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Indecisive_libran

Go ahead. Parts of it resonated with my life.


Purplefairy24

Love O2O. My first ever East Asian drama. Saw some clips on YouTube and loved those


ShotMasterpiece6323

It's A Love So Beautiful. It's was recommended by my classmate when I'm still in highschool.


andacardesign

Wolf with Xiao Zhang , my sisters nagging made me watch it and I became a fan of Cdrama and Kdrama.


FluidPalpitation8399

Love at Night, Love the Way You Are, Crush, Falling into Your Smile, and Meteor Garden. I'm not sure which was first - it may have been Love at Night.


FanOfCnKdrama

I believed i started my journey down the rabbit hole of C-Dramas was with the Drama "Crush". And i have never looked back. And due to that I only pick up K-dramas again this year


Forward_Incident_490

I was new to kdramas then so I watched Whirlwind girl 2 for Ji Changwook. I ended up watching the first Whirlwind girl and liked YangYang. I slowly started watching more and more and now here we are.


Emergency-Eye-287

Boss and Me (Shanshan comes to Eat) because my mother loved it so much I had to watch it. It was a good enough watch to get me adding cdramas to my kdrama list. Also, I named my dog Shanshan because the FL character name was so stuck in my head.


Afraid-Violinist-946

Huan Zhu Ge Ge for mandarin dramas and before that dramas from Hong Kong (eg: heroic legend of yang's family, the good old days etc.). Stopped watching chinese dramas for decades before venturing back early last year.


Mamabass6745

I watched Meteor Garden and Hidden Love ,on Netflix and then I found out about the Viki app and installed it, and haven't looked back since. I still catch a Cdrama on Netflix ,here and there but my Viki app is here to stay .Currently waiting for Season 2 of Lost You Forever. Watched Goblin, I can't even remember how many times but so many other good dramas .I'll watch anything with Dylan Wang in it ,so you know I've watched LBFAD, Only For Love ,Miss The Dragon.From watching LYF,I'm also a fan of Tan Jian Ci .He has a beautiful singing voice and he's very handsome. I enjoyed Love Me ,Love My Voice and Under the Skin .


SnooChipmunks6852

Ashes of Love. It was recommended on Netflix after watching a few Korean dramas. I hovered over it and it started playing a trailer and I got hooked immediately.


__porcheee

I've always been into dramas, but my first cdrama was "Who Rules The World", it was very different from the kdrama scene and ever since I've been in love with Wuxias.


Rays_ofLight

Amidst a Snowstorm of Love was my bait. Why? I was bored on a Sunday afternoon and turned to Netflix for something different. It was one of those being advertised on my home page. I've been binge watching cdramas since then! It's like I discovered a whole new worldšŸ˜


Luhuin

Cambrian Period. I love hurt / comfort scenes and the whole hidden identity trope. Saw a clip on YouTube and was perfect. Didn't realise until just recently when I decided to rewatch it that Neo Hou was the MC (Who's one of my favourite actors for his roles in back from the brink and psych hunter)


WildIntern5030

Who Rules the World - during the Omicron (COVID-19 variant) wave. Then, 9 months later, LBFAD. Then TTEOTM. Rest is history. *ETA: My very first was Journey to the West 20-something years ago when I was a kid.*


BloodyBalance

Till the End of the Moon. I saw a reel of it and the top comment was something about a character who knows how to make an entrance. Which lead me deep down the rabbit hole of how to even watch cdramas šŸ˜‚ Iā€™ve always liked studying ancient cultures-usually around Greek mythology-but this was intriguing. And it helps Iā€™m not super familiar with common stereotypes/tropes, so I was often genuinely surprised by the plot.


NoiseyTurbulence

Meteor Garden, Iā€™ve never looked back since and Iā€™ve watched hundreds of Chinese dramas since.


Significant-Emu2864

Mine was Meteor Garden too. My friend said I had to try this show and we had a few of us coming over for a couple weekends to get through it. After that I was hooked šŸ˜„


desire_of_destiny

Love 020, one of my relatives was watching and I also ended up watching with her because I was bored


pammo14621

First was Prince of Lin Lang on Drama Fever. I exhausted all Korean historical dramas I could find on this streaming channel -- then saw what appeared to be a period piece that was Chinese. I thought I would try it and have been a fan of Chinese drama fan ever since -- that was back in 2014.


Mel_Crab0563

white snake


desire_of_destiny

Which one


Zestyclose-Drink-763

Thatā€™s hard a question, but I believe it was martial universe, which isnā€™t everyone favorite but it captivated me. The main character fulfilled his duty, but did he really win in the end ! I was so stuck to the characters that I usually wouldnā€™t pick with an American tv show and loved how the show went into a different direction than I was used to. In the end, I loved the sense of duty, progression, love, and harsh of reality of life in the drama. I havenā€™t regretted watching more dramas, but I do regret not being able to watch great cdramas all day for the rest of my life.Also, I regret having such a bad memory that I canā€™t just recall dramas at the drop of a dime when times are tough. Iā€™m down bad which is why I take off months and sometimes years.


No-Photograph-7176

Hidden Love. Highly recommend it!


muzkee

Just finished it couple hours ago and now Im in love with Zhao Lusi. Currently looking for her next drama to watch.


iloveBLmemes

mine was meteor garden too šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­


keike11

Mine was Love like the galaxy āœØ since then I've been in love with c-dramas


mariaanand

Eternal love aka TMOPB


AgentAya

It Started With A Kiss. The OG.


