Historicals

At 70+ episodes, one might think The Story of Ming Lan would be slow and boring. On the contrary, this “palace-adjacent” show (the characters are not royal, but as they are court officials their lives are directly impacted by court machinations) is enthralling, full of twists and turns. The show, set during the Song Dynasty, follows the intelligent and quick-witted Ming Lan from childhood through marriage. I love this show, because the FL is so adapt at working around the restrictions in her life.

Joy of Life - This is like my fave drama of all time since its so smart and filled with many brilliant characters where both the good and evil guys are equally clever and intelligent. The script is just hilarious with many witty conversations and play on words. Compelling characters with layers and villains with back stories and interesting motivations. Plus, it has one of the most well written ML -- Fan Xian is like an onion, just when you thought you knew him, he will surprise you with these many layers of his complex character. - u/tsuyoi_hikari-

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace - If you love strong but gentle FL who stay true to what she believe in right until the end, then this drama is perfect for you. Your heart will cheer and ache for her and this drama has one of the best endings for Cdramas imo. - u/tsuyoi_hikari-

Winter Begonia: an alternative perspective to the Republican era and the onset of the war. Gorgeous.  - u/240229

destined (2023) it tells of a prodigal son of a wealthy aristocratic family gu jiusi and his bride, liu yu ru. his careless remark to try and tarnish the reputation of a maiden that cross him led them to be wedded together, to the chagrin of both parties. liu yu ru had worked hard her entire life to be the perfect wife of an aristocratic family. and her hard work had paid off when she was engaged to her best friend’s brother. however, due to a clash between her and gu jiusi, a prodigal son an aristocratic family, all that hard work was ruined, leading them to be tied together for a lifetime. liu yuru helped gu jiusu to find his way and lead the family to become better. however, their peace was short lived as danger arise during a chaotic time of war and power struggle. as hard as they try though, they found themselves at the heart of the struggle. - sftkitty

Ripe Town: a masterclass of contemporary filmography. The shots all have a purpose to them, creating a lucious viewing experience. - u/240229

The Sword and the Brocade FL wants to pursue her own career in embroidery but is married to take the place of her dead half sister to protect her sisters son in a house of scheming concubines. ML has been damaged by having to take over responsibility for his family at a young age after his father and elder brother were killed. He hates his home life because of the concubines forced on him by his toxic mother. - u/Duanedoberman

Scarlet Heart: what can I say, the OG time travel drama, as well as a ceiling for the art of BEs - u/240229

Ming Dynasty 1566: the ultimate cdrama, a look into everything that goes on in the court in the year 1566. One of the prime examples of historical accuracy.  - u/240229

My Journey to you -perfect scenery -decent plot -flawless casting

•⁠amazing direction.

It got me into C-drama.

Plot: a story about an assassin sent to destroy the prominent Gong family by pretending to be one of the selected wives for the family's eldest son.

Loads of plot twists that will make your mind spin - u/Zealousideal_Sir8668

Legend of the Concubine Zhun Huan - Same like Ruyi, if you love strong FL with one of the best character developments in Cdramas, this will be it. We probably wont be seeing another character like this since the censorship has tighten so much in the last few years. While Ruyi stay true to herself, Zhen Huan developed into something that make her a survivor in the end. It was interesting to watch the stark different on how the writer handle the story. - u/tsuyoi_hikari-

Louyang 3 different characters, a princess who is also a member of the secret police, the son of a murdered  court official and a street ruffian investigating the murder of his friends join forces to uncover a mysterious plot against the Empress Wu Zetian. - u/DuaneDoberman

Marvelous Women Set in a picturesque town with canals FLs run a fabric weaving business when the master suddenly disappears and they have to keep it going themselves by overcoming personal animosity and crooked officials. - u/DuaneDoberman

Nirvana in Fire - Probably one of the best Chinese dramas that focus on palace scheming and mind games. Every episode is filled with brilliant strategies that I actually wrote the schemes and mind games by episode since there are so many of them. Everything has meaning from a simple smirk to object focus to all those ambiguous conversations -- the type of drama that only get better with each rewatch since you will catch all those foreshadowing that you might missed in your first watch. - u/tsuyoi_hikari-

