To kick off this month is the modern day romance drama 轧戏 Love Between Lines. This 28 episode drama starring Chen Xing Xu and Lu Yu Xiao began airing on January 9th on iQiYi and Dong Fang Television.
Here’s the plot summary: Xiao Zhi Yu 肖稚宇 (played by Chen Xing Xu) and Hu Xiu 胡羞 (played by Lu Yu xiao) meet through a Republic of China–themed role-playing murder mystery game or in Chinese 剧本杀. With the realistic sets and intertwining espionage plots, there is a spark between the player and the NPC. Their relationship unexpectedly develops in the real world as they share their professional dreams. Through a bond that transcends dimensions, the two ultimately achieve mutual growth and undergo transformative journeys in both love and self-discovery.
First and foremost, can I just say that I would LOVE to experience an immersive role play murder mystery! I’ve done the escape rooms and murder mysteries in the US but hey – whatever is shown in the drama looks amazing. I know, I know, it’s a completely different set but hey those NPCs are REALLY selling the show.
Back to the overall drama. I’m chasing this drama right now. It’s a surprisingly good drama that has great growth for the leads without being too cartoonish. I personally like Chen Xing Xu’s character of Xiao Zhi Yu slightly more than Lu Yu Xiao as he has a much more mysterious backstory. Chen Xing Xu and Lu Yu Xiao have decent chemistry and I’m liking that there is focus on individual growth rather than jumping into romance. There was a lot of social media fighting between the fans of the leads so that put a damper in a lot of the promotional materials. Sadly, the drama only breached 8600 on iQiYi’s popularity index and viewership has not breached 15M per episode.
Next up is a drama starring Zhao Li Ying and Huang Xiao Ming. This is The City Maker or 小城大事, a 40 episode drama set in the 1980s. This began airing on Jan 10 on CCTV 8 and Tencent.
Here’s the plot summary: In the early 1980s, Ping Chuan County decided to establish 月海镇 Yue Hai Town to accelerate regional development. Two officials, Li Qiu Ping (Zhao Li Ying) and Zheng De Cheng (Huang Xiao Ming), lead the charge in building out this new, modern city. Taking advantage of China’s Reforms, new policies, and the government directives during the time period, these two strong willed and capable officials develop innovative ways to bring hundreds of thousands of farmers to build a modern city amidst tidal flats. This city-building achievement transformed the destinies of those farmers and also marked a milestone in China’s urban development history.
This is Zhao Li Ying’s first long form drama to air since 2024’s The Legend Of ShenLi. She starred in the 8 episode What a Wonderful World last year and had a cameo in The Unclouded Soul late last year. She’s also had smaller roles here and there in movies too but this is a return to dramas for her. Huang Xiao Ming returns to TV after last year’s Deep Undercover. The ratings on CCTV8 were decent but not spectacular. Word of mouth has been middling, in that the drama is fine but was not a stand out. It’s only the start of 2026 though so we’ll see if ratings overall drop compared to previous years.
Next is The Imperial Coroner 2 御赐小仵作2. This 28 episode drama stars the cast from the first season Wang Zi Qi 王子奇 and Su Xiao Tong 苏晓彤. This began airing on Tencent on January 15.
Oh man. The Imperial Coroner 2. This was SUCH a disappointment vs season 1. I wrote up a whole review of this on our website. I adored season 1 and it was one of the very first reviews we wrote for our website. But season 2 completely missed the mark.
The story follows Chu Chu ft Su Xiao Tong who has been married to Xiao Jin Yu ft Wang Zi Qi for the last 3 years. She works as an imperial coroner and he still leads basically the Justice branch. The original cast is back together as they try to solve mysteries surrounding new deaths in the Capital while diplomats from the nearby Nan Zhao kingdom add to the troubles in the Tang dynasty.
Honestly? Don’t even waste your time on this drama. I actually watched it entirely just to see if it got any better but it never did. The characters are still the same characters that we loved from season 1 but the pace of season 2 is absolutely snooze worthy and I could guess who the big bad was from like the first 4 episodes he/she was introduced. The show moved at a glacial pace and while many of the threads were trying to tie to a bigger plot, it got lost in the shuffle.