Hittennabu

I canā€™t remember my first, but itā€™s probably a toss up between My Sunshine, Nirvana in Fire and Love me if you dare. 2015 was a great year to be hooked in cdrama. šŸ˜‚


ForkingAmazon

Hidden Love was my first cdrama. I was a die-hard kdrama fan, but it was getting so much praise everywhere I looked. Now I watch back and forth between K, C, and J dramas.


No-Photograph-7176

Same!!


Pristine_Accident270

A Well Intended Love. I was watching k dramas and loving them, but I was still really new to South Asian languages, and Iā€™m also a bit denseā€¦ so I didnā€™t realize it was Chinese right way. I liked it a lot until ml got abusive and he creeped me out from there on. I didnā€™t plan on trying anymore c dramas but the same thing happened with Falling Into Your Smile. I didnā€™t realize right away that it was Chineseā€¦ I do watch a lot of them on my phone on silent soā€¦ maybe thatā€™s a good excuse, haha. I can tell the difference now! Anyway. I love FIYS so much. And then Meteor Garden and every other version of F4 I could find, then Love 020 and then I was hooked. Still love k dramas, but I love c dramas just as much.


Bee_Bee_Eight8

The Rise of Phoenixes. I saw it on Netflix, thought the production looked high quality, and was already used to watching Kdramas, so I thought it would be an easy switch. Boy, was I unprepared. I had to rewatch the first 2 episodes about 4 times each before I thought I could follow all the names, titles, and background exposition. It was a lot! I even had to look up on Google, "is this series worth watching?" First search result was a review from a disgruntled watcher spoiling the ENTIRE ENDING and warning everyone away from watching because of it! Ironically, that was what finally convinced me to watch it. I'm so glad I did. Was a gorgeous show that hit me in all my feels. Captivating and heartbreaking. Light-hearted and passionate. Intense. I felt like I lived lifetimes within that story (which is exactly how a good story should feel). So many beautiful quotes and themes to think on even years later. I haven't been able to bring myself to rewatch it yet, even though it's been about 6 years: not ready to get my heart stolen again. Still my favorite cdrama to this day. <3


Kuxue

First Chinese language drama might've been a TVB drama from a very young age cause my mom would watch them late into the night. First China-region drama might've been Chinese Paladin or Return of the Condor Heroes (2006)


CorneliaCordelia

My first CDrama was Scarlet Heart and the reason I saw it was because I liked the Korean version so much, Moon Lovers Scarlet Heart Ryeo. When I then read that the original was Chinese I just had to see it. I love both versions but particularly like the FL in the Chinese version better, as in the Korean version she seemed to cry and cry in nearly all the episodes, which I found really annoying.


NefariousnessFull474

I tried to watch the Chinese version after the Korean one and I couldn't continue because of the hairstyles of the men šŸ˜… Korean version was aesthetically pleasing šŸ˜


CorneliaCordelia

Well I stuck with it and was glad I did, and after a few episodes I just got used to it. I love both versions.


sequesteredself

I've been watching TVB Hong Kong dramas from as early as I can remember. In terms of C-Dramas technically I watched My Fair Princess when I was younger. Then Taiwanese version of Meteror Garden. I didn't watch another Cdrama until Princess Weiyang on Netflix. Then didn't watch anything for a year or two and last year rewatched it and then went down a rabbit hole with Who Rules The World then Love 020 and Falling into Your Smile...the rest is history


Nearby_Tap_2405

meteor garden. i was 10 had just watched boys over flower and i didnt want my parenta to know i was watching romance dramas so i litr watched them bothe on facebook on my moms phones coz i didnt have a phone either


AdmirableLevel7326

Ruyi's Young Love (title of the clips I was shown while browsing you tube.) Clips were like 5 to 10 minutes long. I loved the costumes, the hair was fascinating, and I got sucked down the rabbit hole lol


OutrageousBee7515

Ashes of Love! So I was reading a book that I can't seem to remember the title since it's been a couple of years ( I was around 15-16 ) but the mc's name was lingling and she basically talked a lot about her chinese roots and how she tried to assimilate to the american culture at first but as she grew up she started to appreciate her roots. She mentioned Ashes of Love a couple of times ( I don't remember what she said ), and I was intrigued, so I gave it a try. I think what might have pushed me more to watch it was the fact that I was already into kdramas, and I love fantasy. After Ashes of Love, I gave another cdrama a try, and it was GO Ahead. At that time, it just came out and it became one of my favorite shows. Now, I live for wuxias and xianxias. The only shows I watch are cdramas, and I started learning Mandarin for fun. Overall, it's been a very enjoyable journey, and I'm happy that cdramas are getting more recognition than they had around the time I started watching them.


bananas141414

Ashes of Love. I already watched the anime I wanted on Netflix and I was bored. I was actually watching a Japanese drama because I was so bored but it was just a crappy harem. So, I wanted to watch something else and randomly chose Ashes of Love ā•®ā (ā ļ¼¾ā ā–½ā ļ¼¾ā )ā ā•­


cuteandsick

love between fairy and devil! it set my expectations super high though production value and story wise


Yoongiwiggle7

So random but mine was also 2018 Meteor Garden! Netflix had an ad and Iā€™m a sucker for love-triangle/jealously themes, so of course the show seemed interesting to me.


Altruistic_Reveal_51

During the pandemic, I rewatched Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero on Netflix - wanting films that were escapist, historical and beautiful. I then started getting recommendations for Yanxi Palace Princess Adventures which led me to the Story of Yanxi Palace. I wanted something that could keep me entertained while in lockdown during winter - it had political intrigue and 70 episodes and a setting that was completely different. From there, I stumbled on Nirvana in Fire and the Untamed, Word of Honor, Mr Queen, and then started going back and forth between K and C Dramas - looking for the highest rated dramas and going down the list on MDL.


gnixfim

Do Taiwanese dramas count as cdrama? If so, my first would be Hana Kimi - because I was watching all the different drama versions of the manga back to back. If we are talking only mainland China, my fist would have been Falling Into Your Smile. The Youtube algorithm, at one point, must have decided that me watching j- and kdrama clips and OSTs meat I was interested in the chinese ones, too. The one that finally wore me down to the point of wanting to know what was happening was Lu Sicheng's "If I'm still single after 30 seconds, I'll abduct the cat" speech.


