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Thread: What chinese series would you recommend to a european?

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    Default What chinese series would you recommend to a european?

    Hi, Im from hungary studying chinese. I would like to improve my language skills by watching chinese TV series.

    the main question is: What series would you recommend?
    (I have looked around but have not found a similar thread but i would welcome if you could point me to it if i missed it, I have also tried some of the titels a found around in the threads but still havent found any good... thats why I am starting this thread.

    what was wrong with the ones I checked out:
    • most of them are hard to come by, even to find it on youtube
    • i also need english subs, mandarin subs would also be nice
    • there are other problems... many movies and series I didnt like because there is so much shouting and turmoil of emotion, i know it sounds silly but sometimes it can make the flick totally unwatchable for me
    • and i also prefer it to look good, i checked out the return of the condor heroes but it found the vfx not really good (maybe my standards are high?)
    • And finally something positive: so the chinese movies I liked so far was The Hero and the Crouching tiger ....., and the Red cliff, so if there would be something similar (not in the setting but rather in the production/filming) I would really like that!!!


    Thanks all your help!!!!

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    Senior Member Trinie's Avatar
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    Hm... I would recommend THe Sword Stained with Royal Blood 2007. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it to you if you have not tried it yet. I think you will like it since most people here do.

    What does vfx stand for?? I can recommend some others but not sure if you will like them or not...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trinie View Post
    What does vfx stand for??
    Visual effects, I guess...
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    I think what you're looking for are movies. Not series. Since the ones you listed are all movies. Big budget movies no less. Something you can't compare series too. Though I prefer chinese series over movies, but that's just me. However, if you can't stand cheesy special effects, then I don't think you will enjoy any series. Especially wuxia series.

    If you said you want high production/filming, which surpass or equal those movies you've mentioned, then I'm afraid I can't help you. Sorry.

    Don't really keep myself up to date with movies.

    But maybe you can try Ip Man, or Painted Skin?

    Not that I've seen any of those. lol (Not fully anyway) But I hear they're pretty hip.

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    THank you f the tips!

    Trinie! I checked Sword Stained with Royal Blood and it seems good for first impression, I will give it a try for sure especially as it is available on magaupload. Thx!

    Wuxialover! You might have a point in the differences between films and series. I really expected a series like those movies. (And I dont know what a wuxia actually is... sry) I will check out Ip Man. I already got Painted Skin, havent had the time to watch it though, but I will. And also, I will try to find a series I like, because movies are so short. So if any of you have any suggestion/idea that could be closer to a european taste, they are more than welcome!

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    practically, to improve Chinese (mandarin) through watching tv series, mainland made ones with modern settings are the best because they use up-to-date words and sentences, and you often don't need to have a background in China history to understand the plots. however i dont think any of these suits europeans' taste.
    if you still wanna stick to period tv series, Xiao Ao Jiang Hu 2001 (Li Yapeng, Xu Qing) may be a very good one. there is a version of the series with English subtitle on torrent
    http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/viewtopic_72915.htm,
    there're also versions with Chinese subtitles but too bad all of them use traditional characters.

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    I have found CHANGE. It is modern setting If I am correct.... Have you seen it/ opinion?

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    Quote Originally Posted by xvoraz View Post
    THank you f the tips!

    Trinie! I checked Sword Stained with Royal Blood and it seems good for first impression, I will give it a try for sure especially as it is available on magaupload. Thx!

    Wuxialover! You might have a point in the differences between films and series. I really expected a series like those movies. (And I dont know what a wuxia actually is... sry) I will check out Ip Man. I already got Painted Skin, havent had the time to watch it though, but I will. And also, I will try to find a series I like, because movies are so short. So if any of you have any suggestion/idea that could be closer to a european taste, they are more than welcome!
    Just for information, "wuxia" 武侠 is generally translated as 'martial arts chivalry'. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is definitely a wuxia film, based on a wuxia novel.

    As an American student of Mandarin Chinese, I agree with forgot password's suggestion that you try modern shows if you want help with learning Chinese. Wuxia series are a bit like Shakespearean plays or other historical drama. They use a manner of speaking that doesn't sound like normal everyday conversational speech. They also tend to have a histrionic style that won't agree with your dislike of shouting and emotional turmoil.

    I've enjoyed a couple of recent modern drama series, Eyewitness 目击者 and Our Marriage 我们俩的婚姻. But I don't know if they're available for download.

    Check out the rest of this forum. Not everything in the Mainland China Productions forum is wuxia (though quite a lot of it is).
    你看这些云彩,聚了又散,散了又聚,人生离合也是一样。

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    Senior Member Trinie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by xvoraz View Post
    THank you f the tips!

    Trinie! I checked Sword Stained with Royal Blood and it seems good for first impression, I will give it a try for sure especially as it is available on magaupload. Thx!

    Wuxialover! You might have a point in the differences between films and series. I really expected a series like those movies. (And I dont know what a wuxia actually is... sry) I will check out Ip Man. I already got Painted Skin, havent had the time to watch it though, but I will. And also, I will try to find a series I like, because movies are so short. So if any of you have any suggestion/idea that could be closer to a european taste, they are more than welcome!
    You are welcome and before I recommend more series to you. I also have questions to ask you. Do you like modern or ancient series?? Do you like wuxia or fantasy/heavenly type of stories??? Do you mind the length as well??I agree with Forgot Password that you should watch modern series if you want to learn the more modern and up to date terms. However, if you are interested in more ancient type of terminology then I suggest you watch ancient and wuxia series.
    Respect other people's opinions and views. If we learn how to do that than all of these fights and arguments will not occur.

