chinese tv recs
by yours truly ~ these are all my own opinions and do not reflect anyone else's! sorry in advance if i dislike one of your fav dramas otl;;; okay, i'm actually obsessed with wuxia/historical chinese dramas but i hate hate hate how mainland china's media is such a bubble;; honestly my mandarin is very bad, so my reading/writing skill is like -10. however, i can understand/speak decently and of course, there's always my parents to explain certain puns LOL. i hope you enjoy and check out some of these~ overall, they're a bit old, so it might be hard to find them online. still, PLEASE give them a chance!!
射雕英雄传 (legend of the condor heroes)
1983 ver
2008 ver
i’ve seen two versions of this - 1983 and 2008. i have to say that 1983 was much better because they changed the plot to gain yang kang sympathizers and the story just didn’t make any sense anymore. (although i really like the change in the old one from the book where spoiler alertyang kang gets to see nianci once more before he dies instead of guo jing finding his body picked clean by ravens) i also watched the 1983 version religiously in my childhood so i'm probably heavily biased. (but all the characters are hotter in 2008 version) i really love the actress for huang rong in the old version;;; super sad that she died at a young age;; hu ge + ariel lin :') still mad @ people saying she was too fat to play huang rong;; yuan hong... he fits the role of yang kang really well. (i've been meaning to watch 2003 version with zhou xun but i've never gotten around to it yet;;)
_____________________________
神雕侠侣 (return of the condor heroes)
1983 ver
2006 ver
sequel to the above and amazing hehe. it's not as good honestly because xiaolongnü (main heroine)... gets on my nerves lot... i've also seen two versions of this, 1983 and 2006. 2006 was much better (esp the music). liu yifei fits xln perfectly honestly... i love her... she's beautiful.. but she really can't act that well;; since the character grows up in a cave, she doesn't really "understand" the world, so awkwardness is supposed to be there. also when i was 8 & watching the old ver, i didn't understand spoiler alert xiaolongnü getting raped by the daoshi.... i was like.. what happened??? they just rolled around on the ground... huang xiaoming is alright, but he's not very good at expressing deeper emotions besides the generic happy/crazy side that yang guo has (btw i can't believe he married angelababy) the special effects for the majority of the tv series is great besides the actual condor...
----
倚天屠龙记 (the heavenly sword and the dragon saber) 2003 ver
sequel to the previous two, but it’s set like over 100 years later. this is the first of jin yong’s that doesn’t have either a dumb male lead or female lead. not that xln was stupid per say, but she was very sheltered and naïve. there's four girls in this one though..... sheesh stop making it a harem but zhang wuji only ends up with one!!! lmao i'm............. i like the overall plot though, and ofc all the action does help :-) i've only seen this adaptation but i probably should try out the 2009 ver. omg what threw me off was zhü'er was the same actress as guo fu in the 2006 ver of 神雕侠侣! also who cares about zhang wuji tbh, so here's a pic with the four main girls :~)
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還珠格格 (huan zhu gege / my fair princess)
obviously i'm talking about the original, and honestly only season 1... it gets a bit repetitive over time tbh;; still, it's such a gem!!!!!!!!! baby zhao wei, ruby lin, and fan bingbing!! + alec su :) it's honestly hilarious and if you don't love it you have no soul......
---
步步惊心 (step by step or scarlet heart)
ok tbh i did not watch the entirety of this drama it was too long for me... i skipped around a bit. it has a very good premise (time travel) though but it gives me self insert original character fanfiction vibes LOLOLOL... but seriously.. there's so many people in love with ruoxi?? like pleath. still the ending was :'-( i only watched a bit of 步步惊心2, but imo it's much less interesting...