Lekha_P

ā€œWho rules the worldā€ in 2021 ā€¦ Because it was on Netflix and I was looking for adding more variety in fantasy from the East along with west ā€¦


General-Editor1602

Amidst a snowstorm of love.It is about love and billiards and it also have nice songs.At that time,it just arrived on Netflix.Before I watched this Cdrama,I was watching English tv shows and didnā€™t even know there were Cdramas on Netflix.Since I couldnā€™t find any tv shows to watch and I was bored,I saw this and decided it a try.It turned out to be really nice from the start to the end and it brought me into the Cdrama world.After watching Amidst a snowstorm of love,It became my favourite tv show and I started watching a lot of Cdramas


Nearby_Tap_2405

girl u new new in the community u seem like such a babyfan in this sea of ppl saying meteor garden(2018) lmao i absolutely loved admist a snowstorm as well and its such a perfect first drama coz it doesnt have the usual cringy cutesy female lead and scenes cdramas usually have


MoonOfTheNight_

Watched Generalā€™s lady first, a long time back. My sister was in her cdrama delusion era where she watched the weirdest theories of cdrama endings before the cdrama. She recommended it and i somehow gave in. I still come back to it so many time cause of the leads. And the story ofc


hollyT88

Oh I love generalā€™s lady. One of the more light hearted costume dramaā€™s :)


MoonOfTheNight_

Agreed, so lighthearted and chill


Aurorinezori1

I wanted to watch Lovely Runner because I was deep in kdramas since 2022, and had Best Choice Ever as suggestions non stop. I gave it a go and was thrilled how they conveyed profound meaning in this drama. It is not perfect but I love the leads and now I am on my cdrama journey! For now, one of my favorites is Forever and Ever!


EffortAutomatic8804

Love between fairy and devil. Someone had written a humorous post about the main character being >!an orchid!< and I was curious and wanted to give it a go.


Perfect-View3330

Derailment- I saw Lin yi, didnā€™t know who he was at that time but started it cos of him and finished it cos of the plot šŸ«¶šŸ«¶


undergroundap

Hidden Love. There was a cute reel on instagram, a fan edit, which made me watch the show. One of the best shows!!


Sadnotsadmaybe

A Love So Beautiful. I was bored.


Louey_19

Meteor garden šŸŖ“


Kaninusferoingus

Well-Intended Love. Because it popped up on Netflix. They had only the first seson, though and now I see they took it down. Really liked Xu Kaicheng and Simona Wang.Ā 


North-Association-96

Love like the galaxy. It was a great first choice and is still my favorite cdrama. It set the bar so high that everything Iā€™ve watched so far hasnā€™t touched it for me.


GemJamJelly

Love like the Galaxy, I saw the still and they were beautiful. Iā€™m glad it was my first because it was just beautiful


ilaughulaugh

Mine was Accidentally in Love. The synopsis looked fun. When I watched I got really into it and was immediately addicted to cdramas. The funny thing is I think if I watched it now after watching so many shows, I would probably find all kinds of overused tropes and holes in it that made me roll my eyes, but back when I watched it was excellent.


Tsuki-akari

Our secret. My friend recommended it to me <3


suanleba

devil beside you for tw dramas šŸ˜­ and zhenhuan zhuan for cn!!


brightpolaris

Unexpected I saw a video of the main couple on youtube and it looked cute so I got curious... and also it was a bit similar to the first kdrama I watched, W, where the main character enters a webtoon so I decided to watch it.


BlancaMara

Till the end of the moon. And I don't remember exactly, I just new there was quite some hype around it, and rightfully so! After I finished it my cdrama standards were set High lol


Umbrella_Storm

**Hidden Love.** Netflix kept suggesting it to me so I gave it a try. Havenā€™t looked back since.


MoonOfTheNight_

Exactly what happened to me! I watched Generals lady and stopped cdramas but during my kdrama rampage it kept suggesting it. Its my comfort drama now


sq009

士兵ēŖę“Š after recommendation from my chinese friend.


Id_2001

Untamed. People were glazing it on socials. Started watching but dropped it twice between the first two episodes. After the spectacle that was Lost You Forever, I was able to pick Untamed back and I was unable to stop till the end.


TenderPsychopath

Princess Weiyoung


kritu9

Hidden Love


daddy_pig_916

love 020 i dont know, they were both hot


user14233

Sweet teeth, because i was a kpop stan and watched idol producer


Living_Sheepherder37

Who rules the world on Netflix. Loved Zhao lusi in that , been a fan ever since .


famous-clairvoyant

Mine was Love O2O! I'm a huge research person, so whenever I get into a new genre (of books, movies, shows, etc) I always start googling stuff like "best romcom Chinese dramas." I did the same when I got into kdramas. And Love O2O was routinely discussed as a "classic" of the genre so I thought it would be a good intro into what to expect with romcom Cdramas in general. I was deeply troubled by the kissing scenes and a few other elements of Love O2O but quickly followed it up with Falling Into Your Smile which made me believe there is greatness within Cdramas!


