My Favorite Chinese Actors

Bai Yu

Chinese

• Parallel World
• Take Us Home
• Thank You, Doctor
• The Wind Blows from Longxi*
• The Bond
• Vacation of Love
• Minning Town
• The Long Night
• Fairyland Lovers
• Detective L
• Guardian
• Suddenly This Summer
• Above the Clouds
• Memory Lost
• Love O2O*

Bai Yu Fan

Chinese

• Pegasus
• City of the City
• Ripe Town*
• Stand by Me
• Our Times
• My Super Hero
• Reset 
• The Pavilion
• Remembrance of Things Past
• Minning Town
• Lovely Swords Girl

Zhu Yi Long

Chinese

• The Rebel
• Reunion: The Sound of Providence Season 2
• To Dear Myself
• Reunion: The Sound of Providence
• The Story of Ming Lan
• Granting You a Dream Like Life
• Guardian
• Lost in the Stars - film
  
• Lighting Up the Stars - film
  

Lawrence Wang

Chinese

• City of the City
• Thirteen Years of Dust
• The Knockout
• Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Yue Hong
• The Wind Blows from Longxi*
• Under the Skin
• Medal of the Republic
• Storm Eye
• My Best Friend's Story
• Eternal Love of Dream
  
• Eternal Love 

Lawrence Wang brings his impeccably grounded approach to whatever he's doing, even if that means he's discussing dragon bones or destiny runes or whatever other nonsense they put in the script, and that quality makes the scenes feel more real to me, as a grown woman who sincerely wants to hear more about these dragon bones. 

Liu Xue Yi

Chinese

• A Moment But Forever
• In Blossom 
• What If
• Destined*
• The Blood of Youth
• Love at Night
• Ancient Love Poetry
• Qing Luo
• Love and Redemption
• Autumn Cicada
• The Destiny of White Snake
• Noble Aspirations

Ryan Cheng

Chinese

• Legend of the Female General
  
• Follow Your Heart
• Story of Mystics
• My Journey to You
• Exploration Method of Love
• A Familiar Stranger 
• The Queen of Attack, Season 1 & 2

When cast in trope-y cold "god of war" roles, most young male actors communicate their emotionally closed-off characters with blank facial expressions and stiff body language. Ryan Cheng is the exception that proves the rule. He's just as slender and baby faced as Leo Wu or Ren Jia Lun, but his performance in A Familiar Stranger was far more persuasive. His quietly brooding style was precise and mysterious, hinting at a richly textured inner life.  

Wang Duo

Chinese

• Qian Duo Tao Hua Yi Shi Kai
• Hero Legends
• A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality
• A League of Noblemen
• Chinese Paladin Season 4
• Bloody Romance
• The Ying-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity 

Bai Jing Ting

Chinese

• Nan Lai Bei Wang
• Destined*
• New Life Begins*
• Reset 
• Octogenarian and the 90s
• You Are My Hero
• The Rise of Phoenixes*

Luo Yun Xi

Chinese

• Follow Your Heart 
• Love is Panacea
• Till the End of Moon 
• Light Chaser Rescue
• Lie to Love
• Broker
• Love is Sweet*
• And the Winner is Love
• Princess Silver*
• Ashes of Love
• A Life Time Love

Luo Yunxi is the most elegant man I've ever seen. His long neck, slender frame, and refined movements are undeniably feminine, almost breakable in their delicacy, but his first impression belies his acting style, which is vigorous and commanding. His presence is always assertive, even when his characters are powerless or submissive. It's hot. It's also such an unusual combination, so unlike what I've seen in leading men before, that I can't help but find myself engaged in his serpentine characters.

Tan Jian Ci

Chinese

• Go East
  
• Love Has Fireworks
  
• Under the Skin 2
  
• Lost You Forever 2 
• Love Me, Love My Voice 
• Lost You Forever
• Under the Skin
• Court Lady
• Twisted Fate of Love
• Winter Begonia
• Secret of Three Kingdoms
• The Advisors Alliance

Cheng Yi

Chinese

• Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Wang Quan
• Hero Legends
• South Wind Knows
• Mysterious Lotus Casebook
• Draw the Line
• Immortal Samsara, Season 1 & 2 
• Stand by Me
• The Promise of Chang'an
• Love and Redemption
• Noble Aspirations

Wang Xing Yue

Chinese

• The Double 
• Amidst a Snowstorm of Love 
• Shadow Detective
• The Scent of Time 
• Story of Kunning Palace
• First Love
• Delicacies Destiny
• Your Sensibility My Destiny*
• One and Only
• Song of Youth

On screen, it looks as if Wang Xing Yue's indomitable spirit is bursting at the seams of his fragile body.  He's like a younger and less well-known version of Luo Yunxi: their bodies are delicate while their performances are impactful, forceful, breathtakingly ardent. As actors, this paradox is compulsively watchable. As objects of desire in romantic narratives, this androgynous contradiction transmits an unexpectedly erotic pull.

