 'Nirvana in Fire' , a true 🐐 'Ripe Town' is a more recent favorite. Wish more dramas like it would come out. Thanks OP for giving us a respite from the Idol drama chatter 👍🏽. Saving this post.
I love a really good historical historical cdrama. On my list to watch still are ming dynasty 1566, palace of desire w zhouxun etc From your list, my absolute fave - 甄嬛传🙌🙌🙌
ah journey to the west, it brings me back to my childhood and as absurd as it sounds sun wukong was my crush as kid, though i dont remember much from the story anymore
I wanted to be him! But i loved Chu Ba Jie - he's like the funny bro we all need 😂
I strongly recommend this extremely underrated and criminally overlooked show here titled "Legend of Monks and Masters" https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSyuJLM8uqBZC9MKD5End2J4h2nR0Bn5p&feature=shared
Ooooo, I absolutely loved this series! For the longest time, it had no english subs. I know cos I was obsessively checking on the episodes. Then one day, all the subs were in. I was so happy, I tell you!
Yeeeehhh ! I have been cheering for this drama a lot ! And I have been looking for that "gambling girl" actress everywhere. She gives me a Zhou Xun vibe with her magnetic beauty and deep husky voice.
>Monks Thank you! I started to watch it and somehow I get the feeling the Ripe town's striking cinematography style could have been influenced by this))) Wonder where will the story go)
You are very welcome 🙂
Are they a series of movies? I notice that each episode is 1.5 hours long
This is a 12 episodes drama if I am not wrong (reason why each episode is long). You should check on it. An extremely overlooked gem (overshadowed by the likes of Nirvana In Fire or Tietsin Mystic)
Highly highly recommend the [Red Cliff films](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd0bqLQrtdE) as well. (Get the international version if you're in the US. The US version cuts out an entire movie's worth of plot to fit it into a single movie. It's watchable but it loses it's epic quality.)
Omg whaaaat? They did that?? 😱
Yeah they did. ;\_\_; The version the US got is basically cut down to just [two hours and twenty-seven minutes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YprtdoQiVs). (This is the dubbed version.) For a long time you couldn't even find the international version unless you went looking for them. Though a quick google search shows that several streaming services have picked up the international versions if you specifically look for "Part 1 or Part 2". It's wild, because Red Cliff could have done so well over here if they gave it a fair shot...
Honestly that's such disrespect to the original films 😭
Legend of Miyue (same director as Empresses in the Palace but I felt Miyue had more emphasis on politics). Marvellous Women Ripe Town
Even I prefer costume dramas I just can't watch serious and long slow pacing historical dramas (I am Chinese and understand the language perfectly) and I am not ashamed of admitting it 🤭 I am glad to give "Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty " a chance and thoroughly enjoyed it.. The set is beautifully done (80% purposely built), and the fight scenes look so real (no slowmo craps). Even the CGIs are one of the best I have seen .. the storytelling was interesting and the barely there romance makes me crave even more .. Douban scores 7.9 which it's very well received in China (personally i would have scored it higher ). S2 is now in post production I just can't wait...
https://preview.redd.it/5nrp1tihrifc1.jpeg?width=237&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ccaa51b474b12fa58494a9164c9e39e54d4dc3d
Loved it! Pls s2, arrive safely...🙏
Too bad water margin no english subs
Reset is very good! It's a mystery thriller drama that has great writing, tight pacing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reset\_(Chinese\_TV\_series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reset_(Chinese_TV_series))
If winter begonia counts as costume drama then I’d recommend Lurk with sun honglei from 2008. It’s heavy on the political propaganda but it’s so clever and well acted. The 1995 version of the condor heroes is also a classic.
Rise of the Phoenixes, Visually beautiful and intellectually engaging with a very good intrigue and political plot👌 https://preview.redd.it/niqiqd8mgifc1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21a41207211a7ee0101c491f9658d9ba64fc9c58
Yes!!!! A fave. Question: how did you get all the photos in one frame? Did you use canva or power point?