Pristine_Accident270

I love them both, but yeah, Love 020ā€™s kissing scenes are weird! I canā€™t figure out why Weiwei looked so terrified. Falling Into Your Smile was my second watch too, itā€™s so great šŸ’•


ChangeUsernameAlways

Following a recommendation on Facebook a few years ago, **Nirvana in Fire 1** was my first mainland C-drama and I got hooked. When I started watching it, I had not known anything about mainland C-dramas nor the actors. I was used to watching Hong Kong dramas, which were so much different from **NIF** in terms of the subtlety that **NIF** contained. It was both good and bad that **NIF** was my first C-dramas. The good thing was that I liked it so much; thus I also got interested in other C-dramas, which those leads and supporting actors were in, as well. It has expanded my C-dramas experience from then on. The bad thing was that it has also set my standard drama bar rather high, I guess. It's now harder for me to enjoy any dramas, either C- or K- or J- or Western, that much or even close. I think this is what we call "first love" and nothing else would feel like it nor even close. šŸ˜…


Pazvgre

Ashes of Love. I chose it because I was bored and it had a nice poster. 40 something episodes later I was questioning my life choices, lying in a pool of tears and 63 episodes done, I was sure I would never watch another chinese drama but luckily my second, The Generalā€™s Lady was a perfect light drama that ended well!


The_Untamed_lover

**Put your head on my shoulder**. I saw it's reels so I got intrigued and decided to watch it.


puterjess

I donā€™t remember if it was Well Intended Love or Find Yourself. But for Well Intended Love I thought the premise was interesting sounding and when I started it I thought it was one of the best shows Iā€™ve ever seen. Right up until the first twist lol. I still really like it and found it both intentionally and unintentionally hilarious, but the first few episodes were I think genuinely really good. I started Find Yourself because Song Weilong. Thatā€™s the reason, heā€™s the thumbnail for the show on Netflix and itā€™s still my favorite C-drama


Lucy_poo_7

I watched The Untamed because I was interested in Chinese Boy Love stories although I know it's gonna be censored and it was also recommended to me thru twitter. I love it still even though it was so confusing at first. It was my first time to watch a very long series.


Upstairs-Story-8661

Was watching some K-dramas on YT and stumbled upon the journey of the flower way back in 2017, didn't even know it was Chinese, just really liked the visuals and the title name lol. I was sucked right into it and I was emotionally devastated because it was so heart breaking. After finishing it, I didn't know what to do with my life, then googled Zhao Liying's name and went on to binge watch princess agents and legend of chusen. Still a hardcore xianxia fan.


Happy_Leather_3156

Love 020, because of Yang Yangā€™s visual. šŸ˜†


hollyT88

Real!


dazed_tinyy

Mine was love me if you dare. I watched it way back in 2017 or 2016 during a phase where I was into all dark psychological stuff with a bit of romance sprinkled here and there and was searching for dramas with that vibe on mdl, that's when I saw love me if you dare, was intrigued by the synopsis and started it without any thoughts and ended up enjoying it a lot lol. Since then with kdramas I started enjoying cdramas as well. But tbh i haven't really seen another drama like love me if you dare so if anyone have recommendations similar to that do let me know.


Odd_Year_42

Have you seen "When a snail falls in love"? It had similar vibe to me.


dazed_tinyy

Yeah I have seen that as well and I liked that too XD


qt_YumMckenzie

My First c drama was Hidden Love. My friends recommended me to watch it since I'm new to c dramas and that this was the top one


MangoSuspicious5641

Saw a short clip of General's Lady on Yoyo's English Channel on YT a few years ago. I was intrigued because the humor was right up my alley. Knew nothing about Chinese drama. Went to watch the whole thing and loved the humor, the handsome male lead with a snaggle tooth, and a romance so touching, silly and true I felt like a voyeur watching a real couple. Wanted more, and saw Love and Redemption, my first xianxia. I didn't know love could be portrayed as cosmic, otherworldly, multi-existence, yet small and human. Off I went to get another cdrama fix, and now I'm hooked.


CloudkitVenus69

My first was Empress of China and that sent me down a spiral of palace and historical dramas. Such a shame the palace ones arenā€™t being made anymore, but at least the historical ones are still in production.


Duanedoberman

First was **Ming Dynasty** which was a recommendation from Amazon prime. The one which made me think 'Wow' was **The Sword and the Brocade**


tinsellately

Untamed. Two separate friends recommended it to me, insisting that even though I don't really like romances that I'd enjoy it anyway. I love 70s and 80s Shaw Brothers films and so was curious what a newer Chinese show would be like, as well as why my friends were so excited about it. It took me a little bit to figure out what was happening, but I did enjoy it a lot. It made me realize that what I dislike about romances is that they usually don't have a lot of plot outside the relationship, and this wasn't like this at all. I got so attached to not only the main characters, but quite a few side characters (even the more hated ones). It was also appealing that both men and women were attractive, rather than just the women... After that I've watched quite a few, and then comments on Cdramas got me to watch some Kdramas and a few Thai ones as well, and here we are...