Chen Xing Xu

Chinese

• Hero Legends
• Ni De Huang Yan Ye Dong Ting 
• My Boss
• The Starry Love*
• Fall in Love*
• Truth
• Goodbye, My Princess: Director's Cut
• The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Chen Xingxu reminds me of Jang Hyuk. Like the more seasoned Korean actor, he's takes a chaotic maximalist approach to his roles. In a sea of young male leads who play it too safe or mistake maturity for rigidity, Chen Xingxu's swashbuckling excess is much appreciated.

Dai Xu

Chinese

• Surgery Live Room 
• Men in Love
• A Dream of Splendor 
• The Ideal City
• The Rebel
• The Legends 

Dai Xu is one of the most criminally underrated actors in China. Like Yoon Si Yoon, he's the total package as an artist; equally adept with comedy and tragedy. His chemistry with his co-stars onscreen suggest he'd make an ideal ML in romances. He also takes whatever half-baked or cliché supporting part he's given and turns it into the most interesting, multi-dimensional persona onscreen, so casting directors should take note: he'll raise the quality of whatever production he's in. Please, for the love of God, someone give this man a lead role!

Vin Zhang

Chinese

• Qian Duo Tao Hua Yi Shi Kai 
• Surgery Live Room
• Here We Meet Again*
• Song of the Moon
• A Romance of Little Forest
• Be Together
• Rattan
• Storm Eye
• I Will Never Let You Go
• The Flame's Daughter
  
• The King's Woman
  
• Eternal Love
• Pretty Li Hui Zhen
• Love O2O*

Is Bin Bin cursed? His resume is equally split between broad production disasters and his own fabulously melancholic performances, it's as if he's an accomplished actor who has been buried under a cascade of substandard projects for years. The Flame's Daughter? Song of the Moon? A Romance of Little Forest? I'm an unhinged fan of Rattan but even I'd say it's nonsensical past the halfway point. On the other hand, there's Eternal Love and The King's Woman, where he absolutely slays! Hopefully, we'll see more of the latter in the future.

Wei Zhe Ming

Chinese

• Pi Jing Zhan Ji De Da Xiao Jie 
• 19th Floor
• I May Love You 
• Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Yue Hong 
• White Cat Legend 
• Rising With the Wind*
• Only for Love*
• Echo of Her Voice
• Hello, I Am at Your Service
• My Marvellous Fable*
• If Voice Has Memory
• Unforgettable Love
• Perfect and Casual 

Zhang Ling He

Chinese

• The Grand Princess 
• Reborn for Love 
• Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Yue Hong 
• Story of Kunning Palace
• Tiger and Crane 
• My Journey to You 
• Love Between Fairy and Devil*
• Flourish in Time
• Maiden Holmes

Xu Kai

Chinese

• As Beautiful as You Are
• Story of Joy 
• Wonderland of Love*
• Chinese Paladin Season 6
• Snow Eagle Lord*
• She and Her Perfect Husband
• Lost in the Kunlun Mountains
• Royal Feast
• Falling Into Your Smile
• Ancient Love Poetry
• Court Lady
• Dance of the Sky Empire
• Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain
• Arsenal Military Academy
• The Legends
  
• The Story of Yanxi Palace 

Like Rowoon, I don't really find Xu Kai attractive as a man, but I think he's terrific as a romantic lead, especially when his character is meant to be softer or more vulnerable. He's also an actor who reliably generates onscreen chemistry with his co-stars.