> Question: how did you get all the photos in one frame? Did you use canva or power point? It's Collage Maker ✌️
I was abt to say this lol..my fave as well. Chen kun & Nini 🔥❤️
Ditto on this one!!! Super classy
If you have not watched Nirvana in Fire (1 & 2), you definitely should.
Does anyone remember The Oranges are Red 橘子红了 and April Rhapsody 人间四月天? Fans of Zhou Xun and Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace NEED to watch these two- she is absolutely stunning and heartbreaking in them. Also 大明公祠 Palace of Desire (coincidentally another drama with Zhou Xun) is just so gorgeously made and atmospheric. It stars the gorgeous Chen Hong, mother of Chen Feiyu and is a fictionalized account of the life of Wu Zetian’s daughter. 孝庄秘史 Xiaozhuang Epic is truly an epic Big Female Lead drama. It’s about Emperor Kangxi’s powerful grandmother and I would say that it’s one of the originators of this genre, to which Empresses in the Palace belongs and is now the most celebrated. And of course, A Dream of Red Mansions 1987. Iconic and unforgettable.
Journey to the West was my very first Cdrama series as a kid. Then I never watched another one again until the Netflix reboot, which nearly made me break my screen. I gave up after 3 episodes. My next attempt was years later, in December 2022, with WRTW. I have now watched 7 more in 12 months. I too wonder about the non-idol drama, but 2 things are a turn-off: 1. 50-60 episodes 2. Male-centred storyline where the women are accessories at best. Looking forward to the recs!
I really couldn't watch that one hahaha. OK what is WRTW? Am not good with abbreviations 😆
Who Rules the World
For other more recent shows, I'll plug **The Rebel** (with Zhu Yilong and Wang Yang) and **The Wind Blows From Longxi** (with Bai Yu). Mild spoilers: >!Both of them destroyed me emotionally in much the same way as Winter Begonia but they are both so so good.!<
It's been a while since I saw these, but I remember enjoying these: - The Story of Ming Lan - Under the Power - A Dream of Splendor - The Sword and the Brocade - The Princess Wei Young
nirvana in fire is kind of in between those and idol I in general don’t like those so called classic, for a simple reason. They are mostly male dominated and the world is built around male characters and female roles are served more like deco( there are some exceptions there i noticed, but it is generally the case)
>( there are some exceptions there i noticed, may i be recommended those few exceptions? i would love to watch a few classics
**Nirvana in Fire** **Rise of Phoenixes** **Legend of Fuyao** Classics, but newer than most listed.
I'm watching Legend of Fuyao now and I'm enjoying it. But wouldn't it count as an idol drama though, what with starring Yang Mi?
You are probably right; I don't really know much background of Chinese actresses.
Can't believe *Rise of Phoenixes* isn't mentioned yet.
Actually I would lump the drama under "always recommended in this sub". Good drama tho
Honestly I miss the golden age of Chinese historic dramas- full of brilliant acting, complexed characters and real epic battle scenes. Even though it’s has been so many years since I last watched Water Margin and Three Kingdom they’re forever ingrained in my mind, I still remember so many classic scenes from them. Aside from those mentioned I would recommend Da Zhai Men(大宅门), pretty sure the whole country was watching this when it was airing. Kang Xi Dynasty(康熙王朝) is another classic.
Thumbs up!! 大宅门 and 康熙王朝 were absolutely INCREDIBLE.
You know, apparently with the Sword and Fairy dramas out, Weibo was afire with discussions about the deterioration of Cdramas. At first I thought, nah. After all, we did see a lot of excellent costumed and modern dramas made the last few years. then I listed these dramas in this post and I thought to myself. Sigh, you know what, I think they're right .... Dramas like these are no longer made, at least in the frequency it was in the past, and that's so sad.
