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The best C-dramas for intermediate and advanced learners
Maca Laoshi, Mandarin Chinese teacher
Updated October 20, 2026 · 8 min read
Once you have a foundation in Chinese, move on to modern dramas with a faster pace and work and family vocabulary. Start with 去有风的地方 (Meet Yourself), which is slow and clear, and continue with 我在他乡挺好的 or 人世间. Before you choose, check the language: some of the best dramas were filmed with dialects or strong accents and have a version dubbed into standard Mandarin.
For the intermediate stage
Modern and in standard Mandarin, but faster and with more vocabulary than the beginner ones:
| Drama | Year | What it's about | What you'll practice | Where to watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 去有风的地方 Meet Yourself | 2023 40 episodes | An executive leaves the city and settles in a village in Dali. | A slow pace, food, lodging, neighbors. The easiest one on this list. | Netflix and Viki, and free on YouTube on Huace's official channel, with Chinese subtitles on screen and English subtitles you can turn on. |
| 我在他乡挺好的 Remembrance of Things Past | 2021 12 episodes | Four friends from smaller towns who work in a big city. | Office life, bosses, money and city life, in just a few episodes. | Free on YouTube on the official MangoTV English channel, with English subtitles. |
| 欢乐颂 Ode to Joy | 2016 42 episodes | Five women who are neighbors in a Shanghai apartment building. | Work life and relationships, with lots of everyday dialogue. | Viki, and free on YouTube on the official channel of its producer, Daylight (正午阳光), with Chinese subtitles on screen and English subtitles you can turn on. |
| 小欢喜 A Little Reunion | 2019 49 episodes | Three Beijing families facing the university entrance exam. | Family, school and the pressure to study. | Prime Video, Peacock and iQIYI. |
| 三十而已 Nothing But Thirty | 2020 43 episodes | Three thirty-year-old women in Shanghai. | Work, relationships and family, with adult vocabulary. | Prime Video, Viki and WeTV. |
| 都挺好 All Is Well | 2019 46 episodes | A family's conflicts after the mother's death. | Family arguments and city life. | Free on YouTube on the official channel of its producer, Daylight (正午阳光), with English subtitles you can turn on. |
Where to watch: JustWatch data for the US and the official YouTube channels of the producers and platforms (October 2026). Availability changes by country and over time.
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| Drama | Year | What it's about | Watch out for | Where to watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 人世间 A Lifelong Journey | 2022 58 episodes | Three generations of a working-class family over 50 years. | It's long and spans several eras, but the dialogue is about home life and in standard Mandarin. | Not streaming in the US for now (purchase only). |
| 隐秘的角落 The Bad Kids | 2020 12 episodes | Thriller: three kids accidentally film a crime. | A complex plot; it has some lines in Cantonese and in another local dialect. | iQIYI, and free on YouTube on iQIYI's official channel, with English subtitles you can turn on. |
| 狂飙 The Knockout | 2023 39 episodes | A police officer takes on a gang over twenty years. | Police vocabulary and some lines in southern dialects. | Not streaming in the US for now (purchase only). On iQIYI's official YouTube channel, only the first two episodes are free. |
| 漫长的季节 The Long Season | 2023 12 episodes | A thriller in an industrial city in the northeast. | The main characters speak with a northeastern accent (东北话). Great for training your ear, not for beginners. | Prime Video, free on Tubi, and free on YouTube on the official Tencent Video channel, with English subtitles you can turn on. |
| 繁花 Blossoms Shanghai | 2023 30 episodes | Business in 1990s Shanghai, directed by Wong Kar-wai. | It was filmed in Shanghainese, a different Chinese language. Choose the version dubbed into Mandarin. | Criterion Channel, in the original Shanghainese version with English subtitles. |
| 山海情 Minning Town | 2021 23 episodes | A rural village that lifts itself out of poverty. | It has an original version with local speech and another one dubbed into standard Mandarin. | Prime Video, and free on YouTube on NewTV's official channel: Mandarin-dubbed version and original version with local speech. |
When a drama has an original version in dialect and another one dubbed into Putonghua (standard Mandarin), choose the dubbed one for studying. The original is a good challenge once you understand almost everything.
How to get the most out of them
- Watch with Chinese subtitles and pause to write down whole sentences, not single words.
- Rewatch the scenes you like two or three times, until you understand them without reading.
- Do “shadowing”: repeat out loud right after the actor, copying the rhythm and the tones.
The full method is in how to learn Chinese with TV shows. And if you're still a beginner, go back to the dramas for beginners.
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Frequently asked questions
Which Chinese drama should I watch at an intermediate level?
A good first choice is 去有风的地方 (Meet Yourself): a slow pace, clear Mandarin and everyday vocabulary. After that, 我在他乡挺好的 for office vocabulary.
What is Putonghua?
It's standard Mandarin Chinese, the one taught in schools and the one you're learning. Some dramas have a version in dialect and another one dubbed into Putonghua.
Are dramas in dialect useful for learning?
They help train your ear once your level is good, because in China you'll hear accents. To learn, start with dramas in Putonghua or with the dubbed version.
How many words do you need to understand a Chinese drama?
There's no exact number. With the vocabulary of the first HSK levels, you can follow the plot of an everyday drama with subtitles; to understand it without them, you need quite a lot more.
Is 繁花 in Mandarin Chinese?
It was filmed in Shanghainese, which is a different Chinese language, and it has a version dubbed into Putonghua, which is the one to choose if you're learning Mandarin.
Where can I watch these dramas?
It depends on the country. Several are free on the official YouTube channels of their producers or platforms (Huace, Daylight, iQIYI, Tencent Video), many with English subtitles you can turn on. In the US, 去有风的地方 is on Netflix, and 三十而已 and 漫长的季节 are on Prime Video. The table shows where to watch each one.
Maca Laoshi, born in Beijing, has taught Mandarin Chinese for more than 22 years and has had over 1,500 students. Together with her son Manu Shi, who has more than 93,000 subscribers on YouTube, she created Macalaoshi, an app that challenges you to push yourself one character at a time. Few Chinese teachers can show both: their own app and a channel like that.
Sources
- Netflix: “Meet Yourself” (去有风的地方, 2023).
- 我在他乡挺好的 (Remembrance of Things Past, 2021).
- A Lifelong Journey (人世间, 2022).
- 繁花 (Blossoms Shanghai, 2023): Shanghainese and Putonghua versions.
- 山海情 (Minning Town, 2021): original version with local speech and a dubbed version.
- 漫长的季节 (The Long Season, 2023): northeastern Chinese speech.
- 隐秘的角落 (The Bad Kids, 2020).
- YouTube, Huace official channel (华策影视): 去有风的地方, 40 episodes with selectable subtitles.
- YouTube, MangoTV English: 我在他乡挺好的, 12 episodes.
- YouTube, Daylight (正午阳光): 欢乐颂, 42 episodes.
- YouTube, Daylight (正午阳光): 都挺好, 46 episodes with selectable subtitles.
- YouTube, iQIYI: 隐秘的角落, 12 episodes with selectable subtitles.
- YouTube, Tencent Video: 漫长的季节, 12 episodes with selectable subtitles.
- YouTube, NewTV: 山海情, Mandarin-dubbed version (普通话版).
- YouTube, NewTV: 山海情, original version with local speech (方言版).
- JustWatch US: A Little Reunion (小欢喜), on Prime Video, Peacock and iQIYI.
- JustWatch US: Blossoms Shanghai (繁花), on the Criterion Channel.
- Original Cin (2025): the Criterion Channel streams Blossoms Shanghai in Shanghainese with English subtitles.
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