Welcome to the Chinese drama subreddit! This is a space for all fans of cdramas, TV shows, web series, as well as actors and actresses. Here we have discussions and reviews of our favourite shows, provide recommendations for other viewers, and talk about all aspects of Chinese dramas from pre to post production. Fanart and memes are always welcome, so come join us to figure out what drama you should be picking up next!
Discussion
Note: excluding Qin Lan, Liu Tao, and Reyizha since they are pretty well discussed internationally. Feel free to share/introduce other actresses not mentioned here too such as Sun Li and Liu Lin as commented :D
Zhang had a first breakout with the movie Hi, Mom(2021) and rose to prominence again this year after her outstanding performance in drama Alliance(2023) and movie Last Suspect(2023). Upcoming drama: Once Again.
Gao Ye becomes recognized after her popularity shot up exponentially along with the hit drama The Knockout(2023). Upcoming drama: Ray of Sunshine(costarring Tan Zhuo -described below-), Justifiable Defence.
Tan Zhuo has gained good reputation and fame from drama Story of Yanxi Palace(2018) and movie Sheep without A Shepherd(2019). She has been nominated for Magnolia Best Actress for her role in drama Enemy(2022). Upcoming drama: Ray of Sunshine(costarring Gao Ye -described above-).
Xin Zhilei hasn't had a major breakthrough yet, but she has been in some popular dramas such as Joy of Life(2019) and The Wolf(2020). Upcoming drama: Blossoms Shanghai, Joy of Life 2.
Wu Yue is actually in another league and has more experience, she has received critical acclaims for many of her dramas/films and received many nominations in major awards. Recently, she won Magnolia Best Actress award at age 51 for her role in drama Bright Future(2022). Upcoming drama: Me and My Family.
Yuan Quan is quite recognized in China film industry and been nominated and won in major awards for her performances. She's also popular as a stage theatre actress. She has a breakthrough in popularity after the The First of Half of My Life(2017) becomes a household hit in China. Upcoming drama: Girl's School in The Mountain(to be filmed).
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Q&A
Who is the beautiful woman in AN ancient love song? I love her. Zhang Ua Qin? I cried after it finished omg.
Wu jin yan from legend of Hao lan is a tour de force!
Ariel Lin is technically Taiwanese but I love her (I might be biased because my first drama was It Started With a Kiss and I loved her in that)
Zhouxun, Ma Su and Liu Min Tao
I always put Xin Zhilie and Janine Chang is their own category of just other worldly kind of beautiful.
Great actresses and extraordinarily beautiful.
I love all of these actresses! I basically try to watch most things they're in. Of course, I need subs, but they're also popular enough to be in subbed shows.
Oh, I'm especially loving Divas Hit the Road S5 lol. I believe Dilreba is the main draw, but I'm mainly watching for Qin Hailu, Xin Zhilei and Qin Lan lol.
I recently watched Liu Tao and Qin Hailu in "Be Your Own Light" which Liu Yuning was also in lol. His character was very cute.
My go-to shows to leave on in the background are "Empresses in the Palace" (esp the Jiang Xin arcs and with Sun Li) and "Miss S" with Ma Yili (gorgeous outfits).
I loved Reyizha in Mining Town. She's one of the actresses that I love to look at lol.
My #1 Girl Crush is Li Yuan lol. She was soooo sexy and cool in "The Longest Day in Changan" and was recently in "Fake it till You Make It." I fell for her after "Cold Case" lol.
What no love for Ruby Lin?
There are a lot of amazing older actresses in China who have crazy good acting skills. Including all the ppl mentioned in this post, love them.
Qin Hailu is also another amazing actress. Her breakout role was in Fruit Chan’s 2000 movie Durian Durian which got her a Golden Horse Best Actress Award. She’s been in movies and dramas in the recent years as well.
Love Yuan Quan, her speaking voice is soooo soothing and she has amazing line delivery. Most recently, she played Queen Jiang in this year’s hit movie Fengshen and even got a Golden Rooster nomination for Supporting Actress even tho she was in the movie for like 4 minutes 😂
Jiang Qinqin played the villainous empress in Tribes & Empires but she was so amazing and convincing. Her movie with Wu Lei premiered at Tokyo IFF earlier this year, very much looking forward to it.
Yao Chen is huge in China but I don’t think she’s mentioned a lot in this sub. Her 2019 modern drama All is Well was good and a super big hit.
Exactly, we need to break the stereotypes among new international C-drama fans that "Most C-actress always act like naive and immature adult ladies with baby voices" hahaha
Yao Chen - yes I've heard that she's very popular among domestic audience and has the most weibo followers!
Thanks for this post!