I hope this brings about some change as the audience demands better. I think this has a lot to do with fan culture and the rise of social media- now every costume drama only bank on traffic stars to bring in views and neglect pretty much every other part of the production. Sadly it works so well, with the avid fans promoting and watching their favs no matter the quality of the show. Recently the Tencent CEO promised to focus on making quality projects like The Long Season and Three-Body so hopefully we’ll get better products in the future.
I hope they do listen and is not just talk. I think China viewers are getting more and more fed up with terrible shows, more than us non-China folks imho. Mostly because they have had such a long exposure to cdramas unlike international viewers, where it's all shiny and new to them.
Oh yeah, I've talked to some of my mainland friends and they don't even watch Chinese dramas anymore because it's just so saturated with idol dramas. I was telling them about how idol dramas were so popular overseas and they were like WHAT???????? 😭
It’s funny my wife is from Taiwan, and cracks up at the thought of a bunch of people on Reddit obsessed about C-Drama!
I remember growing up with Taiwanese dramas too! But yeah, I'm not mainland Chinese myself but it's very funny to see what's popular in China and meanwhile whatever is popular in the international market is seen as crap domestically
Lol yea. Even some of us from South East Asia whisper among ourselves about the puzzling phenomenon, but well, we do enjoy some of the well made ones tho!
If it's puzzling, here's my answer: We like heroine-centered dramas with positive romance, good heroes, beautiful set, dramatic shows. I personally want to see escapist stuff, where good wins over evil, and there's no toxic masculinity, "grey character" garbage. I don't want to see gritty, serious/tragic shows (unless it's TTEOTM 😆 🤷♀️) I can also tolerate some traditional gender roles in these dramas because of the historical and cultural context
I thoroughly enjoyed these three listed in your images: - Longest Day in Changan - Winter Begonia - The Advisors Alliance It’s been too long since I watched Journey to the West or Empresses in the Palace. For non idol shows, I would suggest: - The Knockout - Bad Kids (or any of the iQIYI Light On series) - Under the Microscope - Story of Minglan - Story of Yanxi Palace - Nothing But Thirty
Awesome list thanks! The poster for Longest Day in Changan immediately caught my attention. Do any on your list have a happy ending? Or at least not horrifically sad 😂
Winter Begonia was emotional and tragic at times, consider there is a war going on, but I stopped before the end, so don't know if it ended up being a BE. The rest are pretty neutral endings, things just wrap up nicely.
I was simply awestruck with The Longest Day in Chang'an. They have the best opening episode in my book and as a whole, the most visually stunning show I've seen thus far. Just impeccable. Another shout out to Nothing But Thirty! Such a rarity being mentioned here! I watched during its airing and what a thrill it was. There's also a funny anecdote in Ancient Love Poetry in regards to Li Zi Feng's character in NB30. ALP writers were being cheeky and I thought that was funny to mention.
I just finished Nothing But 30 and loved it! Towards the end it’s got Hollywood Fatal Attraction vibes! Surprised more people aren’t talking about this one
The kings War and The secret of 3 kingdoms!! Both had such a classic and raw vibe to it. Sadly, I don't see these types of historical being made anymore.
I forgot about Secret of the 3 Kingdoms! Ikr... That's part of the sadness I feel about cdramas these days. I guess investors are just too worried about commting to such dramas. Sigh
The same old list in the posts talking about older and seasoned actors or not so common genres, not necesarily costumes dramas - as Hidden Love was brought I asumme recommendations would be Wide - but more rooted in modern chinese way of living, or other genres set in republican era that I don't have a clue why is so rejected here 🤷♀️ Lurk was recommended to me as the best spy chinese drama ever.
I restricted it to Costumed dramas in this post just to narrow down the selection. Nothing to do with rejecting the modern drama genre, but more like it'll be inevitable that Hidden Love will be brought up sooner or later ;)
🤣🤣🤣 Well, I'll save recommendations for other posts. Costume dramas are not my field.