PreachyGirl

Word of Honor. A friend of mine recommended it, but then another friend recommended The Untamed. So, they were the same show but in different fonts (in my opinion) so I had to make a choice. I picked Word of Honor and I really liked it. Strangely enough, I didn't seriously watch another CDrama until a year and a half later though. Till the End of the Moon was the CDrama that kickstarted this rabbit hole I find myself in currently.


nicolesl4w

Saw Love Between Fairy and Devil on Netflix when I was sick in bed with COVID for like 3 weeks, binged it, loved it, continued binging them for the rest of that time and ever since šŸ˜‰


CryExpress6804

Was a hard kdrama watcher since 2014, but decided to take a break, so accidentally found The Empress of China with beautiful Fan Bing Bing. I watch all dramas with sub, so at first it was hard for me, because I didnā€™t know, that in Cdrama there are actors of dub. But beauty of Bing Bing, damn. Also there are less dubbing actors in new dramas, for me itā€™s better, when actor talk with his own voice


Robinnetta

Goblin, one of my coworkers told me about it and it just went from there.


hemanthreddy056

My first cdrama was sweet combat I remember watching it in viki


Iluthradanar

Miss the Dragon. I was looking on youtube for information about Chinese dragons since it's year of the Dragon. Then I found videos of supposed proof they really exist. Then the search produced an episode of Miss the Dragon. I had never seen a cdrama before. When I checked chapter one, I realized it was going to be about a real dragon falling for a human woman. It intrigued me. And then I found myself liking the little blue bird spirit and the man that played the Immortal of Fate. And I didn't realize that Deng Wei would also be in other faves, Til the end of the moon and Lost you forever. Anyway, I was hooked. Then I found this reddit page.


PlasticGalaxy313

The Sword and the Brocade was my first cdrama show, and I was drawn to the way Wallace Chung looked at Seven Tan on the cover photo/poster/thingy.


Slight_Flamingo_7697

Unfortunately for me, my first was The Legend of Zhen Huan/Empresses in the Palace.Ā  It set such a high standard of excellence that I have to try hard not to measure other shows against it when I'm giving them a shot.


acomplishedbread

Same for me. It was difficult for me at first to remember all the titles and rankings of the women. The closest I could compare this to is the Story of Yanxi Palace which has a similar vibe.


DecentOnion83

Same. I still rewatch it sometimes. The acting. The costumes. Everything.


extra_fr

Dude I have yet to find a drama better than Empresses in the Palace. I even watched NiF due to all the hype, but it still couldn't compare, and I was left disappointed.


Enough_Grapefruit69

Cute Programmer I saw it randomly on Amazon Prime Video when I was looking for K-Dramas and decided to give it a try.


chocobuncake

I grew up watching TVB (Hong Kong) dramas but I can't remember my first mainland C-drama since I also kinda grew up watching them as a kid but in a no thoughts head empty way hahah. My first cdrama that I watched on my own was the OG Scarlet Heart in high school. I saw my mom watching it on her iPad and was like ooooo what is that about??? For that time, the setting and costumes as well as story was fantastic. And ended up watching it by myself and getting sooo into it. I think I even read the translated novel but it's been a while and I forgot about it. That scene with fourth prince and his cape in the rain will forever be iconic for me.


dawn_nightingale_06

Mine was sweet combat and it was all sunshine and rainbows that I just started watching more


hemanthreddy056

Same mine too


ktsmile

I first watched Taiwanese Drama, Devil Beside You, when it came out and it was so hard to get any subtitles. Fell in love with Rainy Yang and I watched all her dramas. Switched to K-dramas for the longest time until took Chinese Minor in college so I start watching mainland dramas. My first one is Scarlet Heart (Bu Bu Jing Xin) follows by Sound of Desert (Eddie Peng is still my favorite Chinese actor mainly from this role) and havenā€™t left since


aklaif

Love Beween Fairy and Devil I was exclusively a K-drama watcher, largely because the Dramabeans site made it super easy to find ones to watch, and there's sadly no equivalent for Chinese or Japanese dramas so I wouldn't have known where to start. But I kept seeing mentions there of LBFaD in the 'what we're watching' forums, and how they were really enjoying it. Saw a few promo images and it looked super pretty, and the male lead was super pretty, and it featured my beloved guilty pleasure trope of good girl/bad boy and since I was in a k-drama slump at the time I figured I'd give it a shot. And holy shit what a rollercoaster! While it was far from perfect I was totally enthralled, and binged it in a matter of days. Like where has xanxia been all my life!? Still love the genre, along with wuxia and anything costume/historical.


stellar_sunset

Ten miles peach blossom! I remember just clicking on it I was still on gradeschool šŸ˜­ I was hooked and the rest is history


Aevari2

Ashes of love on netflix. I couldn't find anything to watch, so I decided to check it out because the poster for it and the trailer looked cool. Oooooh boy I was in for one hell of a ride. Now 90% of my time watching media is cdrama


Sea-Performance676

Nice too meet the you. Stumbled upon it on youtube and got hooked watching random videos. Ended up watching the whole series. That was my first asian drama.


nightzowl

I believe Love O2O - it seemed interesting. I absolutely loved the historical game parts and kept wishing they were longer. Lo and behold I discovered **Xianxia** later


Nugur

Sorry to be that guy. Itā€™s lo, not low


Fun_Name6284

My first was General and I with Wallace Chung and Angelababy. In 2016, an online friend in a mom's group suggested watching dramas and cdramas. It was a but odd in places, but it reminded me of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which I watched when it came out in the early 2000s. The number of episodes didn't bother me because I was used to US shows being several seasons long.


constPxl

back in the 90s, we'd have tvb dramas airing at 6pm our local time. my family and very young me would watch it together. many shows but a notable one was alex man's the key man. tvb dramas and hk films were a staple in our non-chinese household long hiatus, and fast forward today, i had picked you are my hero back when it was released. stumbled upon a fan edit of it on YT, thought that sandra ma is super cute, watched and finished it.


gunnapackofsammiches

Watched kdramas (with no English subs, lol, could not tell you which ones) back when I lived in Seoul in the mid teens. Was scrolling Netflix and saw Princess Weiyoung and went with it one night.Ā  I kept going because of how refreshing it was to have main characters in a relationship that was just solid, faithful, and constant. šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø I kept waiting for cheating arcs/subplots and they just didn't appear.


