China Celebs
CCTV’s New Year’s Gala 2016 Liveblog
It is time for the CCTV New Year’s Gala, Chunwan in short, the special annual evening variety show that captures millions of viewers on the night of Chinese New Year. Read all about the ins and outs of the 2016 edition here.
CCTV Gala Liveblog Updates Chinese Time Zone UTC+8
17:00 Three hours before the show starts! What can we expect tonight? According to the directors, it will be all about singing and dancing today; about 80% of the show’s performances are music and dance. One of the Gala’s directors, Zou Wei, tells CCTV: “We’ve come up with some innovative approaches for the song and dance numbers. We’ll also be moving and changing the stage a lot. The audience will get a very refreshing take. Ninety percent of the song and dance programs are newly created; the remaining 10 percent are a salute to the gala’s past classics.” Besides dance and music, there will also be acrobatic performances and comedy sketches (‘crosstalk’).
17:30 2,5 hours to go. The theme of this year’s CCTV Gala is “You and Me, Our Chinese Dream – Building a Moderately Prosperous Society”. Every year the Gala has a different theme. Last year’s theme was “Family Harmony Yields Success”. The CCTV Gala is known for its political messages, as it is a way for the government to reach an audience of millions.
18:30 There will be a total of 37 acts in tonight’s gala. Amongst the performers are many veterans who have performed at the Gala before, but there are also newcomers, such as the TFBOYS, one of China’s most popular pop groups – they will be performing at the show for the first time. They have a fanbase of nearly 7.5 million on their official Weibo account.
18:45 The TFboys are in the building! The three boys looked somewhat nervous as they entered the Gala venue earlier today. The popular boy band will perform in tonight’s during the show as the 5th act. They told the host their families have all come to Beijing to celebrate the New Year together, eating and exchanging hongbao (red envelopes). When the host asked them how much money was in the hongbao they received from their parents, they did not really want to answer. They might be the ones giving their parents hongbao now..
19:00 One hour to go! This year’s gala will be extra special, because it has four extra venues apart from the main one at the CCTV Beijing studio. The additional venues are in southeast China’s Quanzhou city, northwest China’s Xi’an city, south China’s Guangzhou city and Hulun Buir city in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, representing the east, west, south and north of China: a gathering of the whole country.
19:30 Just thirty minutes before the start of the show. Tonight’s Gala will be presented by well-known CCTV faces. In the Beijing main venue the gala will be hosted by a total of six presenters, three men and three women, namely: Zhou Tao (周涛), Zhu Jun (朱军), Dong Qing (董卿), Sa Beining (撒贝宁), Li Sisi (李思思) and Nigel Amat. All of them presented the CCTV Gala before, the 51-year-old Mr. Zhu Jun has hosted the gala since 1997. The other venues in Xi’an, Guangzhou, Hulun Buir and Quanzhou will be hosted by, amongst others, Zhu Xun, Ma Yue, Li Jiaming and Ren Luyu, along with some newcomers from local TV stations.
19:50 The biggest show of the year is about to start! The chief director of today’s show is Lu Yitao. Just 38 years old, he is the youngest chief director of the Spring Festival Gala ever.
20:00 Here we go. The opening act is a dance performance called “Spring brings Good Fortune” by, amongst others, actress Yan Ni (闫妮, dressed in blue) and other movie stars. The dancers in the background just formed the shape of ‘fu’, the character for prosperity. The hosts of the night welcome the audiences to CCTV’s 2016 Spring Festival Gala.
20:15 Zhou Tao and Zhu Jun are the first hosts to welcome everybody. They represent the older CCTV generation, having presented the Gala multiple times since 1997.
The CCTV Gala is an annual event since 1983. This year is extra special for the several venues where the Gala is aired: Quanzhou city, Xi’an city, Guangzhou city and Hulun Buir city. Every city has its own hosts, welcoming the audiences in their own local dialect or language.
The second act tonight is a joined act by the two famous bands Phoenix Legend and Jiuye Qiji (玖月奇迹), who sing about “A Beautiful China Rises” (美丽中国走起来). Most of the songs presented tonight are new works made for the CCTV Gala. The performers on the left are the musical performers named ‘Phoenix Legend’, the right band is Jiuye Qiyi.
20.20 Most of the performances tonight are dance and singing, but there will be a total of 7 spoken acts. This short sketch is called ‘Happy grandpa’, performed by Feng Gong (冯巩) who is a familiar face at the CCTV Gala. The sketch is about spending New Year’s Eve, although some netizens seem to have no clue what it was actually about..
20.30 “Let’s Follow the Path of Peace” is a song sung by Chinese singer Zhang Ye (张也, 47 years old). She is especially famous in China for her song “Into a New Era” (走进新时代).