Perhaps it’s because we’ve gotten a ton of dramas that literally do the same thing with the Coroner’s Diary last year and The Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty that this was not differentiated enough. Unsurprisingly, this drama did not do well at all. Despite being a highly anticipated sequel by some, it fell utterly flat.
Next up is back to romance dramas with My Page in the 90s or 突然的喜欢. This 24 episode drama stars Chen Xing Xu and Wang Yu Wen. It began airing on Tencent on Jan 22.
Here’s the plot summary: Picture this – In 2025, A relationship advice livestream host 林欢儿 Lin Huan Er starring Wang Yu Wen finds herself transported into an old-school romance novel. She is transported back to 1999 where she meets a seemingly gentle but secretly calculating domineering CEO Gao Hai Ming 高海明 starring Chen Xing Xu. In order to return to the real world, Lin Huan’er launches a series of hilarious attempts to win over CEO Gao Hai Ming. This sparks the ultimate battle between classic romance tropes and trope subversions and just who falls for who.
Chen Xing Xu sure is getting a lot of exposure with his 3 recent dramas airing all within the last 3 months with Love in the Turquoise Land in Nov, Love Between Lines earlier this month, and this drama. Chen Xing Xu and Wang Yu Wen are long time friends. They went to the same college together and most recently appeared in the reality TV show 地球超新鲜 or Wow The World in the summer of 2025. The two have a really fun brother / sister rapport and it’s hilarious how Wang Yu Wen just totally dismisses Chen Xing Xu’s photography skills.
This drama unfortunately has been a flop but I don’t know if that’s really due to the drama itself. There was a whole fuss about Wang Yu Wen posting more promotional videos on DouYin or Chinese Tik Tok which then caused Wei Bo to essentially ban her from posting promotional videos on Weibo. So she had to stop all marketing for the show. That definitely contributed to the lack of viewership. That’s a shame. I do think Chen Xing Xu and Wang Yu Wen are fine actors. They just haven’t found a drama that really sparks interest.
Next is Sword into Plowshares 太平年. This historical epic is a 48 episode drama that began airing on January 26 on CCTV 1, Tencent, iQiyi, and MangoTV. This stars Bai Yu and Zhou Yu Tong.
Set in the VERY bloody Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, this drama follows the 9th prince of the Wu Yue Kingdom, Qian Hong Chu ft Bai Yu as a young boy, protected by his loving father and brothers. During this tumultuous time in history after the fall of the Tang dynasty, the Wu Yue kingdom, where the capital is in Hang Zhou, was actually quite a wealthy and peaceful place. On a trip to the mainland however, Qian Hong Chu sees just how bloody and ravaged the rest of China was. There, he meets Guo Rong, future Emperor of the Zhou dynasty and Zhao Kuang Yin, future Emperor of the Song Dynasty as young men. At the time, they were all soldiers or officials for the Jin empire and were figuring out how to fight against the impending QiDan Empire.
This is a drama that is heavy in history and gruesome in its depiction. But what’s worse is that this is probably just a snippet of how diabolical and inhumane the time period was. The drama opens with scenes of humans being killed and used as food. The first 1.5 episodes were especially gruesome so definitely fast forward through that. But afterwards, this is a drama that really captivated me. We’re here at Chasing dramas because we love history and culture. This is a drama that depicted a time that is rarely portrayed on screen because it is quite messy. Five dynasties and Ten Kingdoms over a short period of time means that a LOT of people were killed. But, the show creators managed to create a narrative that adds so much more nuance to the might of the throne that I haven’t seen in any other dramas.
Well is NOT an easy drama to watch because there is a lot of in Chinese we call it 文言文 or think about old English. Akin to if you were reading Shakespeare. But, there is a LOT of culture and history. Many people online I’m reading in the comments say that they are turned off by just how many characters are in the show and they forget who’s who. I actually don’t think that’s the case. If you actually pay attention to the drama, it’s relatively easy to watch at least for the main characters. What I’ve really enjoyed is that this drama has made me THINK, not about societal and female roles, but about broader human and societal impact. Unsurprisingly, this is a male dominated drama.