---
铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 (the "eloquent" ji xiaolan LMAO / bronze teeth)
another childhood favorite! my parents wanted to make sure i liked china, so they resorted to making me watch historical comedies LOLL. ji xiaolan, huang shang, he shen, and xiao yue are such a hilarious quartet... xiao yue is so stupid but she is me on the inside <3 one of my favorite scenes is the fish scene, where the former 3 have been captured by xiao yue and the rebels (but she only knows the identity of ji xiaolan). they go around saying "fish proverbs" and whoever has the worst has to stack a basket of gross fish on the pile. basically it's a wonderful escape scheme because xiao yue stops watching and just listens to their voices. he shen loses on purpose each time and is punished, they restart, etc. he shen and huang shang escape via the fish pile and rope, while ji xiaolan stays behind and mimics all the voices to make sure they can get far enough away. ITS JUST A GREAT SCENE OKAY I CAN'T EXPLAIN THE CLEVERNESS IN ENGLISH.... IT SOUNDS SO BORING MY WAY... just watch it
后宫甄嬛传 (empresses in the palace)
this is a really good drama tbh. i think it's extremely well written and overall the designs are beautiful;; costuming for historical palace dramas usually are, but these were so nice! the length of the series let you really get close to the characters (especially zhen huan) and indoctrinated into their way of life. zhen huan's transformation from a kind, sweet girl into a manipulative and cruel woman is !!! so great!!!
anyways ok all the characters are stereotypes but like the funniest thing i've heard was exo-m chinese members related to them omg. tao = huafei, the arrogant and originally powerful feizi, but her downfall is terrible LOL. kris = huanghou, who's just trying to make everyone get along (BUT FUNNY THING IS spoiler SHE MURDERED HER SIS, WHO WAS THE QUEEN CONSORT/WHO THE EMPEROR WAS IN LOVE WITH SO SHE COULD BE THE QUEEN CONSORT so i'm wondering if they actually watched it???) yixing = lingrong, the "friend" who actually is secretly going to betray you and take advantage of your weaknesses. luhan = zhen huan, the innocent lil girl who was "changed" by circumstances BYE
----
watched but can't completely rec:
gorgeous visuals (set/costume design was amazing); can't say that much for the plot/acting.... pretty lackluster imo.. they censored a lot of the cleavage to the point of cutting off important parts of the mise en scene and like... bro.... they're talking about this fan, and you literally can't see the fan because it's in front of fan bingbing's chest. also fan bingbing does this thing where she uses her eyebrows excessively while acting to convey emotion, and it feels fake. (1st person i ever noticed doing that - emma watson! ayy) and i... couldn't even finish it by skipping lol.
---
swordsman 2013
lackluster overall... joe chen was the saving joy of this tho!!! i love how they made dongfang bubai's part greater and she was???? so good???? also wallace huo is the first wuxia drama male lead that my sister thinks is attractive LMAO
chinese paladin 3
i can't even be bothered to put a picture because i disliked it so much lmao. bad acting, effects, and plot. again, in MY sole opinion though because i know a lot of people like it;; i probably would not have been so harsh if i watched it back when i was 11-12.
ljdsaofj can you tell my motivation levels are dropping as i'm writing this post LOL. anyway, you've reached the end!!!!!!! thank you so much for reading and please don't hesitate to message me some of your favorite chinese dramas on tumblr here or here :)
Labels: dramas, favorites, kinda
chinese tv recs
by yours truly ~ these are all my own opinions and do not reflect anyone else's! sorry in advance if i dislike one of your fav dramas otl;;; okay, i'm actually obsessed with wuxia/historical chinese dramas but i hate hate hate how mainland china's media is such a bubble;; honestly my mandarin is very bad, so my reading/writing skill is like -10. however, i can understand/speak decently and of course, there's always my parents to explain certain puns LOL. i hope you enjoy and check out some of these~ overall, they're a bit old, so it might be hard to find them online. still, PLEASE give them a chance!!
射雕英雄传 (legend of the condor heroes)
1983 ver
2008 ver
i’ve seen two versions of this - 1983 and 2008. i have to say that 1983 was much better because they changed the plot to gain yang kang sympathizers and the story just didn’t make any sense anymore. (although i really like the change in the old one from the book where spoiler alertyang kang gets to see nianci once more before he dies instead of guo jing finding his body picked clean by ravens) i also watched the 1983 version religiously in my childhood so i'm probably heavily biased. (but all the characters are hotter in 2008 version) i really love the actress for huang rong in the old version;;; super sad that she died at a young age;; hu ge + ariel lin :') still mad @ people saying she was too fat to play huang rong;; yuan hong... he fits the role of yang kang really well. (i've been meaning to watch 2003 version with zhou xun but i've never gotten around to it yet;;)
_____________________________
神雕侠侣 (return of the condor heroes)
1983 ver
2006 ver
sequel to the above and amazing hehe. it's not as good honestly because xiaolongnü (main heroine)... gets on my nerves lot... i've also seen two versions of this, 1983 and 2006. 2006 was much better (esp the music). liu yifei fits xln perfectly honestly... i love her... she's beautiful.. but she really can't act that well;; since the character grows up in a cave, she doesn't really "understand" the world, so awkwardness is supposed to be there. also when i was 8 & watching the old ver, i didn't understand spoiler alert xiaolongnü getting raped by the daoshi.... i was like.. what happened??? they just rolled around on the ground... huang xiaoming is alright, but he's not very good at expressing deeper emotions besides the generic happy/crazy side that yang guo has (btw i can't believe he married angelababy) the special effects for the majority of the tv series is great besides the actual condor...