In the meantime, the Gala has become the number one trending topic on Weibo, together with the TFboys, who will soon perform in the show.
20.40 Time to shake your mobile phone! Viewers of the Gala can shake their smartphones to grab a hongbao (red envelope) from CCTV. This is a game that was first introduced last year as a cooperation between WeChat and CCTV.
Here we go for the much-anticipated act of the TFBoys. Aged around 13/14 years old, they are one of China’s most popular acts, often becoming a trending topic on Weibo. They perform together with Yueliang Jiejie, presenter of a children’s show. They are accompanied by dancing cartoons – all China-made.
I am not sure if everybody heard it, but during their act the sound went terribly off during the live broadcast.
20.50 The sixth act of the evening is a short sketch called “Don’t worry” by Sun Tao and other actors about scamming practices per phone in China, and people being oversensitive to being afraid of people cheating you- even when they are not. This act, that is liked by most netizens, is followed by a special performance by different singers from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan who sing about the ecological heritage of China in the song “Beautiful mountains and rivers of China” (山水中国美). Some of the singers sing in their local dialect. The woman in yellow is the famous Gigi Leung from Hong Kong.
During the show, there seem to be some problems with the sound system. If things would really go wrong, the show has a taped version of the full dress rehearsal. The tape runs together with the live broadcast, so that in the event of a problem or disruption, the producers can seamlessly switch to the taped version without TV audiences noticing anything. We would probably not even know if we were watching the live or the taped version!
21.10 The 8th act of the night will not be performed in the Beijing main location, but in southeast China’s Quanzhou city. It is a song called “Happy Thought of You” (快乐想念). The dancing puppets are typical for the region.
This puppet performance interesting change of pace. Usually when I see puppets perform on CCTV the strings are not so obvious.
— Jeremiah Jenne (@GraniteStudio) February 7, 2016
This performance is followed by a quite stunning dance act by the Atlanta Morningstar dance school by overseas Chinese.
21.30 2.5 hours to go until Chinese New Year! We first see a short film followed by the 11th act; one of the few short sketches of the night called “The General and the Soldiers”. The video of marching troops and the sketch about China’s troops and army life in preparation for the 2015 parade show a strong China. One of the actors is the famous actor Hou Yong (Weibo), who has performed at the Gala two times before. In the sketch, roles are reversed as the soldier teaches the general how to do it right – suggesting equality amongst the people of different positions and sending out a clear message to corrupt officials: don’t forget to be a good communist.
Presenter Dong Qing, in a beautiful red dress, honors China’s veterans, with one old veteran being honored on stage.
21.45 Singer Lei Jia (雷佳) performs the song “I want to tell you” (多想对你说). According to the CCTV, it has always been her dream to perform at the Gala. Her dream has already become a reality multiple times, as she has become a familiar face in the show. The song has been specially produced for the Gala. In the background, we see 55 different ethnic minorities of China in traditional dress, a recurring feature of the annual Chunwan.
The 13th act of the night takes place in Xi’an, one of the four alternate locations where the Gala is taking place tonight. Impressive drums, similar to what we saw during the opening act of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, are followed by the song “The Silk Road”, promoting the success of China’s Go West policy.
The only piece of Chinese opera in this year’s show is part of the Journey to the West (act number 14), in which the main character is the Monkey King.
22:00 We have arrived at the 15th act, are you still awake?! Two more hours before New Year’s! This act is shown as a part of showcasing Chinese cultural heritage, introducing the loud Huayin singing style (华阴老腔) at the Gala, with main performances by the pretty Tan Weiwei (谭维维) and Zhang Ximin (张喜民). The 34-year old Tan was the runner-up of the third season of Super Girl, a popular singing contest in China.
22.15 The next act is one of the seven spoken acts of the night, a comical skit about a courier played by several well-known actors.
Meanwhile, complaints about the show are pouring in through social media. It is somewhat of a tradition to comment on the show and complain about it; criticism on the Gala is actually so commonplace that the sentence “there’ll never be a ‘worst’, just ‘worse than last year‘ (央视春晚，没有最烂，只有更烂) has become a popular saying over the years. One of the current critiques is that Liu Xiao Ling Tong (六小龄童, see photo below), the most famous performer of the Monkey King, was not invited to participate in the Journey to the West act.
22:25 “Father and Son” (父子) is supposed to strike the audience’s emotional chord tonight. Singer Yang Yang is one of the more popular acts of the night, attracting younger audiences to watch the show, together with the TFboys. Yang Yang has become especially popular over the last two years. Here, he sings together with famous singer Tong Tiexin. The song is followed by a “public welfare commercial” (公益广告) about the bond between father and son.