Additionally, I absolutely adore that in this massive cast, each actor did their part to portray the role well. Everyone has top notch enunciation and the men are rugged, befitting of what a soldier would look like at the time. Even if an actor is on screen for just a scene, they knock it out of the park to help immerse you into this world. I’m really enjoying the story and also lamenting just how bloody the actual history was. I would say, give the first 5 episodes a go but be warned that it IS quite bloody and it WILL be an intense history lesson. Not sure if there are English subtitles so this might be completely moot for certain audiences but yea, I’ve quite enjoyed spending time learning new history.
Next up is 女神蒙上眼 or The Inner Eye, another modern day drama starring Xin Zhi Lei and Lin Yu Shen. This 30 episode drama began airing on Jan 25 on Mango TV and on Jan 26 on Hunan TV.
Here’s the plot summary. Lawyer Tang Ying Ying (played by Xin Zhi Lei) is known in the industry for her frequent wins. She constantly clashes with her boss Kang Jun (played by Lin Yu Shen) but they nevertheless collaborate across a series of cases reflecting the complexities of society. They navigate the uniquely Chinese dilemma between human relationships and the rule of law, ultimately achieving personal growth.
After her triumphant win at the Venice film festival for best actress Xin Zhi Lei last year, she returns now to the small screen. This year she has this lawyer drama, at least one more movie in the pipeline, AND a Martial Arts drama based off of a Gu Long novel. We’ll see if Xin Zhe Lei is able to win some awards in China with her output but it’s probably not with this one. The drama has done ok on Hunan TV averaging 0.4, nothing spectacular. Honestly though, I think people are more interested in the overall aura of Xin Zhi Lei. This drama hasn’t received a lot of buzz but from what I’ve seen, her performance has been steady.
Next is Born to be alive 生命树. This 40 episode drama began airing on CCTV 8 and iQiYi. It stars Yang Zi and Hu Ge.
In the 1990s on the Qing hai plateau, the Ma Zhi 玛治县 county heavily relies on agriculture and animals as industry. But neighboring lands have minerals and other wild animals as resources which has led to looting and robberies in order to make a profit. The deputy county head 多杰（胡歌 饰）leads a group to survey a mountain. Originally the goal was to help the poor identify mineral deposits and then after witnessing wild goats being slaughtered, turned his focus on conservation. Within his group is young police officer 白菊（杨紫 饰) who works well with members of his group and is in a relationship with reporter 邵云飞（张哲华 饰). They wanted to create a conservation area but just before they were able to succeed, Duo Jie disappears so the group fell apart. 10 years later, the peace of the area loses balance once again and Bai Ju and former friends and family must come together to search for the truth of Duo Jie’s disappearance and preserve this plateau.
This is Hu Ge’s first proper long form drama to air since Blossoms Shanghai at the end of 2023. Obviously, he is a heavy hitter in the space and we all know Yang Zi as a key 90s flower. But, oddly, not sure if it’s because the subject matter is not everyone’s cup of tea or what but this drama is not doing so hot for such star power from its main leads. It is coming well second behind Sword into Plowshares. iQiyi’s popularity index is about 8600 and has flatlined. Tv viewership stats put it at an average of about 1.8%. So again, nothing too exciting.
Lastly, there’s Unveil: Jadewind 唐宫奇案之青雾风鸣. This 34 episode drama starring Bai Lu and Wang Xing Yue began airing on February 5 on CCTV 8 and YouKu
During the Lantern festival, Princess Ning Yuan suddenly died at the evening banquet. Lady Li Pei Yi ft Bai Lu and Xiao Huai Jin ft Wang Xing Yue are ordered to investigate. The 2 work seamlessly together to identify clues and use their various roles as wealthy lady and imperial guard to discover the truth. They are able to solve a number of complicated mysteries within the Tang palace. In the midst, they also discover the truth behind a 15yo case that killed the Li family and finally were able to find the culprit. Li Pei Yi is able to correct her father’s wrongful death while finding a trustworthy partner and relationship.
Ok – so another detective drama this time featuring Bai Lu and Wang Xing Yue. I feel like that’s recipe for success. It just started airing so I don’t have too much color yet except for Bai Lu’s fans are quite impressive, helping the drama breach 7000 on Youku’s popularity index before the show even started airing. This drama is based off of a book so hopefully it can’t go too far off. I will be chasing this shortly after I’m done crying over Sword into Plowshares