Gao Yuan Yuan and Tong Liya are older generation of actresses that I find are still so stunning and most of the new gen don't even hold a candle to.
had a crush on zhou xun from her old stuff/roles in perhaps love, west lake moment, suzhou river etc
Yuan Quan is insanely gorgeous. I discovered her in Handsome Sibling 2005 (one of my crack dramas back in the day). This lady takes great care of herself
You forgot to mention Regina Wan as well. I loved her in "Secret of the Three kingdoms" with Ma Tian Yu. She was the best part of the drama for me
I love this post. A lot of mature actresses have such amazing acting skills and I’m always more inclined to watch their dramas.
Out of the ones you mentioned, I have watched and absolutely love Xin Zhilei, Wu Yue, and Yuan Quan.
Some other actresses over 35 I love and have watched several of their dramas are (in no particular order, and may have been mentioned):
Liu Min Tao
Tong Yao
Hai Qing
Gao Lu
Zhu Zhu
Bai Baihe
Zhao Ziqi
There’s also a lot of more mature actresses who usually take on the role of the mom/MIL and I can never remember their names but they’re amazing.
Love Sun Li! Amazing acting skills
Reyizha’s a fav, same with Zhang Xiaofei (small correction, her breakout was the film Hi, Mom), Liu Mintao (even if she’s since regressed a little), Ren Suxi (mostly does film), Liu Dan, Chen Jin, Yang Rong off the top of my head.
Thanks for the correction.
Speaking of Ren Suxi, her new drama There Will Be Ample Time just completed on Tencent, its Douban score was 8.1 the last I've heard. Her 2021 drama Remembrance of Things Past was quite a success wasn't it, I think she's rising as a mature actress in both worlds :D
Yup, There Will Be Ample Time was the continuation of Remembrance of Things Past, both very solid modern dramas. Haven't watched it yet but Left Right had an interesting premise, definitely started a lot of discourse online too.
I watched both There Will Be Ample Time and Remembrance of Things Past and both were quality slice of life dramas that have good word of mouth (and received over 8.0 rating on Douban) on several platforms. Ren Suxi really shines in TWBAT though because she probably has the most screen time in here and she is credited as one of the main characters when she was only credited as an actor with special appearance in RoTP despite having a lot of screen time too.
New to c-ent so I'm more exposed to younger actresses, but I remember Charmaine Sheh from back then, she was oozing with charisma during my adolensence years. Is she still acting?
She was 2nd FL in The Legend of Xiao Chuo alongside Tiffany Tang.
I read she is married to one of the richest men in China.
Huh... shes not married at all.
Charmaine Sheh is still active, her latest drama The Queen of News just ended its run recently on Youku. Her performance in Story of Yanxi Palace(2018) was one of the factors to keep her in the limelight when others from her TVB generations were regressing.
The Queen of News was receiving great reception in China too, it scored 7.9 on Douban and was rated by 80k+ and I see so many people praising her and the drama on Weibo
Charmaine was smart enough to get a role in mainland drama to rekindle her career especially now that HK ent is going through its dark age
I know. This makes me a bit sad... just the other day I finally found a drama I've been searching forever for (mainly bc I was too young to remember the title).
My favourite actresses above 35 will be: Wang Likun, Ma Yili, Zeng Li, Dong Jie, taiwanese actress Cheryl Yang.
Xin Zhilei- Will never get tired of fangirling for her
Tong Liya- Rarely see her in drama nowadays but I really like her graceful aura
Ma Sichun- Just checked MDL and apparently she didn't have any drama this year🙁
Sun Li! Her acting is top notch! I've watched most (though did not finish all) of her dramas. It's a pity that she's not as active anymore as she focuses more on spending time with her children. Good for her though.
Especially love her in empresses of the Palace and Legend of Mi Yue.
I think she has a few projects in the pipeline and had a movie released this year (Ping Pong, the triumph).
Her stand-out performance is Nothing Gold can Stay, but it gets criticised because it doesn't have a sweet ending.
Also, she is really good in the modern drama The Ideal City
Great actress.
4. Xin Zhilei (37 years old), she's the concubine I love to hate in Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace.
Other older actresses I love are
Liu Lin (the mother in Ming Lan and Hilarious Family)
Betty Sun (for all my harem fans!)
Jiang Qin Qin (if you've seen Marvelous Women or The Burning River)
Tong Yao (Zhang Ziyi's doppelgänger) but also in Nothing But Thirty and Ever Night
Liu Tao (the princess in NiF, the chief in Reset, the Empress in Legend of Mi Yue, etc)
There's a couple more but they're not as active so I won't list them.
When I first watched Nothing But Thirty I was surprised to see Tong Yao because she really looks like ZZY.
It is funny how Tong Yao had chemistry with much younger Chen Fei Yu in Ever Night.
I'm only familiar with Gao Ye and Xin Zhi Lei. They have great acting skills and charisma!
Xin Zhilei! I love her in JoL and I'm so looking forward to seeing her in Blossoms Shanghai.
I like all the actresses listed here but I have such a crush on Gao Ye right now! Girl has got so much charisma😍