Top 3 Chinese Most Watched Chinese Shows:
- Hidden Love - 4,200,000 views in 2024.
- Scissor Seven - 3,700,000 views in 2024.
- The Double - 2,600,000 views in 2024.
Find a wide selection of Mandarin series and reality shows on the UK's most popular streaming platforms. From romantic comedies, fantasy, and Chinese dramas to reality shows, they offer an excellent opportunity to practice vocabulary and intonation, as well as learn more about the cultural context. Discover the must-watch Chinese series and integrate them into your Mandarin studies. Learn Chinese on your own with your favourite resources.
Top Chinese Series to Start Your Language Journey
🎼 The First Frost — Netflix UK
The First Frost tells the story of two high school friends who meet after a long time when they accidentally rent the same place. It explores love, the complexities of trauma, & healing. Its 45-minute episodes offer everyday dialogue.
🈶 Subtitles available: Simplified Chinese, English
🔊 Original Mandarin audio
🎯 Perfect for: Intermediate learners
💖 Accidentally in Love — Netflix UK
Through fake identities, a wealthy young woman escapes an arranged marriage. She meets a famous musician, and the two fall in love, overcoming challenges and pretty funny circumstances. Perfect to learn everyday phrases and basic grammatical structures.
🈶 English, Simplified, Traditional Chinese subtitles
🔊 Original Mandarin audio
🎯 Perfect for beginner learners
🌌 The Untamed — Netflix UK
Considered one of the most popular series for learning Mandarin, it is available on Netflix UK. Tells the adventures of two young men in a universe full of magic, rivals, and secrets. The story explores their friendship and the mysteries linked to a tragic historical event.
🈶 English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese subtitles
🔊 Original Mandarin audio
🎯 Perfect for intermediate/advanced students due to its rich linguistic complexity.
🖥️ Love O2O — Netflix UK
Two popular college students who fell in love through an online game. It offers vocabulary related to technology, social media, and academic life, and expressions for modern conversations.
🈶 English, Simplified, Traditional Chinese subtitles
🔊 Original Mandarin audio
🎯 Perfect for: Intermediate learners
⚔️ Guardians of the Dafeng — Disney+, Viki & YouTube
A modern office worker unexpectedly enters the fantastical Dafeng Dynasty and assumes a new identity as a night watchman, responsible for supervising officials and solving cases. Using his modern knowledge, scientific understanding, and reasoning skills, he successfully solves one strange case after another, earning himself the title of chief investigator. Perfect for learning institutional and narrative vocabulary in historical and formal contexts.
🈶 English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese subtitles.
🔊 Original Mandarin audio
🎯 Perfect for: Intermediate/Advanced
🕵️♀️ The Legend of Zang Hai — Disney+ & Viki
Released between May and June 2025; now available on Youku, Viki, and Disney+. The astronomer Kuai Duo and his family suffered a fatal attack, leaving his young son as the only survivor. Rescued and with a new identity, he dedicates himself to mastering the art of architectural craftsmanship and strategic diplomacy. You will spot advanced vocabulary and strategic dialogue.
🈶 English, Simplified, and Traditional Chinese subtitles.
🔊 Audio: Original Mandarin audio
🎯 Perfect for: Intermediate/Advanced
🕵️♂️ Copycat Killer — Netflix UK
A prosecutor hunting down a serial killer who manipulates the media. It features a formal dialogue, making it ideal for learning vocabulary related to law, investigation, and journalism. Its complex narrative makes it best for intermediate to advanced learners.
🈶 Subtitles: English, Simplified, Traditional Chinese
🔊 Audio: Original Mandarin audio
🎯 Perfect for: Intermediate/Advanced
🏙️ Blossoms Shanghai — Criterion Channel & Viki
The story of a self-made millionaire in Shanghai during the 1990s, from an opportunistic young man with a turbulent past to the heights of the golden city. Business vocabulary and urban culture, with regional nuances.
🈶 Subtitles: English, Simplified, Traditional Chinese (to be verified)
🔊 Audio: Original Mandarin and Shanghainese
🎯 Perfect for: Intermediate-Advanced
Did you know that you can also learn Chinese through video games? Discover the top video games to practice Chinese.
Exploring Chinese Drama Romance on Netflix
The Chinese romantic series available offers the perfect mix for learning modern and everyday Mandarin, as well as for experiencing a bit of drama. You will become familiar with colloquial expressions, emotional language, and situations that reflect life in urban, university, or traditional China. Below, we present some of the most recommended series for those who want to combine language learning with romantic entertainment.
💕 A Love So Beautiful — Netflix UK
Tells the story of two high school classmates who spend years navigating friendships, friction, and a slow but meaningful romantic development. Language is simple, offering excellent vocabulary related to school life and family relationships, making it ideal for beginners or students at the A2–B1 level. The episodes are short, making it easy to repeat scenes to study common expressions.
