In 2023, we have witnessed too many unforgettable moments, whether they brought tears or laughter. There are many paths in life, and touching stories always exist.
In 2023, there are also some excellent Chinese dramas that bring many surprises to the audience.
Top 15 Best Chinese Dramas 2023 Table List
| Name | Stars (0-10) | Rating Counts (From registered users) | Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Long Season | 9.4 | 930K | info |
| Blossoms Shanghai | 8.5 | 340K | info |
| The Knockout | 8.5 | 900K | info |
| Three-Body | 8.7 | 430K | info |
| Mysterious Lotus Casebook | 8.5 | 620K | info |
| Oh No! Here Comes Trouble | 8.8 | 200K | info |
| An Ancient Love Song | 8.6 | 170K | info |
| Ripe Town | 8.5 | 160K | info |
| Meet Yourself | 8.7 | 310K | info |
| Living | 8.8 | 50K | info |
| I’m Nobody | 8.1 | 100K | info |
| Be With You | 8.6 | 70K | info |
| The Heart | 8.4 | 70K | info |
| A Long Way Home | 8.3 | 50K | info |
| Fake It Till You Make It | 8.1 | 140K | info |
Top 1: The Long Season
It is the masterpiece of Chinese dramas in 2023.
Director Xin Shuang uses the era as a big background to tell a big story about the declining Northeast China, tragic characters, and young love…
A group of ordinary people struggle to survive in the mudslides of the times.
On the surface, this drama tells the story of a vicious murder case. In fact, through this case, it traces the ups and downs of the people of Northeast China in the past thirty years under the impact of the wave of layoffs.
Everyone here is trapped in their own fate and cannot escape. In the past twenty years, what cannot be solved is not only the pending criminal case, but also the knot of fate.
The rhythm of Northeast China’s comedy further highlights the desolation of the characters’ fate.
We praise the plot, the actors, and the music. It is like a long poem of despair, cutting into the hearts of every viewer. Every motive is traceable, and every character is well fleshed out, together singing the elegy of the times.
This kind of drama allows us to pick up our memories again.
On the one hand, we have to move forward and don’t look back. On the other hand, we have to remember those people and things, and remember the tragedies and joys of that era.
Top 2: Blossoms Shanghai
The Blossoms Shanghai Chinese drama took three years of preparation and three years of filming. On December 27, 2023, the drama “came out after a thousand entreaties.” Whether it is the finale drama at the end of 2023 or the first drama at the beginning of 2024, Blossoms Shanghai has undoubtedly delivered a satisfactory answer in terms of expectations for the quality of the drama.
On January 3, this drama scored 8.1 on Douban. As of the drama ending on January 9, the score was already 8.4, and it is still on the rise. This is a scene that only high-quality dramas can reap.
Behind this unites all Wong Kar-wai’s charm of light and shadow, character creation skills, storytelling ability and even the ability to use background music.
Blossoms Shanghai focuses on Shanghai in the early days of reform and opening up. It tells the story of the little people represented by young Abao, who seizes opportunities, exerts his talents, rewrites his destiny, and grows up.
This drama has a strong personal style. As a famous Chinese film director, Wong Kar-wai has won numerous awards for his literary films. His films have delicate and vivid narrative ability.
In this drama, Wong Kar-wai uses his unique camera language to show the Shanghai scene in the 1990s, the prosperity of the Yellow River Road, and the characters of the little people one by one to the audience. He also portrays the love story between men and women and multiple female characters in an unforgettable way. The whole drama can be said to be a “continuation” of a Shanghai story in his own mind.
His movie fans even “take a magnifying glass” to search for relevant clues in this drama from “Wong Kar-Wai’s Cinematic Universe”.
After all, such a TV series is comparable to a 30-episode movie. Such an opportunity is very rare.
Top 3: The Knockout
As a crime drama that received guidance from the relevant departments of the Committee of Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, The Knockout Chinese drama is not easy to dance like this while wearing shackles.
It is the first drama to become popular at the beginning of 2023. In terms of quality, it may be slightly lacking. Although it is suspected of being incomplete in the end, it is undeniable that The Knockout is the most influential Chinese drama in 2023.
