I’m self-studying through HSK-5 and making noticeable progress in reading and writing, but I’m looking for some listening practice too. I’d never liked watching tv shows for language practice since I would always end up just reading subtitles in English and never got anything out of it-- but at this point I think I’m probably at a level where I could follow along with just subtitles in Chinese.
But I’ve never really liked modern-day Chinese shows. I’m a big fan of ancient ones like the Zhen Huan palace show, but I’d like to just stick to something with basic language. Are there any that have people behaving normally instead of in accordance with China’s semi-strange caricatures of gender norms? I don’t mean this as a cultural complaint, I get that girls want to be cute and guys want to be stoic, but in a lot of shows that ends up at an extreme where the girls whine to get what they want and the guys never show any emotions at all. I’ve stopped watching several shows on account of that. Other than that I don’t care at all about genre, I’m fine with campy, sappy romance as long as the couple behaves like real people.
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Edit: wow this blew up. I guess a lot of people are similarly turned off by some of those tropes. Thanks everyone for the recommendations! I’ll go through and reply as I can.
These are The shows I’ve seen which I think fulfill your criteria ordered by my own preference.
Joy of Life - I really recommend this one. Keeps you on the edge of your seet and good pacing. 50 episodes. I believe there are more seasons to come. Male characters are definitely more than cardboards.
Story of Yanxi palace. It does have some pouting girl characters, but bear with me: the lead is a strong, non-pouting female character, and the pouting is limited to only one or several certain characters, it is not at all a general trait. In my opinion this series has a lot of good qualities: top notch production quality, and every episode has me curious what will happen in the next.
You might like White deer plain, it’s virtually void of any such tendency that you described. Personally I can’t watch this as there are no English subs after ep. 5. Looking forward to get to your level in a year or two…
Here are the ones that I have actually completed because like you I find most Chinese shows to be pretty atrocious
别那么骄傲 （Proud of Love) This one is a body switch drama and it’s actually hilarious. It’s pretty 夸装 at times but all Chinese shows are. This is probably the best chinese show I ve seen and you can watch it free on VIKI
最好的我们 ( With You) This one is a high school drama and I didn’t think I would like this genre because I m a 21 year old dude but this show was really good and is my number 2. The character development is really good. You can find it free on YouTube or Viki I believe.
我的前半生 (The First Half of My Life) This one has a pouty girl in the beginning but it’s the story of her character development when she goes through tough times. It started out really slow and boring but got way better as it goes on. Free on YouTube
I wish Chinese shows were way better because my Chinese would be way better if they were. There are some good ones but I feel like 95% of them are just not to my taste. Right now I’m learning Japanese and I m getting 100x the listening practice I got with Chinese because I love anime. It’s nice to learn a language where you actually like the native content
On Children is a great Twiglight Zone-like anthology of stories about the tragic consequences of social pressure, parental oppression and family dysfunction and it is on Netflix.
Have you considered movies? The sinosphere was ramping up to be a cultural juggernaut in film until the 2000s, when, uh, the fire nation attacked, i guess?
Really, it’s such a tragedy to see what became of chinese cinema, chinese media, and well, china.
edit: there have been a handful of decent movies, even from the mainland(?!?!) in the past two decades. I can’t find one person who doesn’t at least like Let The Bullets Fly, for example.
I think the main reason a lot of people here aren’t finding good shows or movies is because they aren’t looking in the right places. You could try getting a Tencent Video membership paired with Unblock Youku extension on Google Chrome. Membership only costs ¥15 a month and you get a huge variety of movies and shows.
Some of the works coming out of China in recent years are bad and there’s definitely a trend for shows that only focus on the attractiveness of the actors/actresses but to say there are no good movies/shows would be a complete lie. There’s plenty of really high quality productions and even masterpieces if you look in the right places.
I mostly watch movies and for some more recent movies I would recommend
我不是药神(Dying to Survive),
芳华(Rare movie that take a relatively objective standpoint on the Cultural Revolution era),
哪吒(Animated film combining Ancient Chinese mythology elements with modern references),
过春天(Reflecting cultural clashes between Mainland and Hong Kong) etc.
