What are your plans for Chinese New Year? If you’re not so into house-visitings and gatherings, read on for some recommendations of Chinese Drama which you can binge-watch over the holiday season. Let’s take a look at the Top 5 Chinese Drama that have been making headlines in the last quarter of 2018!
Other reads you might be interested in:
Top 5 Chinese Drama to watch in 2019 (January Edition)
Top 5 Chinese Drama to binge-watch (2018 Edition)
Top 5 Chinese Drama to binge-watch (2017 Edition)
1. Never Gone (原来你还在这里)
Originally a novel by Xin Yiwu (辛夷坞), the series was first introduce as a movie film featuring former EXO member Kris Wu (吴亦凡) and Liu Yifei (刘亦菲) as the main leads. 2 years later today, the novel was remade into a drama series titled “Never Gone (原来你还在这里)” starring Elvis Han (韩东君) as Cheng Zheng and Yang Zishan (杨子姗) as Su Yunjing. The main lead, Elvis, made his debut in 2014 with The Romance of the Condor Heroes and later rose to fame with Wu Xin: The Monster Killer.
The 36-episode drama series began when Su Yunjing transferred to a new high-school and met Cheng Zheng, who has caught on feelings for Su Yunjing at their first meeting. Love at first sight or enemies turned lovers? While Cheng Zheng made aggressive advances to pursue Su Yunjing, she avoids him like plaque considering their vast differences in family backgrounds and her bedridden father who’s passed before their graduation. Not long after, Su Yunjing left Cheng Zheng behind and left the town without a word.
Cheng Zheng’s unrequited feelings withstood the test of time and fate brought them together again in college. Will Su Yunjing finally accept Cheng Zheng this time despite their differences? A romance drama is never complete without a second main lead, isn’t it? Would you choose a cheeky and love-strucked childhood sweetheart or a dependable senior who is always there for you in times of need?
Watch how the jealousy game got them turning rounds and rounds on their journey to adulthood. Although they did get together at some point
Click here to watch the 35-episode
*BONUS: Watch a snippet of the movie series featuring Kris Wu below!
2. When We Were Young (人不彪悍枉少年)
Fun fact: The male lead of this drama series, Neo (侯明昊), was previously a trainee in SM Entertainment in 2012 and a former member of Fresh (极客少年团) before he left to venture solo in 2016.
Apart from Neo (侯明昊) starring as Hua Biao, the series features Wan Peng (万鹏) as the female lead Yang Xi and Zhang Yao (张耀) as the second male lead Li Yu who are childhood best friends with the same birthdays. The series revolves around a group of high-school students back in year 1996. It all started when the group of friends were chasing after a bicycle theft who stole Xiao Xi’s newly bought bicycle and they met with an explosion in the science lab halfway, of which the shattered glass shards injured Yang Xi’s leg.
Thus, Yang Xi was unable to participate in the sports competition which could’ve earned her extra points for their entrance exam. Who would’ve guessed that the new transfer student (aka Hua Biao) who transferred into their class was the mastermind behind the explosion? To make things worse, Hua Biao was elected as the new class president to replace Yang Xi. How would this pair of enemies face their past and budding romance?
Watch the 28-episode chinese drama series here.
3. Ashes of Love (香蜜沉沉烬如霜)
Ashes of Love (香蜜沉沉烬如霜) was one of the most talked about Chinese drama of 2018. The series was lead by one of the most popular Mainland actors, Deng Lun (邓伦), alongside with Yang Zi (杨紫) and Leo Luo (罗云熙). As the main lead, Deng Lun played the role of the Xu Feng as The Phoenix and Crowne Prince of the Heaven Realm. Following second is Leo Luo as Run Yu, the Water Dragon God and Eldest Prince of the Heaven Realm. The two brothers are complete opposites of each other in terms of their temperament, yet exactly the same when they fell head over heels for Jin Mi, a multi-identity character acted by Yang Zi.
It was said that the world was conquered by six different realms – Heaven, Demon, Flower, and more. The birth of Jin Mi was kept a secret until she trespassed the Heaven Realm and got into trouble which lead to her identity being exposed to the world. She was the child of the Water God and Flower Goddess, who was pursued by many but loved only the father of her child. When unrequited love turns into hate, the Flower Goddess was wrongly accused and died of a wrongful death after giving birth to Jin Mi. Before her death, she could already predict the obstacles coming in Jin Mi’s life and fed her the elixir of forbidden love to suppress her ability to love.
Fate came knocking on the “door” when the injured Xu Feng, The Crowne Prince, intruded the Flower Realm and was saved by Jin Mi. In exchange, Xu Feng had to fulfil one of Jin Mi’s wishes and brought her to the Heaven Realm where she met Run Yu, the Water Dragon God and brother of Xu Feng.
It’s a roller coaster ride surrounding not just the trio, but also the battles of the six realms. As the love triangle forms, how will Jin Mi deal with the two princes when she could never feel love due to the elixir fed to her at birth? Who will be the right one for her? Click here to watch the 63-episode chinese drama series!
4. Battle Through the Heavens (斗破蒼穹)
Adapted from the same-title novel by Tiancan Tudou (天蚕土豆), Battle Through the Heavens starred Leo Wu (吴磊), Lin Yun (林允), Baron Chen (陳楚河) and more. Main lead Leo Wu debuted as a child actor and rose to fame with Nirvana in Fire (琅琊榜), known for its extremely star-studded list of casts such Hu Ge (胡歌) and Liu Tao (刘涛). Female lead Lin Yun made her spectacular debut with the film “The Mermaid” directed by Stephen Chow.
Xiao Yan (starred by Leo Wu) was only nine year-old when his mother was murdered by their enemies. Her death was never brought up, not even by his biological father. Determined to avenge for his mother’s wrongful death, Xiao Yan trained in martial arts for many years but could not see any progress at all. Little did he know that it was because of the magical powers in the ring that his mother had left him. Not until he finally crossed paths with Yao Chen (starred by Baron Chen), who helped him improve his skills tremendously. A hero is never complete without an invincible sidekick, who in this case is Xiao Yun’er (starred by Lin Yun), also his childhood sweetheart.
Click here to watch the 45-episode chinese drama series to find out how the invincible duo
5. The Faded Light Years (浪漫星星)
The Faded Light Years (浪漫星星) is a modern romance drama series starring Wang Jia (王嘉) as Ding Wenxiao, Xing Fei (邢菲) as Yan Xia and Jian Zhenyu (贾征宇) as Xu MoChen. The story was set in the modern times where the millennial are striving to make a name for themselves.
Ding Wen Xiao is the CEO of D.I Group, a young and rising fashion apparel company in Mainland China, who strives to be a publicly listed company. To qualify, the company has to achieve a certain level of sales to be listed. As such, D.I struggled as their success depends on their Chief Designer, who unknowingly got big-headed and failed to see the areas where she lacked in. For example, creativity.
It was fate pulling it’s strings that Ding Wenxiao got to know Yan Xia, who was a modern seamstress and the daughter of a traditional dressmaker (her father). Their unfaithful meeting began when Yan Xia’s business partner passed an apparel design to her to remake into an actual piece of clothe, Yan Xia wasn’t aware that it was a design of D.I Group. Hence, she was accused of plagiarism.
Click here to watch how the youngsters overcome betrayals and a test of their morales in a battle against the society.
Looking for more Chinese drama recommendations? Check out our recommendations for early 2018 here and for 2017 here!
Article by Xuan Lin @ KAvenyou.com