*FYI: We are supposed to reflect on our lives and cry here*
22:35 This is the only martial arts act of the night by Donnie Yen or Zhen Zidan (甄子丹) and the Shandong martial arts group. Donnie Yen is a famous Hong Kong actor and martial artist.
22.45 Amazing display of communist nostalgia during the 20th act of the night, with a performance of different revolutionary songs including the old ‘Without the Communist Party, There is No New China’ (没有共产党就没有新中国), ‘The Bright Red Flowers of Shandan’ (山丹丹花开红艳艳) and ‘The Motherland’ (我祖国). Although the majority of tonight’s compositions are new songs, these are old songs that most Chinese will be very familiar with, especially those growing up during the cultural revolution.
22.50 We have moved from Beijing to Guangzhou for the 21st act of the CCTV Gala. Together with Quanzhou city, Xi’an city and Hulun Buir city, Guangzhou is one of the different alternate venues from which the show is broadcasted this year.
Don’t ask me why, but singer Sun Nan (孙楠) is now performing his song together with 540 dancing robots. He sings about the future ahead – this reinforces the image of Guangdong as the home of China’s tech startups.
23.00 While the noise of fireworks and crackers is starting to fill the streets all over China, we are seeing the only acrobatic act of tonight, performed by Li Tong and the Dengfeng Shaolin college.
23.15 In the final hour of the New Year’s Gala, there are some very famous performers on stage. In this comical sketch, we see actor Donglin Guo (郭冬临) – a Chinese actor and xiangsheng (comic dialogue) performer who always performs in the annual Gala. He has made appearances ever since the 1993 edition. The sketch is about 50,000 yuan that has ‘miraculously’ appeared on Donglin’s bank account, after which his wife accuses people of putting it there for favours. But then their daughters friend appears, and it turns out Donglin lend him money as he was setting up a software company, and this is the money he returned to him. This turns Donglin from a possible corrupt official into a good guy government official who believes in the future of China’s youth.
The comic dialogue is followed by one the night’s many dance performances. This one is title “In Your Embrace” by famous Uyghur dancer Mahire Emet (马依热·艾买提江). The dancers are dressed in traditional clothing, showcasing China’s many colorful & cheerful ethnic minority groups. They just seem to always be happy. It sometimes reminds me of Disneyland’s “It’s a small world after all…”
23.30 The last venue of the night is Inner Mongolia’s Hulun Buir city, where we see the hosts dressed in local traditional clothing and speaking some of the local language. It is interesting to see the contrast between the venue cities tonight, where some, such as Hulun Buit, are portrayed as being very ‘ethnical’ and others, such as Guangzhou (with the robots), is showcased as very modern, trendy and technical.
The act is followed by a performance of the famous Vicky Zhao. She is one of the bigger stars of tonight’s Gala. She is a Chinese actress, pop singer, and film director. An incredibly popular actress in various top TV shows in China, she is considered one of the top four actresses in China and is one of the most famous Weibo celebrities; she has over 73 million followers!
23.40 We have arrived at the 27th act of the night, and there are just twenty minutes left before the Year of the Monkey starts. Chen Sisi (陈思思) sings ‘Snow Love’ with performers from the Beijing Sports Academy – this, according to the hosts, is in honor of Beijing being the first city to host both the Summer and the Winter Olympics (2022).
23.45 This is the last spoken sketch for tonight, only followed by a xiangsheng (comic dialogue) just before the end of the show. This sketch is about internet shopping, and features Chinese skit actor Pan Changjiang. In his early years, he regularly appeared in the Gala.
23.55 Almost time for the New Year! The hosts first list all the country embassies wishing China a happy new year, before Yin Xiumei (殷秀梅) sings the song ‘Honor & Glory’: a moment to reflect on China, the great nation, and its leaders. In the video behind the singer, we see Mao Zedong and other leaders, with special focus on ‘Daddy Xi’.
0.00 Happy new year! The hosts wish everybody a Happy Year of the Monkey (and so does What’s on Weibo).
0.05 The New Year is welcomed with the song “Meeting Spring” by various famous singers such as the famous baritone Liao Changyong. The song is immediately followed by one of the evening’s “public welfare commercials”, in which the importance of family ties is emphasized – part of the China dream.
0.10 A young man named ‘Yif’ is tonight’s magician. Yif also seems to have done some magic on his own face. He is a professional magician from Taiwan. On his official Weibo account, he told his fans that he was incredibly nervous for tonight’s performance, as it is the first time he appears on the CCTV Gala.