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    Unfortunately I couldnt find Eyewitness and Our Marriage for dl. The one I found, Change has turned out to be japanese (LOL). And I still havent had time to dl Sword Stained. And thx for enlightening me about wuxia. I think the setting and length in itself does not really matter for me. Thogh I would benefit more from a modern show, at the very beginning (where I am now) simply listening to the music of the language and learning about the culture would also be a great thing. I think I will keep looking and I will find something ... eventually Thx f input folks, keep posting any ideas!

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    All most all chinese tv series and movies regardless of whether they are taiwan-made or mainland-made can be found on and downloaded from video.baidu.com. You just need to go to video.baidu.com and search with the chinese name of the series between quotation marks. You can add the number of an episode if you u like. Videos on Chinese video sharing sites come with relatively low video quality, but the sound is better than enough for Mandarin learning, and the sizes are very small, normally 90 mb for a 45-minute-episode, so you can finish downloading a whole series in half a day.

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    Quote Originally Posted by xvoraz View Post
    Unfortunately I couldnt find Eyewitness and Our Marriage for dl. The one I found, Change has turned out to be japanese (LOL). And I still havent had time to dl Sword Stained. And thx for enlightening me about wuxia. I think the setting and length in itself does not really matter for me. Thogh I would benefit more from a modern show, at the very beginning (where I am now) simply listening to the music of the language and learning about the culture would also be a great thing. I think I will keep looking and I will find something ... eventually Thx f input folks, keep posting any ideas!
    Change is definitely Japanese series;http://wiki.d-addicts.com/CHANGE. I recently saw this and its well done.
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    Quote Originally Posted by xvoraz View Post
    Unfortunately I couldnt find Eyewitness and Our Marriage for dl. The one I found, Change has turned out to be japanese (LOL). And I still havent had time to dl Sword Stained. And thx for enlightening me about wuxia. I think the setting and length in itself does not really matter for me. Thogh I would benefit more from a modern show, at the very beginning (where I am now) simply listening to the music of the language and learning about the culture would also be a great thing. I think I will keep looking and I will find something ... eventually Thx f input folks, keep posting any ideas!
    I found them both some time ago, but they may be unavailable by now. And I forgot to mention that they don't have English subtitles.

    Some of the more recent wuxia stories like Legend of the Condor Heroes 2008 don't seem to have as much 'archaic' dialogue as some older series, so you could give them a try. That one is available with English subs.
    你看这些云彩,聚了又散,散了又聚,人生离合也是一样。

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    Quote Originally Posted by xvoraz View Post
    Hi, Im from hungary studying chinese. I would like to improve my language skills by watching chinese TV series.

    the main question is: What series would you recommend?
    (I have looked around but have not found a similar thread but i would welcome if you could point me to it if i missed it, I have also tried some of the titels a found around in the threads but still havent found any good... thats why I am starting this thread.

    what was wrong with the ones I checked out:
    • most of them are hard to come by, even to find it on youtube
    • i also need english subs, mandarin subs would also be nice
    • there are other problems... many movies and series I didnt like because there is so much shouting and turmoil of emotion, i know it sounds silly but sometimes it can make the flick totally unwatchable for me
    • and i also prefer it to look good, i checked out the return of the condor heroes but it found the vfx not really good (maybe my standards are high?)
    • And finally something positive: so the chinese movies I liked so far was The Hero and the Crouching tiger ....., and the Red cliff, so if there would be something similar (not in the setting but rather in the production/filming) I would really like that!!!

    Thanks all your help!!!!
    If you like Red Cliff, check out Three Kingdoms 2010 on youtube (search for English subtitle).

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    1. Three Kingdoms (2010)
    2. Schemes of a Beauty (2010)


    Incredible story, superb writing, star-studded casts, and high production values.

    I honestly would not recommend any other series to anyone who wasn't already familiar with Chinese television.

    Those two are the cream of the crop.

    In a follow-up, I might also recommend:

    3. Journey to the West (2010 or 2012)
    4. Sound of Colors (2006)
    5. The Vigilantes in Masks (2011)
    6. All Men are Brothers (2011)
    7. Palace: The Locked Heart Jade (2011)
    8. Royal Tramp (The Deer and the Cauldron) (2008)

    These would be my recommendations to someone who was NOT Chinese.

    Because there are other good series out there, but they may be difficult for a non-Chinese to fully appreciate. These are more "universally" acceptable in terms of style, story, etc. and have some pretty recognizable stars (which generally implies BETTER acting).

    There are also more LIKELY to be English subs for those series somewhere.

    Almost all of those dramas were either produced or directed by Yu Zheng, Zhang Ji Zhong, Cheng Li Dong, Li Guo Li, or Gao Xi Xi ... the five whom I consider to be THE most prominent TV producers/directors in China, period.
    Last edited by PrinceKrillo; 12-16-12 at 08:52 PM.
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    Might want to check out 'Startling by each step', quite a nice drama with interesting plot..

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seoul In Love Now ~♥ View Post
    Might want to check out 'Startling by each step', quite a nice drama with interesting plot..
    I agree. Startling by each step takes a stab at historical events and fictionalize it with elements of science fiction and drama.
    Last edited by EastMagi; 02-22-14 at 07:31 PM.

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    Journey to the West 2013 looks pretty epic, sure worth to check out for anyone interested in asian drama series.


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    Quote Originally Posted by SweetSourSalt View Post
    Journey to the West 2013 looks pretty epic, sure worth to check out for anyone interested in asian drama series.

    Seriously hope they're not going to mess this one up like they did with "The Sorcerer and the White Snake".
    The film isn't going to be released in the US until Feb 2014 (according to IMDB)

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    Quote Originally Posted by EastMagi View Post
    Seriously hope they're not going to mess this one up like they did with "The Sorcerer and the White Snake".
    The film isn't going to be released in the US until Feb 2014 (according to IMDB)
    So it will be in English dubbing?

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