The growing worldwide popularity of Chinese series

Introduction:

We spend a lot of time watching series these days, and it’s safe to say that they’ve started to give Western series some serious competition. Chinese dramas have carved out a very strong place in the global market. Their popularity has blossomed so much that we often compare them to Western dramas. These series or dramas are popularly known as C-dramas. Along with C-dramas, K-dramas (Korean dramas) have also gained great popularity. But this article will deal only with the Chinese series.

Theatrical culture in China began with the Canjun Opera. In the early days, dramas were mostly presented in musical form and not in spoken form. In those days, a drama was just a mere performance between two people acting out some scenes. Spoken drama and other theatrical forms came to China only in the 20th century.

The dramas and television series that we see today differ from what was originally known as Chinese opera.

Here we will discuss why they are so popular. We will also talk about the features that differentiate them from Western series or Korean series.

We often differentiate Chinese dramas based on where they are produced. For example, there are Mainland Dramas (produced in Mainland China), Taiwanese Dramas (produced in Taiwan), Hon Kong and Singaporean Dramas (originating in Hon Kong and Singapore, respectively).

Characteristics of Chinese dramas:

Chinese dramas are quite different from Western dramas and Korean dramas. The concepts used are quite distinctive. In the 1990s, historical dramas were more popular than others. Many Chinese series tend to portray a very strong political theme. Most Chinese political series are excellent and quite popular as well. The political aspects are real and not a mere piece of fiction. The characters in the series tend to get the same amount of screen time, and their character development occurs beautifully.

Many Chinese series tend to portray the protagonists as gamers, regardless of what they do. It is done mainly because around 40-48% of the population in China spends long hours playing games. The essence of friendship is heavily promoted in the series. We can often see that the protagonists are very close to their friends.

There is another very distinctive feature of the Chinese series. In the western series, young people go through emotional turbulence and other problems, mainly in their high schools, where they experience many things. In Chinese series it happens in universities and not in schools.

In China, many children are raised by their grandparents while their parents go to work. Chinese dramas highlight them very well.

Why do C-Dramas have such a huge fan base?

Chinese TV dramas and series are so popular mainly because they don’t lose their touch and values. Another factor that makes them so popular is their realistic approach to various genres (predominantly political genres). Equal importance is given to each character, and the short length of the series (compared to Korean series) also helps them attract a large fan base around the world.

Nowadays, crime thrillers have become a popular genre for Chinese dramas. China has some great actors and the production costs are not very high either. The innovative nature of Chinese dramas has attracted a large fan base around the world. They have made their market now.