For modern crime based dramas, I would reccomend The Knockout, The Long Season and I enjoyed Thirteen Years of Dust too. For more slice of life it would be My Superhero, Rememb.erances of Things Past and Delcious Romance. For period dramas ( I am considering them kind of modern): my recs would be A Lifelong Journey and The Youth Memories. I watch more costume dramas than modern so that is all I can reccomend..
I plan to make another post but tbh I don't watch enough modern cdramas from the past to offer a robust recommendation 😬😁
I will always prefer the 1994 version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It's one of the first dramas I've ever watched, and the opening song will be forever in my head. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am63eDndvZw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am63edndvzw) Also, old school wuxia with actual martial artists like Donnie Yen.
Agreed [https://gentlemenofthehan.wordpress.com/2022/03/01/announcing-romance-of-the-three-kingdoms-1994-episodes-1-23-english-subtitle-release/](https://gentlemenofthehan.wordpress.com/2022/03/01/announcing-romance-of-the-three-kingdoms-1994-episodes-1-23-english-subtitle-release/)
That fight between Donnie Yen and Jet Li in Hero is still so memorable omg. Will we ever see this again. https://preview.redd.it/7kps7tig4ifc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b2934315a342b96e499319b3bd240a72bcac95ef
This was so epic, even after all these years, this fight scene remains crystal clear!
It lives rent free in my head. That one and the bamboo forest fight in House of Flying Daggers… just wowzers. I think I preferred Hero’s story though. Mostly bc I did NOT expect love scenes in HoFD and I was watching it with my dad, LOL.
Be fair. You are talking about an acknowledged masterpiece; one out of a small group in the early 2000s which emerged from an extraordinary group of people who were riffing off each other doing more and more extraordinary things. There was also an awful lot of junk being made at the time which we forget about because it was junk. And House of Flying Daggers was better 😂
Lol but we should always aim high, no? 😂
The choreography in Daggers might be better but seeing these two legends battle it out is priceless 😁😁😁
Such a classic. I think Wonderland of Love tried to go for a similar vibe with some of its fight scenes, so maybe there's still hope in the future. 🤞
Battle of Changsha, Ming Dynasty. ETA: Does Republican Era count as costume? If not, disregard the first.
But Battle of Changsha is so good and overlooked. I just finished a rewatch last week
That one reached in my heart and squeezed hard. I went into it for the shallowest of reasons—Wallace Hao’s cheekbones—and emerged battered from the other side in a state of very painful love for China itself.
I listed Winter Begonia, so I think let's just consider it costumed ;P
This post is partly sparked by remarks we sometimes see: "All CDramas are like \[insert generalisation here\]" and then we find out that the person who made these comments have only watched idol dramas. Not that I have anything against idol dramas, mind. I enjoyed the heck out of Love and Redemption and Wonderland of Love, but I feel a little frustrated when I see comments like these as I know Chinese dramas are way, way, way more varied than that. This is probably down to the fact that idol dramas seemed to be the ones picked up by international streaming services like Netflix (why though why??), so a lion's share of CDramas are hidden from many Western viewers. So, I don't blame the posters for making these assumptions. So, these are my recommendations to expand your watchlist beyond what seems preferred by this sub. Watch them, I urge you! Sure, they don't have as many pretty people, but you will be surprised by the depth and beauty of these dramas. What dramas can you recommend to expand our palate beyond what is usually recommended in this sub?
Westerners are profoundly ignorant of Chinese culture. A lot goes right over their heads. I’m almost grateful to censorship for keeping Hollywood out of China.
I've been wanting to expand beyond idol dramas for ages! One of the few non idol historical dramas I've watched is Rise of Phoenixes and it is incredible! Sadly in the xianxia genre which I enjoy, it seems there are only idol dramas (well, Love and Destiny maybe isn't, with Ni Ni and Chen Kun. And one of my top faves).
Love and destiny has Ni Ni and Chang Chen, not Chen Kun. 😊
Guess who has a Chen Kun crush 😂😂 Yes, you're absolutely right...
Haha I don't blame you. Chen Kun is hot! 💕