The Gala’s hosts Zhu Jun and Zhou Tao announce the next act, which is a xiangsheng act. Xiangsheng, also known as ‘crosstalk’, is a traditional comic dialogue, which is mostly performed as a dialogue between two performers (in this case, by Li Yinfei 李寅飞 and Li Ding 李丁). The focus is on language jokes, which are sometimes hard to grasp for a laowai like myself. It is one of China’s most popular performing arts, and is typically performed in the Beijing accent. Some Chinese media wrote about the fact that this year’s Gala only features one xiangsheng act, as there previously were more. This year, the focus of the evening clearly is on song and dance.
0.20 We are nearing the end of the show, but not before the show puts more emphasis on the Gala’s theme: “You and Me, Our Chinese Dream – Building a Moderately Prosperous Society”. This song, titled “Small and Big Dreams” is sung by Wang Zineng and Ping An.
0.35 The last two acts of the night are the songs “Lucky Lucky” and “Unforgettable Night”. The first is sung by Sa Dingding 萨顶顶 who is joined by a dancing group from Yunnan.
The last song of the night is performed by various performers, bringing together some of the country’s major celebrities from different generations including the 71-year-old folk singer Li Guyi (李谷一) and the 8-year-old child star Zhou Anxin (周安信). They conclude the night with a song about their good homeland China. The hosts wish you all a happy new year.
0.45 That’s a wrap – happy new year 新年快乐!
About the Gala
The CCTV New Year’s Gala (中国中央电视台春节联欢晚会 or Chunwan 春晚) is an annual live television event that is broadcasted by state enterprise CCTV on the evening of Chinese New Year. It has been broadcasted since 1983, and is watched by over 700 million people. It is the most-watched variety shows in the world and is much anticipated every year – somewhat comparable to the Oscars or the Super Bowl. The Gala features different acts, including singing, dancing and comedy, in a time frame of around 4 hours.
It is a tradition for families to gather around the TV to watch the Gala before the New Year comes at midnight. It is also somewhat of a tradition to comment on the show and complain about it; criticism on the Gala is actually so commonplace that the sentence “there’ll never be a ‘worst’, just ‘worse than last year‘ (央视春晚，没有最烂，只有更烂) has become a popular saying over the years (Wang 2015, 192).
The 2016 Edition
This is the 34th edition of Chunwan (February 7th, 2016). This year the show lasts a total of 4 hours and 18 minutes, starting on 20.00 and ending 00.18.
This year’s show, like last year’s, has its own mascot. As this will be the Year of the Monkey, it is a colorful monkey named Kang Kang. The mascot was revealed on CCTV’s Weibo account on the evening of January 21st. The mascot was ridiculed by netizens, who thought it was ugly. The 3D design (image below, on the right) was different from the original sketch (left). According to the majority of Weibo’s netizens, the designers of the 3D version had mistaken Kang Kang’s paws for balls, resulting in a Kangkang with ‘tumors on his ears’.
The current version of Kang Kang as pictured below has been adjusted; he no longer has ‘tumors’ growing from his head.
Social Media
Chunwan is a hot topic on Sina Weibo and WeChat, as millions of people are watching and share their comments on the show through social media. The Gala’s official Weibo account has over 7,5 million followers. Sina Entertainment (17+ million followers) also writes about the show through their official Weibo account.
One important new feature of the show that links it to social media platforms is the exchange of hongbao, red envelopes with money, which is a Chinese New Year’s tradition (also read our article about Lucky Money). During the show, viewers are able to receive virtual hongbao by shaking their smartphones. This new cooperation between the CCTV Gala and the WeChat app first started in 2015. Last year, when the game was announced during the live broadcast, WeChat users shook their phones 11 billion times. The value of these monetary gifts was around 500 million RMB (76 million US dollar).
The hongbao game attracts more people to watch the show, which is often considered boring or old-fashioned by younger generations. This year the game will start again, increasing the Gala’s viewer ratings. One Weibo netizen comments: “Actually, there are many people who want to watch the Gala now. The reason is simple: it’s not for the show but for the red envelopes.”
The Live Show
Although the Gala is a live broadcast from CCTV’s No.1 Studio, every year’s show has a taped version of the full dress rehearsal. As described by Scocca (2011), the tape runs together with the live broadcast, so that in the event of a problem or disruption, the producers can seamlessly switch to the taped version without TV audiences noticing anything.
According to the CCTV, the committee members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China already attended the full dress rehearsal on Friday night.
Please check out this blog on Sunday, February 7th, from 19.00 China Standard Time (CST) +0800 UTC (12.00 CET) for more information about the show and its programme. New updates will be added on the top of this page.
– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo
References
Wang Ge. 2015. “Popular Spring Festival Gala language: Sociocultural Observations.” In Linda Tsung and Wei Wang, Contemporary Chinese Discourse and Social Practice in China, 185-200. Amsterdam/Philadelpia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Scocca, Tom. 2011. Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Future. New York: Riverhead Books.