With Tencent Video you can also watch American tv shows with Chinese Subs.
There are also plenty of high quality Wechat 公众号accounts that write movie/tv show reviews. They might be a bit harder to read for Chinese learners but they are generally great pieces of writing and offer good insights into Chinese culture and dive deep into societal problems through movies.
I really love 成化十四年 (Sleuth of Ming Dynasty)! It is an amazing series! Jackie Chan is the producer, and the production values are really high. Nice balance between mystery and comedy. The occasional bouts of seriousness, sadness, and silliness don’t hurt, either.
Like 成化十四年 (The Untamed), it’s based on a BL novel. Unfortunately, the show erases the M-M relationships in the original work. The show exchanges bromance for romance, but the characterization is amazing and the relationships are down-to-earth. I really like how most of the female characters aren’t horrible stereotypes.
I can’t believe no one has said this yet, but “the world between us” is hugely popular in Taiwan, and it’s about how mental health issues impact a society with no pouty girls and cardboard guys to be found. I’m pretty sure it’s on hbo or some other American streaming platform. It’s on par with a lot of American tv.
好先生 (To Be a Better Man) is probably the only Chinese drama I like. It has a mix of young, middle aged, and old characters and isn’t just the stereotypical “young people in college/the workplace in love” trope. There’s themes of family, friendship, and loyalty, especially among non-family members. Relationships other than romantic ones are well-developed and touching. Interesting plot and character growth, and acting is very good and not cringey.
I have this issue all the time because my husband is Chinese, and neither of us particularly like Chinese shows for this exact reason (although I do think they have improved). I cannot stand the female characters in particular, they are the worst kind of every trope. However, one thing we have discovered is that when Netflix makes their own Asian dramas, they always provide Chinese dubs. We have become addicted to them, and are constantly waiting for a new Netflix original! Unfortunately, the dubs are only provided for the ones made in house by Netflix, not the ones they purchased from a foreign studio. Also, don’t be turned off by the dubbing! Unlike English dubs, the quality is really high because China has a long history of dubbing Korean dramas to the point that their dubs have a way higher quality than American dubbing. I can’t stand dubbing in English, but Chinese dubbing has been great for my practice. Here’s some that we really enjoyed, all on Netflix.
My Holo Love (scifi/romance) (Korean)
Extracurricular (thriller) (Korean)
Love Alarm (romance, but with less obnoxious characters) (Korean)
The Stranded (supernatural/scifi/post-apocolyptic) (Thai)
The Ghost Bride (supernatural) (Malaysian Chinese)
The Rise of Phoenixes (period drama, this is the first Chinese show I found where I actually liked the female character) (Chinese)
The Naked Director (1970s period piece) (Japanese)
If you want to start with one that is different from any kind of Asian drama you’re used to, start with the Stranded.
Any interest in medical dramas maybe? Surgeons from 2017 is a great one that explores lots of issues from medical malpractice to China’s struggle to modernize their hospital system despite corruption and vast inequalities. While there are medical terms of course, like most medical dramas it’s less about the procedures and more about the people involved.
Available for free on Viki last time I checked, I’m pretty sure it’s also on YouTube still, both with English subs and the original/official licensed Chinese uploads.
You NEED to watch Ode To Joy 欢乐颂。It’s adapted from a series of novels, themed like a commentary on modern society and what it means to be a woman in 21st century China. The protagonists consists of 5 women, all of different ages, personalities and backgrounds. As a 20-something Chinese woman myself, it really hit a note.
There are 2 seasons about 50 episodes each and all available on YouTube. Has a lot of overlapping actors from Nirvana in Fire 琅琊榜。
I tend to be rather picky about my shows and only like the ones with high production values (aka no cheap-looking wardrobe/sets) + smart writing (either politicking intrigue or just smart characters in general) so I think some of my favourites may overlap with what you’re looking for.
I enjoyed 人民的名义, even though it’s straight propaganda, it’s interesting and your cab learn a lot about one, how the government presents itself to people and also how some of the government systems and corruption work in modern China.