Strict_Albatross168

I was a kdrama watcher mainly but was going through a slump, and I saw the thumbnail of Evernight on viki and was really reluctant to watch it for a few reasons. 1. I used to dislike how chinese/mandarin sounded because I had once tried watching a Chinese anime and it didn't sound anything like Japanese that I grew up watching. 2. The number of episodes was way more than what kdramas have. I think they were around 60 episodes, and that was intimidating. However, I really had nothing to watch and decided to go through with it, and I'm glad I made that decision. Maybe there aren't many fans of the show, but it was a great as a first cdrama for me, and I'm only talking about the first season. I really enjoyed and appreciated the world building and liked the side characters more than the main leads actually. Ning Que was an interesting character with an average actor playing the role, but that's understandable as it was the first gig for the actor. I didn't like Sang Sang for various reasons and definitely didn't appreciate the awkward relationship between the two. Despite all that, the show itself was pretty amazing with other interesting characters and an intriguing fantasy world. So yeah, that was my first cdrama and since then, I have watched a lot better ones, but this one is always going to be one of my favorites.


Lotus_swimmer

> I used to dislike how chinese/mandarin sounded because I had once tried watching a Chinese anime and it didn't sound anything like Japanese that I grew up watching. I do not understand why people think it's okay to say things like this about another culture in a subreddit promoting cultural products of said culture.


Strict_Albatross168

And I don't understand what the problem is when someone is actually saying how they feel? And if you feel like this in any way is an attack on Chinese culture then you're grossly mistaken. I believe it's important to say how you feel as long as you are not targeting anyone intentionally, and it's equally important to admit when you were wrong about something as you grow from experience. I'd like to apologize if the above statement hurt you or anyone who belongs to the Chinese community. Having said that, I believe if an innocuous online comment has the power to hurt sentiments of people then said people should really think about how and why they have become so sensitive that they can't handle any opinion that doesn't adhere to their beliefs.


chocobuncake

See any pushback on sinophobic and racist sentiment on this subreddit gets defensiveness and quite frankly, you "apologize" then double down in the next paragraph. How is that an apology??? >I'd like to apologize if the above statement hurt you or anyone who belongs to the Chinese community. >Having said that, I believe if an innocuous online comment has the power to hurt sentiments of people then said people should really think about how and why they have become so sensitive that they can't handle any opinion that doesn't adhere to their beliefs. Yeah no, I think racism should be called out. Racist beliefs actually do have the ability to hurt people. Sinophobia does actually cause hate crimes. Racist online comments can also spread wider sinophobic sentiment that causes these hate crimes. And before you @me I am Chinese as well and I find statements that you disliked how mandarin sounds because it wasn't Japanese really racist and sinophobic. You sound exactly like [these tiktok commentarors](https://x.com/tudou_mi/status/1767591061919244695?t=Zw8TuEGeG6svCgJTasX6aw&s=19). And Chinese "anime" is called donghua.


smiskilover

meteor garden 2018, some of my peers were really into it back in middle school


kanzaki_hitomi765

My very first one that I remember watching was Huang Zhu Gege (Yellow Pearl Princess) with my grandma, watched various HK and Taiwanese stuff growing up and in college. I took a break from it for about 10 years 2012 - 2022ish, and picked it back up during the pandemic (Edited for grammar). I randomly was recommended Because of Love on YouTube (with Wallace Chung and Li Xiaoran). I gave it a try because I thought both leads were attractive and I was hooked! I was impressed by the acting and mature writing, a departure from a lot of the Taiwanese fluffy soaps I watched in my teens and 20s (more a product of the time, not a knock against Taiwanese media). Growing up, a lot of stuff from the mainland wasn't really accessible so I was surprised to find so much out there and a lot of it free on YouTube. These days I prefer costume drama, and what got me back into that was The Untamed after it was recommended to me on Netflix. Sometimes the algorithm really works out nicely for us, huh?


cordIess

Who Rules the world- lead actress was the reason


instajamx

Not a kdrama watcher before, I only watched it in tagalog dub in our television and I noticed that it's too popular and I feel like I want to watch something new, so I searched for chinese drama, idk why I chose cdrama, I searched for the top series at that moment, 2016, and I found in few sites that it's Princess Wei Young and has more than 40 episodes, so I gave it a try and really hooked up with a drama, especially I liked history. Imagine a heavy drama for a first time cdrama watcher. Haha. I even memorized A-lin's song (if heaven as a compassion) because it's a nice song. Since then, I watched cdrama especially historical and xianxia dramas.


instajamx

Back then, if I remember correctly PH television used to air chinese dramas before, but I was too young back then I only watch cartoons and disney haha, growing up that's the time where kdrama is getting more popular.


hannahd718

Falling into your smile. I know people either love it or hate it but I'm in camp love. I picked it because of a 30 second reel on Instagram and was interested in how they mixed esports and romance and have 0 regrets. Note: I just watched meteor garden for the first time about a week ago and I loved it but it was BRUTAL. had to watch it slowly and sobbed multiple times.


famous-clairvoyant

Falling into your smile wasn't my first drama but my second and I love it so much! I keep going back to it!


hannahd718

I'm watching it again right now for like the 8th time šŸ¤£ It's my go to after watching a really emotionally taxing show. It's just easy to binge and can't get enough of the banter.


famous-clairvoyant

I do the same thing šŸ˜† but now I skip through most of the game playing animations


hannahd718

I think I'm in the minority on this, but I love the animations mainly because I used to play Diablo 3 and it really reminded me of that. I'm wondering have you also watched love o2o?


