Since my husbands family watches a lot of Chinese Television I have just started exploring what the country has to offer and some of shows are pretty exciting. I would recommend the following.
Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy
This is one of the most elaborate television shows I have ever seen with amazing production quality, gorgeous sets, stunning backdrop and great acting. It makes Game of Thrones look like a home made movie. The story line is fairly complex and in some episodes you have to pay close attention.
The 75 episode series is an adaptation of a book written by Jin Hezai, the series cost US$45m+ to make, filmed in both China and Japan, and filming the series started in August 2015 ending May 2016. It started broadcasting in China in November 2017 and DramaFever in the US which means they had spent quite a few months in post-production. English subtitles are provided over DramaFever.
Addicted
Due to the human rights situation in China the country is unknown to have any gay-related dramas, however they are not unknown. One that has received international interested is called Addicted, and yes, people round the world are addicted to this show. I was extremely impressed with the show.
Addicted is an online based web serial based on the novel “Are You Addicted?” by Chai Jidan. Filming spanned from November to December 2015, airing between January to February 2016, with an extremely small budget of US$794k. The actors on the show were virtually unknown but have become quite famous now. The show lasted 15 episodes in its first season and there were plans for a second, however Chinese authorities, from what I understand, banned it. Viewers were mainly female who evidently have a keen interest on gay relationships.
In The Name of the People
Haven’t got too much into this drama so far but many are calling it China’s “House of Cards”. Well, that is not true but it is a pretty good show full of suspense and drama. Online the show is sometimes called “In The Name of People” dropping “the” for some reason, maybe this is a lost in translation moment.
Like the above shows its based on a novel, the author is Zhou Meisen. It is based around a prosecutor’s efforts to uncover corruption in a present-day fictional city in China. The show is very popular in China as there are some story lines which are very coincidental to real life. I think the show receives some government funding therefore it virtually untouched by censors so it can get away with more than other shows I suspect. The show has won numerous awards and nominated for many others. So far 55 episodes were broadcast over a month between March and April 2017, not sure if there are any more in the works.
The Lost Tomb
This is another show we have been watching, not as good as the above but it is quite amusing none the less. We are half way through season one and its quite watchable.
The show aired in 2015 and is a web series based on a novel by Daomu Biji. The first season had 10 epsiodes and a further 7 seasons will be made, as yet I haven’t seen them come to light. The show was the most watched online drama in 2015 with 2.8 billion views, that is quite amazing. I would say the show is a close approximation to Indiana Jones.
Summary
There are some really great Chinese drama’s out there absolutely worth looking up, many have subtitles if you can if you don’t know Mandarin or Cantonese. I have looked at other Asian drama’s too from countries like South Korea which also look amazing. Happy viewing.