by Tine, August 14, 2020
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Hi there, friends! (*3*)

You just now came across the 3rd part of my “Why you should try... “ series. :)

Today’s topic is CHINESE DRAMAS.

I’ll be introducing all MDL countries for you, who might hesitate to watch one of them. So maybe you’ll try them out and love them as much as us. ;) Or again, you read this while already loving this country’s dramas and are just curious what we wrote.^^ Either way, I hope you’ll enjoy it.

(PS: better read with light-mode)

~


 These are the lovely people who’ll help me today:

 Abzzski:   Hello, fellow MDL’ers! My name is Abzzski. I have been watching dramas since 2016. I mainly watch Chinese, Korean and Thai dramas. Sometimes Taiwanese dramas. :)

 Loveisdeep:  I am Vina from Indonesia. I’ve been watching Taiwanese and Chinese dramas since 2001-2002. At that time, my fav drama was Romance in the Rain - I’ve been a huge fan of Vicky Zhao and really love all the songs from her dramas. Later, I always watched T-dramas, and in these recent years, I prefer C-dramas because the story is good, all the actors and actresses are very good looking, and of course, the soundtracks are great too.

 Precious:  Hello! ^^ I am Precious and a big fan of Chinese dramas. My first C-drama was The Journey of Flower, and I can say the title is directly - or I would say: indirectly - talking about me cause that’s my journey into the C-drama world.^-^

 Mai:  Hi, I’m Mai. ^^ Your friendly neighbour, secret drama lover, and clumsy friend. Today, I’m here to spread a little happy sprinkle on the Chinese drama scene, so more people can venture into this land and find love and joy in it, as I have in recent years.



 Abzzski:  C-dramas, in my opinion, have a lot more genres to choose from compared to other countries. You will likely find Chinese dramas and films in your preferred genre as well as find dramas and films that suit your taste. Wuxia and Fantasy genres are what kept me coming back to Chinese dramas over other countries. Now I watch every genre. When you watch Chinese dramas in a historical setting, the design of the sets and costumes always look beautiful and fascinating in my opinion. Personally, I think China makes better costume based dramas compared to a modern setting.

 Loveisdeep:  I like C-dramas firstly because I love Chinese and understand a bit of the language. But mostly because there is a wide variety of dramas you can watch. You can choose what kind of genre you want. I like the plot and story because it is fresh, simple, light, and enjoyable. The story overall is like our real life (ex: school, youth drama, office drama). And the most important part is: you will feel emotional when you watch C-dramas. However, I also enjoyed their historical dramas such as Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms and Ashes of Love. They are awesome! The story, their acting, the plot, the cinematography, costumes, settings, and even OSTs are very great.  Not to forget that there’s always a lesson learned. They teach you how to pursue your dreams and positivity.

 Precious:  C-dramas are cute - oh I love cuteness!^^ Also, they are fluffy with light acting. Their vibe and acting are totally different from other countries’ dramas I have watched so far. My favourite genre is romance, comedy, fantasy and wuxia. Actually, I love every new C-drama! I watch it more than the other ones... That’s just me, hehe.

 Mai:  What stands out for me with C-dramas is their simplicity, but also their complexity at the same time. Chinese folklore, mythology, their ancient clothing, accompanied with their intricate headwears, and all those elaborate fantasy worlds they create in their stories are all pieces of the puzzle that bring me to get invested in watching C-dramas. The immense number of episodes is something that puts off many people, but they use this length to explore every detail of most of the characters you encounter in a drama, and they don’t obsess with heavy drama that makes you stressed out every episode. Though there are some heavier dramas out there with complex and difficult topics, most (in recent years) tend to feel like a light breeze on your cheek. You feel it, but it passes quickly. (Tine... I could comment on more stuff within this question, but maybe I will go too overboard? Tine: Maybe a little ;D)

 Me:   I totally agree with the others. <3 When it comes to the historical genre, I love Chinese wuxia dramas the most! :3 Their landscapes and settings are so pretty - as are the costumes. And they know how to tell legends and tales.^^ But China is also great in doing cute youth and coming of age dramas (My Youth). But also modern office-romance dramas. They cover up lots of genres actually - as you can see.^^ They mostly have a bigger amount of episodes so some people might think of them as slow-paced - as for me: I really love them. :)



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Bloody Romance
At the time of the release, I was fascinated by the drama cause I’ve never watched anything like it before. What made it one of my favourite dramas is the amazing chemistry between the main leads. It was so good that [kiss scenes or intimate scene weren’t necessary.]. They could be standing far apart yet you could clearly see them yearning for each other. Besides this being a dark drama about the assassination. I have never seen such a deep connection between two characters in a drama before.


Battle Of Changsha
As a history lover, I decided to watch Battle of Changsha. It is one of my favourites as this drama is an amazing emotional roller coaster. A family-oriented drama during times of war. It’s difficult to put into words the good things about this drama because there is so much to talk about. If you like war historical dramas, I would recommend Battle of Changsha.