----
倚天屠龙记 (the heavenly sword and the dragon saber) 2003 ver
sequel to the previous two, but it’s set like over 100 years later. this is the first of jin yong’s that doesn’t have either a dumb male lead or female lead. not that xln was stupid per say, but she was very sheltered and naïve. there's four girls in this one though..... sheesh stop making it a harem but zhang wuji only ends up with one!!! lmao i'm............. i like the overall plot though, and ofc all the action does help :-) i've only seen this adaptation but i probably should try out the 2009 ver. omg what threw me off was zhü'er was the same actress as guo fu in the 2006 ver of 神雕侠侣! also who cares about zhang wuji tbh, so here's a pic with the four main girls :~)
----
還珠格格 (huan zhu gege / my fair princess)
obviously i'm talking about the original, and honestly only season 1... it gets a bit repetitive over time tbh;; still, it's such a gem!!!!!!!!! baby zhao wei, ruby lin, and fan bingbing!! + alec su :) it's honestly hilarious and if you don't love it you have no soul......
---
步步惊心 (step by step or scarlet heart)
ok tbh i did not watch the entirety of this drama it was too long for me... i skipped around a bit. it has a very good premise (time travel) though but it gives me self insert original character fanfiction vibes LOLOLOL... but seriously.. there's so many people in love with ruoxi?? like pleath. still the ending was :'-( i only watched a bit of 步步惊心2, but imo it's much less interesting...
---
铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 (the "eloquent" ji xiaolan LMAO / bronze teeth)
another childhood favorite! my parents wanted to make sure i liked china, so they resorted to making me watch historical comedies LOLL. ji xiaolan, huang shang, he shen, and xiao yue are such a hilarious quartet... xiao yue is so stupid but she is me on the inside <3 one of my favorite scenes is the fish scene, where the former 3 have been captured by xiao yue and the rebels (but she only knows the identity of ji xiaolan). they go around saying "fish proverbs" and whoever has the worst has to stack a basket of gross fish on the pile. basically it's a wonderful escape scheme because xiao yue stops watching and just listens to their voices. he shen loses on purpose each time and is punished, they restart, etc. he shen and huang shang escape via the fish pile and rope, while ji xiaolan stays behind and mimics all the voices to make sure they can get far enough away. ITS JUST A GREAT SCENE OKAY I CAN'T EXPLAIN THE CLEVERNESS IN ENGLISH.... IT SOUNDS SO BORING MY WAY... just watch it
后宫甄嬛传 (empresses in the palace)
this is a really good drama tbh. i think it's extremely well written and overall the designs are beautiful;; costuming for historical palace dramas usually are, but these were so nice! the length of the series let you really get close to the characters (especially zhen huan) and indoctrinated into their way of life. zhen huan's transformation from a kind, sweet girl into a manipulative and cruel woman is !!! so great!!!
anyways ok all the characters are stereotypes but like the funniest thing i've heard was exo-m chinese members related to them omg. tao = huafei, the arrogant and originally powerful feizi, but her downfall is terrible LOL. kris = huanghou, who's just trying to make everyone get along (BUT FUNNY THING IS spoiler SHE MURDERED HER SIS, WHO WAS THE QUEEN CONSORT/WHO THE EMPEROR WAS IN LOVE WITH SO SHE COULD BE THE QUEEN CONSORT so i'm wondering if they actually watched it???) yixing = lingrong, the "friend" who actually is secretly going to betray you and take advantage of your weaknesses. luhan = zhen huan, the innocent lil girl who was "changed" by circumstances BYE
----
watched but can't completely rec:
gorgeous visuals (set/costume design was amazing); can't say that much for the plot/acting.... pretty lackluster imo.. they censored a lot of the cleavage to the point of cutting off important parts of the mise en scene and like... bro.... they're talking about this fan, and you literally can't see the fan because it's in front of fan bingbing's chest. also fan bingbing does this thing where she uses her eyebrows excessively while acting to convey emotion, and it feels fake. (1st person i ever noticed doing that - emma watson! ayy) and i... couldn't even finish it by skipping lol.