Liu Yu Ning

Chinese

• The Legend of Jewelry
• Cicada Girls
• Heroes
• A Journey to Love
• Wonderland of Love*
• Be Your Own Light
• The Legend of Anle* 
• Heroes
• Medal of the Republic
• The Long Ballad
• Ultimate Note

Li Hong Yi

Chinese

• Tian Shu Li Ming
• Flying Up Without Disturb
  
• Wulin Heroes
  
• The Blood of Youth 
• The Legendary Life of Queen Lau
• Parallel Love*
• Love Better Than Immortality 
• Master Devil Do Not Kiss Me*

Yang Yang

Chinese

• A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality
• Fireworks of My Heart
• Who Rules the World
• You Are My Glory
• The King's Avatar
• Love O2O*

Li Dong Heng

Chinese

• In The Name of the Brother
• Stand of Fall
• Thank You, Doctor
• Eternal Love of Dream
  
• The Flame's Daughter
  
• Eternal Love 

Jeremy Tsui

Chinese

• Yong An Dream
• Royal Rumors*
• The Journey of Chong Zi*
• Be My Princess
• The Autumn Ballad*
• Novoland: The Castle in the Sky 2
• Fairyland Lovers
• Legend of the Phoenix
• Siege in Fog

Mark Chao

Taiwanese

• Loving Strangers
• The Heart
• The Ideal City
• Eternal Love 

Leon Zhang

Chinese

• As Husband As Wife
• Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Zhu Ye
• The Furthest Distance
• My Special Girl 
• Players
• Pledge of Allegiance 
• Checkmate
• Ancient Love Poetry
• My Roommate is a Detective 
• Eternal Love of Dream  

Zhao Yi Qin

Chinese

• A Different Mr. Xiao
• Butterflied Lover*
• Provoke
• Sweet Sweet
• Consummation
• Love Story of Court Enemies
• My Girl
• Fake Princess
• Wait, My Youth
• The Legend of Hao Lin
• Accidentally in Love
• Memory Lost

Jin Chao

Chinese

• You Are Desire
• An Ancient Love Song
  
• Till the End of the Moon
  
• Dong Lan Xue
  
• Zhang Gong Zhu Zai Shang
• Emperor and Queen
• Medal of the Republic

Richard Li

Chinese

• The Deliberations of Love
• Zhao Ge Fu*
• My Decoy Bride
• Royal Rumors*
• Legend of Lin Ye
• The Immortal Promise
• Seal of Love
• Yang Di Wei Huan
• My Villain Husband

Yang Ze

Chinese

• Butterflied Lover*
• The Origin of Eternity
• Bossy Husband Who Loved Me
• Destined to Meet You*
• The Killer Is Also Romantic
• No Boundary
• Emperor or Boss
• The Legends

Zhang Wan Yi

Chinese

• Wo Zhi Dao Wo Ai Ni
  
• Rise of Ning
  
• Lost You Forever 2
• A Long Way Home  
• Lost You Forever
• The Bond
• Weaving a Tale of Love

Hou Chang Rong

Chinese

• The Tale of Rose
  
• Lost You Forever 2
• My Precious
• Faithful
• The Legend of Zhuohua
• Lost You Forever
  
• Love in the Flames of War
• New Life Begins*
• Sword Snow Stride
• The Sword and the Brocade
• My Best Friend's Story

Yao An Lian

Chinese

• Story of Joy
• A Dream of Splendor
  
• Love in Flames of War
• Life is a Long Quiet River
• Miss S
• The Rebel
• Goodbye, My Princess
• Evernight

Tian Jia Rui

Chinese

• The Story of Mystics
  
• The Legend of Rosy Clouds
• My Journey to You

Omid

Chinese

• The Story of Mystics
  
• The Last Immortal
  
• The Legend of Rosy Clouds
• My Journey to You
  
• Painted Skin: the Guo Jingming Edition - film
  
• The Ying-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity - film

Zuo Ye

Chinese

• The Story of Mystics
  
• The Snow Moon 
• My Journey to You
• Back from the Brink*
• Wuliang - film

Lester Lin

Chinese

• The Story of Mystics
• My Journey to You
• Imperfect Victim
• Jun Jiu Ling

Jing Chao

Chinese

• Shu Jin Ren Jia
  
• Ode to Joy 5
• Warm and Sweet
• Ode to Joy 1-4
• Lost Track of Time
• The War Has No Distance
• City of Streamer
• The Legend of Xiao Chuo
• Princess Silver*
• Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace

Qin Jun Jie

Chinese

• Blemish Flaw
  
• Heroes
• Side Story of Fox Volant
• Discovery of Romance
• Listening Snow Tower
• The Glory of Tang Dynasty
• Noble Aspirations

Ning Li

Chinese

• x
• x
• x
• Ripe Town
• Ordinary Greatness
• 
  

Yu Yao

Chinese