Featured image from ZZM3.com: http://www.zzm3.com/gear/rs/457.html
©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
China Arts & Entertainment
The Never-Ending Drama: Ma Rong Accuses Wang Baoqiang of Violent Attack, Netizens Don’t Buy It
A messy story is flooding Weibo today, as Chinese celebrity Ma Rong accuses ex-husband Wang Baoqiang of assault.
First published
Ever since the 2016 split between Chinese celebrities Wang Baoqiang (王宝强) and his ex-wife Ma Rong (马蓉), the former couple keeps on making headlines. On Sunday, December 2nd, the hashtag “Wang Baoqiang Beats Up Ma Rong” (#王宝强殴打马蓉#) went trending on Weibo, receiving some 520 million views at time of writing (update: the hashtag page has since been taken offline).
According to various Chinese media, Chinese actress Ma Rong stated that her ex-husband attacked her when she wanted to take her children with her in the early morning on Sunday. The children allegedly were not present when the altercation occurred.
Ma Rong claimed that she was hit and kicked in the head and back by Wang, who was accompanied by “four or five” others.
Dramatic photos of a seemingly injured Ma Rong have spread on social media, along with photos of her in the hospital.
A video issued by Sina Entertainment News on Sunday shows Ma Rong lying in her (hospital) bed crying, telling the interviewer that Wang has previously been abusive towards her and their two children.
But there is also another side to this murky story, as security footage from surveillance cameras at Wang’s house have leaked, reportedly showing that Ma came to Wang’s house with her mother on Saturday night around 19.00 to “cause a scene”, carrying scissors with her to intimidate Wang’s family. The footage shows how a woman, said to be Ma Rong, jumps up to the camera in an apparent attempt to sabotage it.
According to an “insider” quoted by Sina Entertainment, Ma and her mother were apparently involved in an altercation with Wang Baoqiang’s mother, although these rumors have since been refuted by Ma’s family.
A report on Jinri Toutiao also claims that the altercation had already started on Saturday night, and that police were present at the scene around 23.00 in an ongoing confrontation that allegedly lasted the entire night.
Wang’s mother, who was present at the scene, was apparently so shaken by the turmoil, that she reportedly was also checked into a local hospital with “palpitations” on Saturday night.
Photos surfacing on Weibo supposedly show how Ma Rong is lying on the floor in Wang’s home, while security staff is present at the scene.
As the situation is somewhat messy, and details are still unclear, most netizens side with Wang Baoqiang and are not buying Ma’s story, suggesting the photos of the injured actress have been staged. Ma Rong has become very unpopular since her divorce from Wang, with many calling her a “gold digger.”
“She’s a very good actress,” many commenters say. “There’s seriously something wrong with her,” others write.
The first memes on today’s case are also surfacing on WeChat and Weibo, with some photoshopping Ma’s photo on a magazine cover of Zhiyin (知音), an old Chinese magazine known for telling dramatic and sensationalized social stories.
Others post the dramatic photo with the underline: “Oh, my head hurts.”
Chinese actor Wang Baoqiang, known for his roles in films such as Blind Shaft (2003) and A Touch of Sin (2013), is highly popular in China. Born into a poor rural family in Hebei Province, the former migrant construction worker rose to fame when he was cast in his first movie. With his rural-to-urban, migrant-to-actor story, Wang has come to represent the Chinese dream in the eyes of many.
In 2016, Wang Baoqiang publicly announced on Weibo that after seven years of marriage, he was divorcing Ma Rong as an exposed illicit affair between his wife and his manager Song Zhe (宋喆) had damaged his marriage “beyond repair.”
Wang Baoqiang announced on Weibo that his wife betrayed him and that he was getting a divorce.
At the time, the exposure of the alleged relationship between Ma Rong and manager Song Zhe hit Weibo like an earthquake, with millions of netizens jumping on the discussion – many of them scolded Ma and alleged she had only married the Chinese film star for his money. With ten billion views, it became one of the all-time biggest topics on Weibo.
Wang and Ma in happier times.
The story has continued to attract people’s attention. A year after the initial separation, Song Zhe was arrested in Beijing for embezzlement – a topic that immediately became trending on Chinese social media.
The various court cases between Wang and Ma Rong, who first sued her estranged husband for defamation of character and then refused to sign the divorce papers, has also recurrently been in the media.
According to the latest reports, Ma has now left the hospital. A video that is spreading on Weibo shows how a woman, supposedly Ma Rong, is carried out of the hospital and is put inside a car, while reporters are running after her (see embedded tweet below).