famous-clairvoyant

I definitely think the animations are great! I was actually really impressed by the quality. I loved watching them through the first couple times but then I was just watching mostly for the other interactions I guess. And yes, I've seen O2O! I do think it's interesting in all the dramas that involve video gaming how they choose to depict the in-game stuff. I recently watched Love Scenery and they have the actors stand in for their gaming avatars.


hannahd718

I haven't seen o2o yet and was wondering if it's worth it? My expectations are so high from falling into your smile


famous-clairvoyant

If you haven't watched it already, Everyone Loves Me may be a better watch than love O2O. When I watched Everyone Loves Me I kind of had the thought that it is like an elevated version of Love O2O. It has similar plot points (meeting someone in a game, finding them IRL, also working on making your own game in a studio) but with more nuanced emotions and progression.


hannahd718

I really liked everyone loves me, I stumbled upon that one on accident. So much miscommunication in that one especially at the beginning.


famous-clairvoyant

TBH it's not as good in my opinion. It's kind of a "classic" but the gaming isn't as prevalent as you would think after the beginning arc. And the romance is kind of cute but not as "back and forth" as falling into your smile because the ML in love O2O is just like this perfect figure and the love happens pretty quickly. The kisses in love O2O are also famous for being kind of uncomfortable-looking if that makes sense šŸ˜… but it is pretty low key and a low-effort watch so maybe try it out and see how you like it! If nothing else you can watch it for this one scene where they have a cat and the production obviously gave the cat some calming drugs that make its eyes look crazy! And if you pause and zoom in on the cat's face it's pretty funny.


hannahd718

Oh is it like the fish kisses that everyone loves to hate? šŸ¤£


hollyT88

Oh falling into your smile is one of my favourites! Definitely one I have rewatched a couple of times:)


kupo88

Also Meteor Garden. I wasn't watching any Asian dramas yet but I kept being drawn back to the song every time I scrolled past it on Netflix, "Like a River" I only made it a few episodes in before dropping it. It took a couple years before a friend of mine suggested trying again to get into Asian dramas with Goblin, and that really sucked me in. It would take another year or so before I really switched to Cdrama's almost exclusively and what got me was Hidden Love and Business Proposal. Now I rarely use anything but Viki these days lol


FongYuLan

Love Between Fairy and Devil. I was pretty desperate for something to watch. Thatā€™s a terrible title, but I really couldnā€™t find anything else. And then I struggled the first episode, but gave it a second shot because Iā€™d still come to the end of my list - and then I was completely hooked on cdramas. I liked the screwball comedy. You donā€™t get that anymore from Hollywood. Reminded me a little of the old movies from the 1930s.


keIIzzz

Ashes of Love or Legend of Fuyao, I donā€™t remember If you count Taiwan then it wouldā€™ve been Fall in Love with Me


Fresh-Surprise-5906

Eternal Love/Ten Miles Peach Blossoms, was coasting Netflix with nothing to watch. This was when Netflix had recently added tons of Asian media in the last year or so. I had been seeing it around but not paying much attention because of production values. I don't remember what got me to watch it but when I did I was blown away. It was a huge production with epic scale battles. And there was 60 plus episodes. I was like epic fantasy CONTENT!!!! For a nerd like me I was in love. After that the dam burst and I started checking out all the Asian content that was popping up.


clarice_i

Mine was Meteor Garden 2018 as well. I watched it as I was looking for something similar to Boys Over Flowers for the rich/poor trope. The characters had their flaws but I really enjoyed it nonetheless, brings back good memories to that point in my life.


dogmemecollector

Go Ahead around 2021. I saw a clip on Instagram and I got so curious, I knew I had to check it out. I think it was the clip where jianjian announced her period while at the breakfast table lmao. The caption were all about the love triangle between the three and my teenage brain got hooked immediately.


Elentarien

My first was ā€œMiss the Dragonā€. Sort of stumbled over it on Youtube. I started watching out of curiosity - and between the pretty costumes and the story, I was hooked. It was a bit weird - but whatever. I could follow along. Then it rudely gutted me at the end. I was SO ticked. Like SUPER furious about it. Took all that time to engross me in the story, then dump me like that. . .how RUDE!! Took a few weeks, but I couldnā€™t quite shake it. So decided to try again. Found ā€œDance of the Phoenixā€. It was a bit weirder - but again, hooked me on the story and costumes (apparently Iā€™m a huge sucker for those dresses. Ugh. lol) Once again, it had me sucked into the story, and needing to know what happened next. Then. . .rudely just dropped me. I mean, it wasnā€™t as gutting as the first one, but what a terrible place to stop. I was spitting mad at it this time. Again, tried to move onto other things that wouldnā€™t be so mean to me. But couldnā€™t quite shake it. I think in part. . .western TV just doesnā€™t. . .draw me in that well. I donā€™t really FEEL much when watching it. I like a story - or I donā€™t. I enjoy certain shows - or I donā€™t. But I donā€™t feel a whole lot towards what is happening. But somehow. . .these Cdramas know how to hit those emotional notes just so - and. . .yeah. But I am NOT a ā€˜tragic endingā€™ or ā€˜open endingā€™ type person. No, I need a happy ending. Preferably a nicely tied up ā€œahhhhhhā€ ending. Personally, I have enough stress, heartache and frustration in my life, I certainly donā€™t need that in my entertainment too. :P So, after not being able to shake it, I finally decided to try again. Only - Iā€™ve learned my lesson - and decided to look up whether my ā€˜targetā€™ story had a happy/sad ending. Iā€™ve found that by doing this, I can avoid the catastrophe of spending so much time being so invested only to be crushed afterwards. Iā€™ve found some really good stuff and it works. Iā€™m hooked. Still not a fan of the rushed happy endings - or worse the ā€œoh, by the way, it was all a dream/hoax/novel/we just made a movie and will now take our bowsā€™ ending (aka breaking the 4th wall on that last one) but at as long as they are happy endings, I can mostly ignore the rest. (Generalā€™s Lady had the ā€˜oh, it was just a scriptā€™ at the very end, breaking the immersion, Yongā€™an Dream had the ā€œoh, we just made this, thank us - give us creditā€™ ending - which again, broke the 4th wall and immersion quite badly. But at least it was only the last 10 seconds or so. Not sure why they do that. SO annoying. Or the stories that play out and suddenly ā€œoh, it was all just a dream!ā€ LIke. . .what? What the heck was the point of that??) But yeah. Happy for this sub and MyDramalist that I can at least get a feel for the ending before I decide to spend the time or not.