The Knockout is a chronicle and memoir of China’s crackdown on organized crime and evil that spans 20 years.
Through this story, director Xu Jizhou outlines twenty years of social changes, while telling the story of this generation’s growth process along with China’s rapid economic development, and the desires, ambitions, and confusion that are unique to that era.
Gao Qiqiang, played by Zhang Songwen, has become one of the most classic villains on TV in recent years.
Most of the plot in the first half of this drama is a vivid interpretation of Gao Qiqiang’s “rise up” history. How did a submissive and oppressed fishmonger grow into a “godfather”-like figure in the underworld?
The main and supporting actors in the drama all contributed wonderful acting skills, and even had their own BGM on the Douyin(Tiktok).
Currently, the filming of the movie version of The Knockout is on schedule, and the “The Knockout” effect is far from over.
Top 4: Three-Body
The biggest feature of Three-Body Chinese drama is its respect for the original novel.
The original novel is already very exciting. Based on restoring the novel, this drama also integrates the viewpoints from Liu Cixin’s other novels to further strengthen the theme and fully present the essence of the novel to the audience through the drama.
In terms of casting, the choices of young and old Ye Wenjie and Wang Miao perfectly fit everyone’s image.
Although the casting of Shi Qiang was somewhat controversial, the actor also performed his own characteristics and won praise from the audience.
In terms of special effects, the guzheng action made many viewers feel excited and really felt like “spending the money wisely”.
Overall, the entire creative team is a group of people who understand Three-Body, and the team’s seriousness can be seen throughout the drama.
For the audience, feel the right taste, than anything else.
Top 5: Mysterious Lotus Casebook
Mysterious Lotus Casebook Chinese drama has great staying power. It was unremarkable at first glance, but becomes more and more interesting the further you watch it.
This is why this drama not only had little heat when it first aired, but also had a low Douban rating. However, long after the drama ended, through a strong long-tail effect, it counterattacked and became a dark horse among the top Chinese drama in 2023. It has received a rating of 8.5 out of 10 from more than 600,000 people on Douban.com.
The drama runs through the entire plot through ten strange cases. The stories of each unit in the drama are interlocking and the plot is compact, including various elements such as wuxia, detective, suspense, and funny.
This drama tells the story of Li Xiangyi, the famous master of the Sigu Sect in Jianghu, who was seriously injured after a big battle and retired from Jianghu to become a “fake miracle doctor” Li Lianhua, who was indifferent to fame and fortune. After meeting his new friend Fang Duobing and his old enemy Di Feisheng, he was once again involved in the disputes of Jianghu.
The three people experienced a series of strange cases, formed a deep friendship amidst laughter and curses, and finally fought hand in hand to restore justice and peace to the world.
As a wuxia detective drama, it talks about Jianghu at all times, and love and hatred running through it. After all, where there are people, there is Jianghu, and in Jianghu, there are inevitably swords, chivalrous tenderness.
Top 6: Oh No! Here Comes Trouble
Oh No! Here Comes Trouble is a story with a supernatural theme.
But under the supernatural shell, the drama explores the obsessions of the human heart, and in doing so, it sheds light on human nature and social issues.
Through each unit story, it conveys novelty, relaxation and surging humanistic care to the audience.
Top 7: An Ancient Love Song
He doesn’t know when she is in love, and she doesn’t know when he is deeply in love. What kind of BE aesthetics is this!
The first time you see me is the last time I see you.
We fall in love in this misplaced time and space, does it count as reunion?
An Ancient Love Song is a small-budget online drama, but it has created popularity and reputation through its sincerity, standing out from the crowd of Chinese dramas.
The exquisite costumes, tones, compositions, and camera movements in the drama all have an ancient style and charm.
Moreover, the setting of reverse time travel is a breakthrough and unconventional.
Going back again and again, there is both the ambition to change history and the emotional energy brought about by constant dislocation.