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Go Go Squid!
The story is about a girl who is smart with computers and meets the ML, who is the boss of K&K (professional online gamers). She fell in love at first sight with him. First I felt it was all about a cute and lovely romance and nothing really special. But after watching more episodes, I got more addicted to this. What I love about this drama is the journey to reach their dreams. However, in this drama, we also learned so much: that chasing a dream is not easy. And not to forget about the K&K teams that are very humorous. I love their relationship. Another plus point is that all the OSTs are really good. Absolutely love this drama and will always rewatch again.



My Girl (2020)
This drama is very different because of the story, and even the characters! Not like your typical CEO drama, because the ML is stingy - but this is the funniest and laughable part. The FL is a make-up artist who has PTSD, identity disorder and a scar on her face that made her suffer for years. And the ML is a CEO of a cosmetic company, who tries really hard to make a liquid foundation to cover the scar of the girl which he hurt before. Both of them have their own difficulties and struggles. And what I love about this drama is basically the story. It is fresh, and the cast is also beautiful. They both have good acting too. The OST is also good. So, I can say: I love everything about this drama.
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My Love Enlighten Me
I started watching it because I knew the ML from Meteor Garden and I decided to give it a try. It was interesting from the beginning, and I got hooked to it immediately. The couples had good chemistry with each other.



You Are My Destiny (2020)
It's also an interesting drama about a man and lady who fell in love with each other because of their mistake, I don’t want to spoil this, you should give it a try, it’s really interesting, and I like the ML because he’s not the cold-hearted type of ML. ^^ Not to forget the side couples, their screen time was just so funny, I would say it’s a great drama.

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Le Coup De Foudre
Right from the get-go, you already understand that the main leads are going to end up together. They talk to the camera directly and explain what happened in the past and how they came to this point. The drama then interchanges scenes between the present and the past events. Think How I Met Your Mother but Asian style. The synopsis might fool you, but the drama is very much down to earth. You feel relaxed watching it. You’ll have a solid friendship, heartwarming family moments, mature conversations, realistic sibling relationship, realistic family problems and their ways of dealing with them, and so much more. It’s a rewarding drama that makes you feel it was worthwhile to watch it.


Ashes Of Love
The gorgeous and intricate costumes, the natural acting and not being afraid to show your ugly side and stick a tongue out, the emotions that stir up your insides, the love that defies all witchcraft, the revenge that you can get on board, the sacrifice that tickles even Buddha, the strong female characters that take no crap from anyone, the development of each character, each plot line bringing something to the storyline, and many other things bring you back to this drama to watch it again and again.
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Eternal Love Of Dream
Eternal Love of Dream is the long and beautiful love story of the respective emperor of heaven Dong Hua and the lovely nine-tailed fox queen Feng Jui. Trough lots of obstacles, lives and worlds they find the way to each other, revealing mysteries and fight the bad demon queen once again. This is probably my absolute favourite Chinese drama ever. I love the story, the OST, the costumes, the scenery - everything. It feels like they are telling us a secret tale and I’m lovin’ it.^^

The Romance Of Hua Rong
It’s about a heroic girl, who gets captured by a pirate. He makes her his wife, but she can escape. So he tries catching her again. But of course, that’s not all. There are evil antagonists and a secret hero to be revealed. I had lots of fun watching this. Its nothing too serious and totally funny. There were no frustrating side characters - it was just about the mains - so it was an easy watch! :) I loved their love story, and I was especially amazed by the acting of the ML. It was so refreshing to watch - and he has dimples, hehe.^^



 Loveisdeep:  ... any kind of mood for me.

 Precious:  ... when you’re bored or tired or just want pure entertainment I think you should give C-dramas a try. You’ll definitely not regret doing so! (✪ω✪)

 Mai:  ... when you want to turn off your brain and relax. A good dose of fluff and a full bowl of laughs is what you will get.

 Me:  ... long and beautiful historical/fantasy dramas, modern dramas, or just cute youth dramas that make you feel fluffy inside :3. I noticed that their movies could also be kinda brutal tho. xD



Last words:

 Precious:  Again, most C-dramas are long, and I know most people are scared of long dramas because they get bored easily - just like me. But don’t worry because there are still some cute short dramas to keep you entertained or you can watch two different dramas rather than binge-watching one drama so as not to get bored - cause that’s what I do too.^^ So why not give C-drama a try? If you haven’t, you’ll never know until you try, right?

 Mai:  If you’re only just now venturing into the Chinese land, buckle up and try to start with dramas from recent years. The older dramas will make you pull your hair from the excessive exaggeration of everything, as well as overacting and too many whys to a gazillion things, so ease yourself with those. Start light with fun and easy-to-watch dramas from the last couple of years, and when you’re ready, the Chinese wall will gladly open its old doors for you. (:

 Me:  I guess we all agree that Chinese dramas really got better and better, especially these recent years. :) Also check out The Romance of Tiger and Rose, Mr Honesty, Mr Fox and Miss Rose and many more. I hope you liked this article too and are heading to watch your first C-drama now.^^ Or maybe you could add something to your PTW. ^^ My next article will introduce Taiwanese Dramas - so remember to check it out. ;) Until then! Happy watching! ;)


Big Thanks to my fellow MDLers:


/Vina




I don’t own any pictures: They are all taken from the MDL sites. Some might be resized for better fitting. Credits to the rightful owners. The headers were done by me.


Edited by: Yuanwei (1st editor) & Cookie (2nd editor)