New Life Begins - women are brought from different states to marry the many princes. The women all have different experiences but form beautiful relationships with one another and the main couple is so sweet - u/Artistic-End-6452

Secrets of Three Kingdoms - The retelling of the 3 Kingdoms stories from different perspective. The brilliant part of the script is how the drama follow exactly the real history while telling a completely different story. The way the writer incorporate these 'secret' in this story is the most interesting and clever part of it. - u/tsuyoi_hikari-

Court Lady FL life is turned upside down after she is humiliated on her wedding day, returns to her Manor which promptly burns down leaving her family destitute so she has to enter the palace as an embroidery maid whilst being persued by a wastrel, son of a general who has promised to turn his life around so he can marry her. She raises to be one of the leading  female officials in the palace whilst fending off deadly attention from powerful figures as her beau becomes a respected general. - u/DuaneDoberman

Palace of Desire: a Shakesperean take on the life of Princess Taiping. A tale on the lives of those living in the palace, all yearning for things out of their reach. - u/240229

One & Only - A tragic historical romance that is written so beautifully that it will touch deep into your heart. A soulmate kind of relationship that are shown by actions rather than words -- from the leads' complete understanding and trust to their gentle gestures to the warm considerations they have towards each others. They talked with their eyes and their deep yearning and anguish can be felt from their facial expressions -- a fantastic drama if you want to watch something about pure and sincere love. - u/tsuyoi_hikari-

The Rebel Princess Awu has her future mapped out and has a good chance of being the next Empress when she is suddenly married off by her scheming father to the countries best General who is from humble beginnings. She eventually makes her way to the border fort, where he leads an isolated and austere life and her eyes are opened to a completely different life to the guilded splendour of the palace. They form a power couple amongst the schemes around an ailing emperor. - u/DuaneDoberman

A Dream of Splendour FL runs a tea shop in a backwater where she has made a life for herself after her family were wrongly accused and executed by the Imperial guards. An imperial guard arrives one day looking for a suspect and saves her life during an arrest. They are forced to work together to uncover a plot to discredit the Empress using a painting that is owned by FL. - u/DuaneDoberman

The Disguiser: with the success of Nirvana in Fire, people often underestimate how instrumental this drama was to NiF's future legacy. A shame: it stands very well on its own. - u/240229

The Glory of Tang Dynasty - Unexpectedly good drama with lots of angsts and heartaches. It follows the story of Concubine of Emperor Daizong from their early marriage to him taking the throne. Very faithful to lots of historical events. And this is one of dramas where the 'misunderstanding' troupe done right -- it wasnt dumb or stupid but with substance as it is due to brilliant manipulations from the villains -- it wasnt lack of trust or lack of evidences -- it is hard earned and make sense. - u/tsuyoi_hikari-

The Longest day in Chang'An Same concept as the hit western show '24', set over a day it follows attempts by a disparate group to thwart the assassination of the emperor during the latern festival by a group of disaffected soldiers and foreign mercenaries. - u/DuaneDoberman

The Longest Day in Chang'An: action-packed and dense, with memorable casts. One of the few dramas who go out of their way to highlight the cosmopolitan nature of Chang'An. - u/240229

Towards The Republic: the building of the Republic of China, from the fall of imperial China to the early days of the nation. Another classic, subbed by the same person who Ming Dynasty 1556. - u/240229

an ancient love song (2023) a short drama with only 14 episodes but every episode had me hooked. it was intriguing with the premise of time travel, a demon empress and a romance that is destined to end in heartbreak. the drama open in the modern time where our ml, shen bu yan, resides. he found himself travelling back to a past long gone. there, he met with the controversial demon empress, lu yuan. however, the woman he met was nothing like what the records had shown and he found himself intrigued and curious about the truth that has been buried with the passage of time. on his quest to find out the truth, he ended up falling for the demon empress. i really liked this drama bcs despite it being a short drama, the acting was incredible. the story itself is full of intrigued and questions that kept me watching. and the romance, oh the romance, was heartbreaking to say the least. without spoiling anything, this drama will definitely made you cry and you’d definitely want to rewatch it again right after. - u/sftkitti