Super bizarre. Videos show how Ma Rong (supposedly) is carried out of the hospital after allegedly being attacked by ex-husband Wang Baoqiang, chased by group of reporters. Why are reporters allowed in there at all? This is like Britney Spears in 2007. https://t.co/ldP8oVO1sY pic.twitter.com/XQFrD49nBq
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) 2 december 2018
At time of writing, Wang has not posted any statement regarding this incident on his Weibo page, where he has more than 28 million fans.
By Manya Koetse and Miranda Barnes
Follow @whatsonweibo
Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us.
©2018 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com
China Arts & Entertainment
Top 10 Overview of China’s Most Popular TV Dramas of Fall 2018
The top scoring TV dramas in China of this moment – and they are almost all available with English subtitles.
Note: also see our Top 30 of all-time classic Chinese TV Dramas here!
China still has one of the most booming TV drama industries in the world, with dozens of new dramas being released every month, drawing in millions of viewers through the country’s most popular online video streaming platforms.
We’ve compiled a top ten of the most popular Chinese TV dramas of this fall, based on the current popular charts of the leading websites in Chinese online video, including Tencent Video, iQiyi, Sohu, Youku, LeTV, 360kan, Sogou Video, along with Baidu’s and Weibo’s popular TV drama charts.
This fall, Chinese viewers are mostly into dramas that are themed around (historical) love stories and suspense. What is noteworthy is that the often top-rated South-Korean tv dramas are not making it to the list of top-watched series this time, and that the current top 10 series are all produced in mainland China.
Please note that this list has been compiled by combining the top-ranking lists of this moment. And we have chosen to exclude popular drama series that already made it in our previous top-ten lists, such as White Deer Plain (白鹿原), despite their ongoing popularity.
Most of these series are available for viewing online with English subtitles. If you need a VPN to circumvent any geo restrictions, we recommend either NordVPN or ExpressVPN to do so.
#10 All Out of Love (凉生我们可不可以不忧伤)
Mainland China
Chinese title: Liáng shēng wǒmen kěbù kěyǐ bù yōushāng 凉生,我们可不可以不忧伤
Genre: Romance
Directed by: Liu Junjie (刘俊杰)
Episodes: 70, start 17 September 2018, Hunan TV
All Out of Love is based on the novel Liang Sheng, Can We Not Be Sad by Le Xiaomi (乐小米, also known as 纪伟娜). The TV series stars, among others, Wallace Chung (钟汉良), Ray Ma (马天宇) and Sun Yi (孙怡).
The series ranked fifth in the Weibo top ten most popular TV dramas and sixth position in the Youku top 10 TV drama series. Tencent Video ranked the series with an 8.2.
Growing up in rough times and poverty, Jiang Sheng and her adopted brother Liang Sheng are inseparable. Throughout the years, their greatest happiness lies in being by each other’s side. They eventually both develop feelings for one another, but despite them not being blood-related, they ignore their feelings. One day Liang mysteriously disappears, and Jiang is unable to find him. Years later, when Jiang is married, Liang suddenly comes back, and Jiang needs to face what is perhaps the most important decision of her life.
On Weibo, the official account of the series is nearing 375,000 fans right now.
See here the complete series including Chinese subtitles. Also available on Viki (incl. English subtitles).
#9 Battlefield Gun King (战地枪王)
Mainland China
Chinese title: Zhàndì qiāng wáng 战地枪王
Genre: War
Directed by: Li Yin (李印)
Episodes: 40, start 30 September 2018, Tianjin TV
Battlefield Gun King is the sequel in the ‘Gun King’ series following up The King of Guns (绝地枪王). However, it’s not really necessary to see the first series in order to understand this sequel.
Battlefield Gun King is currently ranking third place in the Sohu hotlists, and fifth place on the Youku most-watched lists. On iQiyi, the series scores a 7.1.
The TV drama tells the patriotic story of a family from China’s northeast, military hero Lu Yinghao, and the Chinese Communist Party’s fighting against the Japanese aggressors. It is 1945, and Lu Yinghao returns to China from the Soviet military base to celebrate his father’s birthday. At his arrival, he discovers that the Japanese military killed his family, mostly doctors, and other medical staff, to occupy the hospital. He decides to take revenge.
On Weibo, the official TV series account has approximately 22,000 fans.
See here on iQiyi the complete series with Chinese subtitles (no English).
#8 Mother’s Life (娘道)
China Mainland
Chinese title: Niángdào 娘道
Genre: Drama
Directed by: Guo Jingyu (郭靖宇) and Ju Xingmao (巨兴茂)
Episodes: 76, start 5 September 2018, Beijing TV and Jiangsu TV
Mother’s Life, starring Yue Lina (岳丽娜) and Yu Yi (于毅), tells the story of a young woman in times of China’s political turmoil around 1945.
The drama series is currently ranked first in the Sohu TV top ten, ranked seventh in the Weibo’s top 10 most popular TV dramas and is amongst the most popular series on Tencent Video.