Top 8: Ripe Town
The shadowy Jiangnan small town, the mysterious serial murders, the Yamen with hidden talents, and the mixed Jianghu, all together create a suspenseful drama with still waters running deep.
However, when enjoying the drama Ripe Town, what the audience sees is not the suspense itself, but the uniqueness of the whole drama in tone and camerawork movement, the insinuations reflected everywhere in the drama, and the excellent performance of the actors in their acting skills.
Top 9: Meet Yourself
This drama’s rating is a bit inflated, but it is still undeniable that it has a good reputation.
It is not a drama in the traditional sense, with no intense dramatic conflicts or extreme personalities.
It is similar to the Japanese style of small freshness, with a slow pace and a healing style.
Liu Yifei plays a female elite in the workplace. After experiencing the death of her best friend, she is heartbroken and questions her way of life.
She flees the city and comes to the courtyard named “You Feng Xiao Yuan” in Dali. While looking for psychological salvation, she meets Xie Zhiyao, played by Li Xian, and a beautiful story unfolds.
Viewers just need to follow the flowing plot and enjoy the scenery of Dali and the local customs.
Meet Yourself fills the gap in Chinese dramas.
After the popularity of “slow variety shows”, “slow-paced dramas” like this will also spring up like mushrooms after rain.
Top 10: Living
The male version of Making of an Ordinary Woman is another wonderful drama by actor Wu Kangren.
The antidote Living provides to all frustrated and lonely urbanites is not to ride the waves and overcome obstacles, but to “return to hometown”, return to the instinctive sense of security brought by kinship, and rebuild another life path.
Top 11: I’m Nobody
A dark horse among Chinese animation adaptations, funny, hot-blooded, and chunibyo.
I’m Nobody/Yi Ren Zhi Xia uses local Chinese culture to talk about its own superheroes, integrating Chinese style and two dimensions, martial arts/wuxia and fantasy, supernatural power and suspense, passion and blood, comedy and tragedy, responsibility and belief, etc. It is a new special work that is not easily categorized and defined in Chinese dramas.
The unusual world created in the drama is a superhero world that incorporates elements of oriental culture.
Young superheroes grow up passionately, old ones appear passionately, they fight against monsters, upgrade, and battle against the darkness with their own pursuits.
The drama also presents many fantastic imaginations of the original comics through framing and special effects.
In short, just watch!
Top 12: Be With You
Be With You made its debut with funny plots, but it won a good reputation with the social reality and life reflections reflected in the drama.
This is a also group drama. Although it is an online drama, it has the characteristics of logic, comedy, and a positive and healthy outlook.
Top 13: The Heart
Chinese workplace dramas are always divorced from reality, let alone medical workplace dramas.
But this drama has set a good benchmark for medical themes.
The most important thing for The Heart to gain such a good reputation is that it is real and down-to-earth. Many storylines can resonate with the audience and make them feel deeply involved. Coupled with the grasp of details, compact plot, and wonderful acting skills of the actors, it is well deserved to receive high-level evaluations.
Top 14: A Long Way Home
The most important sense of reality in period dramas and the comedy effects of Northeastern China all add a lot to this drama.
Fu Bei De Rong Yao/A Long Way Home Chinese drama focuses on a rare forestry theme, leading the audience to look back at the family life history of ordinary people in forest farm over the past 20 years. Through the little people’s small household affairs, we can see the changes in small families in the big era, and witness the process of three generations of foresters realizing the spiritual inheritance of their fathers.
Top 15: Fake It Till You Make It
Modern people are most annoyed with others to pretend, but also like to watch others to pretend, because they have to learn how to pretend.
The same pretence is compared to the level of rank, whose words are more professional, whose tastes are more niche, and whose opinions are more unique…
Since it’s all about pretending, then just pretend to be more natural.
The person who wrote these knows too much about pretense.
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The number of viewers and comments on these high-quality dramas is still increasing, and the ratings are also changing. I will update them here from time to time. More new good 2023 Chinese dramas may also be added here.
I believe that behind these changing numbers, there must be a story, a plot, or even an action that makes someone feel some kind of precipitated power. It is valuable.
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