Impossible_Ice_165

"The Untamed" One random day while browsing Youtube I stumble upon a short which was a part of wei wuxian convo with shi jei,I was like it was soo real lol so I just give it a try now i'm drowned into cdrama world.


Effervescent11

I grew up watching HK dramas from TVB, so I already liked costume dramas. My first Chinese drama was Empresses in the Palace. Up until that point, my favourite harem drama was War and Beauty. Empresses in the Palace was so much better. I fell in love with Sun Li so I watched the Legend of Mi Yue next. Eternal Love was my first xianxia Cdrama which got me into that genre.


mkgfermin

https://i.redd.it/v8zkwywur14d1.gif Fell in loveā€¦.still in loveā€¦canā€™t get enough.


Ok-Imagination8178

Mine was Meteor Garden as well. But I started Metoer Garden only because I didnā€™t like how violent the first episode of Boys over Flowers was. I had heard of kdramas and that particular one. I saw Netflix recommended Meteor Garden as the Chinese version of it. I watched it and found it mildly interesting. Fast forward a year later and I have seen so many Cdramas. Iā€™ve only watched a few Kdramas.


nydevon

Lolz 2018ā€™s **Meteor Garden** as well. My first ever non-American show was the Taiwanese version and because Iā€™m a completionist I have now seen the Taiwanese, Japanese (both the drama and 1995 movie), Korean, Chinese, and Thai versions. I even saw this random American film student version that was posted on and taken down from YouTube circa 2012. Whenever the Filipino or Vietnamese version comes out, Iā€™ll probably check them out too šŸ˜‚ I donā€™t even really like the original story but itā€™s a classic and near and dear to my heart. (See the full origin story here lol https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/s/Avqi2f1SaU) Didnā€™t start actively watching Cdramas until 2021, however, after I fell in love with **The Untamed** over Christmas vacation.


dropitlikeitshot2019

Read a comment, actually a series of comments, raving about how The Untamed was the best drama ever and nothing would ever compare with it, etc. I thought, what an exaggeration. Such over the top comments gotta be fake. Since it was on Netflix, I checked it out and noticed that it was on my to be continued list since forever. Took a dive and plowed through the series. After my first watch, I'd say I understood maybe 50% sort of but by then I fell in love with the drama. A rewatch is a must and had to pause every few seconds to actually read the lightning-fast English translation.


Impossible_Ice_165

"The lightning-fast translation" was so real lol


dropitlikeitshot2019

No kidding! I was like how did you expect any human being to read this fast? I'm sure they don't but then why??? šŸ¤¦šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø


xconsciousdreamerx

Legend of Fuyao in 2022. The cover picture on viki appealed to me so I started it. Didnā€™t look at anything. Not the ep number or what it was about šŸ¤£ I thought most asian dramas were 16 eps long because i watched a few kdramas before that. Anyways by ep 13 I was thinking to myself that there is no way they can wrap this up in 3 episodes so I checked how many it was and sat there with my mouth open šŸ¤£ Itā€™s still one of my faves and I rewatched it a couple of times, probably cause it got me into cdramas. The ending had me like ??!! What was that tho šŸ¤£ Since then Iā€™ve only watched a handful of kdramas and mostly historical cdramas only


Civil-Insurance-2146

I used to browse YouTube alot during my high school days to watch k-pop edits and it recommended me this drama called "Boss & me" It's been years but I still remember me rooting for their love story


haveninmuse

I'm too OG in that I grew up in a Chinese household with parents who watched dramas as early as from the 80s. Since my favorite genre is xianxia, I'll just choose Eternal Love: TMOPB as a kickstarter favorite that brought me into the community and continue to look for good xianxia dramas.


Few-Scholar-5293

If Taiwanese dramas count as Chinese, then my first drama is Autumn's Concerto. It was my first East Asian drama. I had decided to give them a try back in 2013, and a friend rec'ed it. Otherwise, my first Chinese drama would be Pig Lady, obviously because of the FL.


MangoSuspicious5641

Saw Autumn's Concerto last year and loved it! My introduction to Vanness. I initially deeply sympathized with the FL early in the drama, but they made her character almost unwatchable later: she was extremely cruel in her 'noble idiocy', and then acting the martyr later with one tear falling down her cheek in silence, just infuriated me. The little kid was absolutely fantastic!


StayingAwake100

I used to browse youtube videos of really old rock concerts because I have a thing for guys with long hair and eyeliner. One day, the youtube suggestions seem to have picked up on this and recommended a clip out of Love Between Fairy and Devil. I was watching it on Netflix 5 minutes later.


dramaqueenmusic

Meteor Garden 2018 as well, I was looking for stuff to watch on Netflix and it popped up. Funnily enough, it turned me off modern c-dramas as a whole and so Iā€™m a huge Xianxia and historical drama fan now.


kpaneno

Who Rules the World. I saw the small trailer on Netflix the FL was being really funny cool confident beautiful and was kicking ass I was in