Ying Gu is a young lady from a wealthy and influential big family. In the eight years she is married to her husband Long Jizong, they have three daughters. But when their third daughter is labeled a misfortune bearer, Ying Gu and her husband Xu Zhi are forced to move. Shortly after, Xu Zhi dies, leaving the pregnant Ying Gu all alone, which causes her to marry an opium addict out of desperation. One day, her new husband sells her third daughter to provide him with drugs. By taking out her rage, Ying Gu ends up in prison, where she thinks of a plan to reunite with her children.
See here the complete series including Chinese subtitles (no English).
#7 Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace (如懿传)
China Mainland
Chinese Title: Rúyì chuán 如懿传
Genre: Historical Drama
Directed by: Wang Jun (汪俊)
Episodes: 87, 20 August 2018, Tencent Video
Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace is an adaption from The Story of Empress Ruyi (后宫·如懿传) written by Liu Lianzi (流潋紫). In total, the book consists of six volumes which mainly tells the follow-up story of Empress in the Palace (后宫·甄嬛传) which subsequently was also made into a drama series in both 2011 and 2017. The 2017 production did not make this selection, however, it is currently ranked the most popular TV drama on LeTV.
Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace starring Zhou Xun (周迅) and Wallace Huo (霍建华) is currently ranked number one most popular series on 360kan, and number six on Baidu’s most popular drama list.
This fictional historical drama chronicles the marriage of Emperor Qianlong and his childhood friend and lover Ruyi. As Ruyi is a descendant of the Ulanara clan, she is only granted the position of consort. With the Empress Dowager as her sworn enemy, and dealing with the other consorts’ jealousy of her relationship with Qianlong, Ruyi faces many hardships in the palace. However, she is determined to become Empress Dowager of the Middle Kingdom.
With more than a million followers on the drama’s official Weibo account, it is one of the more popular TV series on social media in this list.
See here the complete series including Chinese and English subtitles, or watch on Viki.
#6 Martial Universe (武动乾坤之英雄出少年)
China Mainland
Chinese title: Wǔ dòng qiánkūn zhī yīngxióng chū shàonián 武动乾坤之英雄出少年
Genre: Fantasy, History, Martial Arts
Directed by: Zhang Li (张黎), assistant director Han Xiaojun (韩晓军)
Episodes: 40, 7 August 2018, Dragon TV
Just like Battle Through the Heaven, Martial Universe is based on a novel by author Li Hu (李虎), and was only published online.
This series starring Yang Yang (杨洋), Zhang Tianai (张天爱), Claudia Wang (Wang Likun/王丽坤), and Chun Wu (吴尊), is currently second most popular TV drama on Youku and third most popular series on Sogou Video.
This fantasy drama tells the story of Lin Dong, who, by coincidence, comes across a talisman with magical powers. After this encounter, his life will never be the same. Lin travels the world, and through his often very dangerous adventures, he gradually improves his skills as a martial artist. But will it be enough to face evil and save the world from demons taking over?
See here the complete series including English subtitles.
#5 Eagles and Youngster (天坑鹰猎)
China Mainland
Chinese title: Tiān kēng yīng liè 天坑鹰猎
Genre: Youth, Adventure, Suspense
Directed by: Cheng Zhichao (成志超)
Episodes: 40, 30 August 2018 on Youku, 25 September at Dragon TV
Eagles and Youngster is a coming-of-age story, adapted from the novel with the same name written by Zhang Muye (张牧野).
The series is currently ranked first in the Youku TV drama charts and ranking fourth in the Weibo’s top 10 most popular TV dramas.
With main characters played by Karry Wang (王俊凯) born in 1999, Vicky Chen (陈文淇) born in 2003, and supporting actress Jiang Yiyi (蒋依依) born in 2001, the cast of Eagles and Youngsters is the youngest amongst this list.
Eagles and Youngster revolves around city boy Zhang Baoqiang, who goes on an adventure with his two friends to find medicine to save their mentor’s life. On their way, Zhang accidentally finds an egg that hatches into a majestic white eagle. The creature ignites a series of events that put the young heroes in danger, and they begin to understand the meaning of life and deepen their understanding of the relationship between humankind and nature.
The series currently has 1,2 million fans on its official Weibo account.
See here the complete series including Chinese and English subtitles.
#4 Battle Through the Heavens/Fight Break Spheres (斗破苍穹）
China Mainland
Chinese title: Dòu pò cāngqióng 斗破苍穹
Genre: History, Martial Arts, Fantasy
Directed by: Yu Songguang (于宋光)
Episodes: 45, start 3 September 2018, Hunan TV
Battle Through the Heavens starring Leo Wu (吴磊), Lin Yun (林允), Baron Chen (陈楚河), Li Qin (李沁) and Xin Zhilei (辛芷蕾) is an adaption of the like-named online novel by novelist Li Hu (李虎).