💍 Well-Intended Love — Netflix UK
Tells the story of an actress and a businessman who enter into a contract marriage. It is recommended for intermediate to advanced learners due to its dialogue with idioms, business expressions, and social references.
Ideal for learning how romantic relationships are negotiated in the modern Chinese context and exploring more complex language structures.
🎭 The Untamed — Netflix UK
Although best known for its fantasy and historical drama plot, The Untamed also features a deep emotional connection between the main characters, which has been interpreted by many as an implicit love story.
The language is formal, literary, and loaded with symbolism, ideal for B2–C1 levels. Available on Netflix UK, it offers an excellent opportunity to hear Mandarin in narrative registers and traditional contexts.
💞 Put Your Head on My Shoulder — Netflix UK
An accounting student and a quiet physics major unexpectedly become roommates. Features simple Mandarin perfect for beginners and lower-intermediate learners. Dialogue is clear and easy to comprehend, filled with everyday vocabulary and casual expressions.
Watch Mandarin Chinese movies and improve your language proficiency.
Chinese Reality Shows: Fun Ways to Learn and Enjoy
Reality shows are also excellent for learning Mandarin, with a touch of drama to spice up your life and added suspense. The spontaneity of the content, colloquial language, and everyday situations will help you learn everyday expressions and cultural nuances.
🍽️ Chinese Restaurant
Availability: each episode is published free of charge on MangoTV's official YouTube channel, accessible from the UK.
Premiere: June 20, 2025. Famous Chinese celebrities run a restaurant abroad, promoting exchanges in real Mandarin focused on service, cooking, and hospitality.
Language learning: ideal for acquiring useful phrases in culinary and customer service contexts, as well as natural emotional expressions.
🚵♂️ Natural High
Availability: available on Tencent Video and WeTV; viewable from the UK via VPN or partner platforms.
Format: adventure reality show featuring celebrities travelling to natural locations in China; seasons 1 and 2 aired between 2023 and 2024.
Language learning: clear exposure to tourist vocabulary, improvised conversations, commentary on landscapes and outdoor activities, with lots of colloquial intonation and everyday expressions.
🥘 Three Meals in Four Seasons
Highlight: named one of the 9 must-see Chinese reality shows of 2025.
Content: celebrities live in rural settings, cooking and enjoying seasonal meals in a relaxed, slow-TV style.
Language learning: excellent for acquiring vocabulary related to ingredients, tasting expressions, everyday cooking, and regional idioms.
🧑🍳 Go Fridge
Available on YouTube via Tencent Video's official channel. A cooking show with celebrities and guests preparing dishes in a friendly competition format. Ideal for learning ingredient names, cooking techniques, step-by-step instructions, and spontaneous reactions.
Where to Watch the Best Chinese Shows Online
📺 Netflix UK
- Type of content: Romantic, school, historical, and fantasy series in Mandarin.
- Top examples: The First Frost, Accidentally in Love, Love O2O, A Love So Beautiful, and The Untamed.
- Advantages for learning: Allows you to switch between English and Chinese subtitles.
👉 Recommended for all learners who want to practice with accessible material.
📺 YouTube
- Type of content: reality shows, clips, full episodes, free content.
- Recommended channels: MangoTV, Tencent Video Global, iQIYI International, Youku Official.
- Advantages for learning: Free content, Chinese subtitles available in many cases, easy to repeat scenes, and automatic subtitle features are useful for practising reading.
👉 Recommended for learners who want spontaneous, natural material at no cost.
📱 WeTV / Tencent Video (App and Web)
- Access: A free account is required; most content is accessible from the UK, although some specific titles may require a VPN for viewing.
- Key content: Guardians of the Dafeng, Natural High
- Advantages for learning: High-quality subtitles in simplified Chinese and clear chapter structure. Allows you to download episodes.
👉 Useful for those seeking a Netflix-style experience with more varied recent content.
📱 iQIYI International
- Access: Available in the UK via web and app. Includes dramas, Chinese anime (donghua), and reality shows.
- Key content: includes dramas, Chinese animation (donghua), and reality shows.
- Key content: Love Between Fairy and Devil, Who Is the Murderer?
- Advantage: Mandarin audio with English and simplified Chinese subtitles; offline viewing available.
- Available languages: Mandarin audio and subtitles in English and simplified Chinese.
👉 Highly recommended for intermediate learners who want to explore cultural content.
🎞️ Viki Rakuten
- Specialised content: Chinese dramas with a strong community of volunteer subtitlers.
- Series in Mandarin: Legend of Zang Hai, Blossoms Shanghai, My Lethal Man.
- Advantages: You can compare subtitles in two languages simultaneously (Chinese and English).
👉 Excellent to study each dialogue in detail.
Strategies for learning with these series and programs
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