I had been watching anime since I was little, and did see the usual Chinese martial arts movies, but didn't know dramas existed.
I think it was 2008 or 2009, I saw a video on youtube featuring Meteor Garden - Hua Ze lei and Shan Cai, my very first Asian crush was Vic Zhou haha. I hunted ebay for the series, thinking he was the main lead :(
Then found mysoju, THE site to watch dramas on. My 2nd drama was Devil beside you, and 2nd crush was Mike He.
I first started with Taiwanese dramas, Japanese, discovered K-pop, Korean, Chinese and Thai. Now am mostly all in for Korean and Chinese dramas.
I still watch American series, got 14 ongoing, but at times I need a break from all the swear words and sex scenes and hopping from one guy to another.
Also the OST, at times they're like soundtracks of big movies, like My country The new age, what an amazing instrumental OST which evokes all the feels.