The series is currently ranked second in both Baidu’s and Weibo’s top 10 most popular TV dramas and is scored a 7.8 at Tencent Video.
The story revolves around Xiao Yan, whose mother was killed when he was only nine years old. Even though he was born a genius child, he lost all of his powers. At age 15, his martial arts skills are still average until he accidentally meets You Chen. With the help of the old man, Xiao Yan makes fast advances in martial arts. When he finds out that he and his family are doomed, he decides to embark on a journey to revanche his mothers’ killer and eliminate forces of evil.
There are more than 551,000 fans following this series on its Weibo account right now.
See here the complete series including Chinese and English subtitles.
#3 Story of the Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略)
China Mainland
Chinese title: Yán xǐ gōnglüè 延禧攻略
Genre: Historical Drama
Directed by: Hui Yidong (惠楷栋) and Wen Deguang (温德光)
Episodes: 70, 19 July 2018, Zhejiang TV
This is the second production in our list (see: Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace) that revolves around emperor Qianlong, starring the very popular Wu Jinyan (吴谨言) as the main character.
Story of the Yanxi Palace is currently holding second place on 360kan’s TV drama’s hotlist and also on iQiyi it is amongst the most popular series of this moment, getting a high score of 8.0.
According to SCMP, the high standards and meticulous research of the production team regarding highly authentic props and story lines that stick to the history are a major part of this drama’s succes.
Story of the Yanxi Palace tells the story of the young girl Wei Yingluo who enters the Forbidden City as a palace lady, aiming to find out the truth about her sisters’ death and seek justice. She develops a friendship with the empress, who helps her up the ranks in the imperial palace to become a strong court lady. But when the Empress dies, Wei Wei is facing danger from an unexpected place.
See here the complete series including Chinese and English subtitles.
#2 Age of Legends (橙红年代)
China Mainland
Chinese title: Chénghóng niándài 橙红年代
Genre: Drama, Crime
Directed by: Liu Xin (刘新)
Episodes: 47, start 17 September 2018, Zhejiang and Dragon TV
Age of Legends starring William Chan (陈伟霆) and Ma Sichun (马思纯) is based on the like-named novel by Xiao Qixiao (骁骑校) and is currently ranked first in the iQiyi popular drama chart and scores an 8.5 at Tencent Video.
The drama follows the life of Liu Ziguang, who returns to his hometown after working overseas for eight years. He suffers severe memory loss of this period and wants to live a happy and simple life. He unexpectedly meets Hu Rong, a young female detective, and the two fall in love. But good times don’t last long as Liu finds himself entangled in a dangerous situation. Together they go on a hunt for the truth and justice.
See here the complete series including Chinese and English subtitles.
#1 Ashes of Love (香蜜沉沉烬如霜)
China Mainland
Chinese title: Xiāng mì chénchén jìn rú shuāng 香蜜沉沉烬如霜
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romantic, Action, Suspense
Directed by: Zui Ruibin (朱锐斌)
Episodes: 63, 2 August 2018, Jiangsu TV, iQiyi, Tencent Video, and Youku.
Ashes of Love in an adapted screenplay from the like-named novel written by Dian Xian. The drama is starring two of China’s currently most popular actors Yang Zi (杨紫) and Allen (邓伦). The played each other’s lovers before, in the 2012 drama series Flowers in Fog (花非花雾非雾), leading to Allen’s breakthrough.
That the two main actors are a good match is proved by the immense popularity of these series. The drama series is currently ranked first on Sogou Video, and third at 360kan’s most popular TV dramas list. And also the users of Tencent Video show their appreciation of the series, scoring it with an 8.9.
Ashes of Love tells the story of the thousand-year romance between the flower deity called Jinmi, and the fire deity, called Xufeng. Right before Jinmi’s mother gives birth to a daughter, she finds out that her daughter will suffer a great love drama. To spare her daughter, she swallows a pill preventing her daughter from feeling romantic love. Not knowing true love, she gets involved in a relationship with Xufeng.
See here the complete series including Chinese and English subtitles.
Want to see more? Also check out our
– Top 10 Chinese TV dramas of Summer 2018
By Gabi Verberg
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Joey
February 8, 2016 at 12:52 pm
Is it possible to publish a reverse version of the article? For those who want to read the liveblog after the fact 🙂 Now you have to go all the way down and scroll up.
Manya Koetse
February 8, 2016 at 12:54 pm
Ok Joey, check back in about an hour.
Joe
February 8, 2016 at 5:52 pm
Thank you so much for this!!!
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