---
swordsman 2013
lackluster overall... joe chen was the saving joy of this tho!!! i love how they made dongfang bubai's part greater and she was???? so good???? also wallace huo is the first wuxia drama male lead that my sister thinks is attractive LMAO
chinese paladin 3
i can't even be bothered to put a picture because i disliked it so much lmao. bad acting, effects, and plot. again, in MY sole opinion though because i know a lot of people like it;; i probably would not have been so harsh if i watched it back when i was 11-12.
ljdsaofj can you tell my motivation levels are dropping as i'm writing this post LOL. anyway, you've reached the end!!!!!!! thank you so much for reading and please don't hesitate to message me some of your favorite chinese dramas on tumblr here or here :)
Labels: dramas, favorites, kinda
hi there! welcome to my blog~ here I'll be documenting miscellaneous adventures, from reviews to music discoveries, to favorite fashion looks! hope you enjoy :^)
profile;
i'm em.
currently living in the U.S.
chinese-American. i can speak mandarin semi-fluently~
statistics;
skin color: light/pale
skin type: dry/sensitive
eye color: dark brown
hair color:black/deep brown
hair type/style: thick, slightly wavy. long, with bangs.
height: 170cm/5'7"
clothing size: US: M. CHN: M-XXL
rambles;
i enjoy music in general, the smell of old books, the smell of new books, cracking the spine of a new book open, hilarious things, things that make me cry from sheer emotion, sad fics and dramas, cheesy dramas, baggy sweaters, pretty pictures, having that moment of inspiration before writing a story and being satisfied with the outcome, sleeping, running on no sleep, ice cream cake for birthdays, putting up my christmas tree by myself, cool lemonade, rainy cold days, drizzles on your face, action movies, unlimited amounts of piping! hot noodles and dumplings and wontons, minimalistic furniture, laughing at friends who are shorter than me, having deep conversations with strangers, muted colors, going through color pallets at diy stores, choosing yarn and looking through projects, drinking bubble tea, going to froyo stores, that moment when I finally draw something the way I imagined it, baking tasty sweets, cute stuffed plush toys, the smell of the ocean, fruit, good wuxia drams, some anime, the feeling of collapsing on the mattress after a long day, baggy sweaters, ice cream cake for birthdays, the tranquility of night, pretty pictures, cute cellphone charms, the tranquility of night, funny japanese emoticons, when everything is organized, when everything is disorganized, when my clothes match and don’t make me look like an overgrown middle schooler, when I actually don’t expect a plot twist, when I can’t predict what will happen next, overgrown kittens, energetic puppies, and being able to choose when to laugh.
tv shows;
射雕英雄传, 神雕侠侣, 倚天屠龙记, 笑傲江湖, 纪晓岚, 后宫甄嬛传, 步步惊心, steven universe, gravity falls, sherlock, fresh off the boat, reply 1988, death note, fate/zero, code geass, another, madoka, snk, tokyo ghoul, magi, fma:b, avatar the last airbender, gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun
music;
bastille, coldplay, one republic, imagine dragons, old maroon 5, jhameel, old bigbang, winner, mamamoo, akmu, lee hi, epik high, 10cm, geeks, standing egg, f(x), lim kim, re:plus, jj lin, jay chou, wang leehom, a-lin, foster the people, empire the sun, two door cinema club, gowe
movies;
slumdog millionaire, alice in wonderland, inception, spirited away, howl’s moving castle, princess mononoke, narnia, coraline, pirates of the caribbean, chronicle, up, tangled, hp, el fauno del laberinto
books;
lord of the rings/the hobbit, agatha christie poirot novels, harry potter (1-4), asoiaf, pride and prejudice, catcher in the rye, a tree grows in brooklyn, to kill a mockingbird, animal farm, narnia, the book thief, lord of the flies, anne of green gables,pjo, inkheart
