# The best Chinese TV series

Chosen from the highest-rated Chinese TV dramas on Douban (with Dream of the Red Chamber, Ming Dynasty 1566 and Maopian usually at the top), mixing old classics and acclaimed recent shows.

- 4 votes · 23 items
- Mar 8, 2024 · Zhou J.
- https://even.best/en/l/439/the-best-chinese-tv-series

## Top 20

1. **My Own Swordsman** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2006. A period sitcom written by Ning Caishen and directed by Shang Jing, set in the Tongfu Inn.
2. **Drawing Sword** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2005. Li Youbin as Li Yunlong; 8.9 on Douban.
3. **Yongzheng Dynasty** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1999. Tang Guoqiang as the Yongzheng Emperor, from Eryue He's novel; 8.8 on Douban.
4. **Soldiers Sortie** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2006. Wang Baoqiang as Xu Sanduo, from raw recruit to special forces.
5. **Dream of the Red Chamber** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — CCTV, 1987. Wang Fulin's classic adaptation of the great novel; 9.5 on Douban.
6. **Ming Dynasty in 1566** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2007. Directed by Zhang Li; court intrigue in the Jiajing era, tied with Dream of the Red Chamber at the top of the ratings.
7. **Maopian** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2010–2015. A web series about a gang of young con artists; its final season rose to 9.7 on Douban.
8. **Journey to the West** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — CCTV, 1986. Directed by Yang Jie, with Liu Xiao Ling Tong as the Monkey King; rerun countless times.
9. **Teahouse** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2010. Starring Chen Baoguo, from Lao She's famous play; 9.6 on Douban.
10. **I Love My Family** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1993. Ying Da's pioneering sitcom about the Jia family's life in Beijing.
11. **Romance of the Three Kingdoms** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — CCTV, 1994. An 84-episode adaptation of the classic novel.
12. **Palace of Desire** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2000. Directed by Li Shaohong; the life of Princess Taiping in ornate dialogue; 8.9 on Douban.
13. **Peace in Peking** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2014. Written by Liu Heping; economics and espionage in Peking in 1948; 8.8 on Douban.
14. **Romance of Our Parents** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2014. Guo Tao and Mei Ting as a naval officer and a capitalist's daughter over half a lifetime of marriage; 8.8 on Douban.
15. **Nirvana in Fire** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2015. Hu Ge as Mei Changsu, seeking justice for the Chiyan Army.
16. **The Long Season** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2023. Directed by Xin Shuang, starring Fan Wei; a north-eastern mystery rated over 9 on Douban.
17. **The Bad Kids** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2020. From a Zijin Chen novel; three children accidentally film a murder.
18. **Lurk** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2009. Sun Honglei as Yu Zecheng, a mole inside the Nationalist intelligence station in Tianjin.
19. **Empresses in the Palace** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2011. Sun Li as Zhen Huan rising through the Yongzheng Emperor's harem; still rewatched more than a decade later.
20. **Blossoms Shanghai** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2023. Wong Kar-wai's first TV series, with Hu Ge in 1990s Shanghai.
21. **Towards the Republic** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2003. A historical epic from the First Sino-Japanese War to the early Republic.
22. **Editorial story** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A 1991 Beijing sitcom starring Ge You and Lu Liping, and written by Wang Shuo and others.
23. **Kangxi Dynasty** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The 2001 historical drama, starring Chen Daoming as Kangxi, was adapted from Er Yuehe's novel.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.