January 2020 Chinese Dramas to Watch: “The Pillow Book” Finally Airs

In recent years, Chinese dramas dramatically rose in popularity due to mainland production companies’ determination to emulate the success of Korean dramas. Not only has there been a sharp increase in the remakes of the hottest Korean dramas, but also the number of popular Chinese novel-to-drama adaptations. Looking at the top four Chinese dramas to watch out for this January, it can be said that this trend will continue in the new decade.

Three Lives, Three Worlds, The Pillow Book <三生三世枕上書>

Streaming platform: Tencent Video
Airdate: Jan 22, 2020
Cast: Dilraba Dilmurat (迪丽热巴), Vengo Gao (高伟光), Angel Liu (劉雨欣), Wayne Liu (刘芮麟), Lawrence Wang (王骁)

In the Eternal Love <三生三世十里桃花> sequel, Three Lives, Three Worlds, The Pillow Book, it will focus on the heart-wrenching romance between Bai Fengjiu, played by Dilraba, and Donghua, portrayed by Vengo. The story begins with Donghua saving Fengjiu from a beast attack. Feeling indebted to him, Fengjiu repays him by following him into a battle.

She soon falls in love with Donghua even though he is cursed without love. To protect her, he sends her to the human realm where her friend dies as a result of protecting her. Fengjiu then enters the Winged Tribe Princess’s dream to find the fruit that can bring back the dead. However, she gets stuck in the dream, and Donghua realizes he has feelings for her when he finds himself hurrying to save her.

Ever Night 2 <將夜2>

Streaming platform: Tencent Video
Airdate: Jan 13, 2020
Cast: Dylan Wang (王鹤棣), Ireine Song (宋伊人), Yang Chaoyue (楊超越), Crystal Yuan (袁冰妍), Adam Cheng (鄭少秋), Dylan Kuo (郭品超)

An adaption of the popular novel with the same name, Ever Night 2 continues from the first season’s story. Ning Que, played by Dylan, is a young soldier who works his way through great hardships until he finally becomes a protector of the Tang Country. When the country faces a great crisis, he is called upon to fight against the enemy. However, in defeating the enemy, he loses contact with his friend Sang Sang, played by Ireine, who he seeks to protect after her identity is exposed.

Handsome Siblings <絕代雙驕>

Streaming platform: iQiyi and Netflix
Airdate: Jan 16, 2020
Cast: Hu Yitian (胡一天), Chen Zheyuan (陳哲遠), Liang Jie (梁潔), Gallen Lo (羅嘉良), Nikita Mao (毛林林)

Adapted from Chinese novelist Gu Long’s (古龍) classic martial arts novel, Handsome Siblings tells the story of a pair of twin brothers separated from birth and reuniting as rival martial artists after growing up. 

Yitian stars as one of the twins, Hua Wuque – a talented martial artist who excels in music and literature. Although his twin brother Jiang Xiaoyu’er, played by Zheyuan, is also a gifted fighter, he is known for his villainous behavior and enjoys pranking people. Despite being raised to treat each other as enemies, they eventually come to realize they are brothers and become good comrades.

Douluo Continent <鬥羅大陸>

Streaming platform: Tencent Video
Airdate: Unconfirmed
Cast: Sean Xiao (肖戰), Wu Xuan Yi (吳宣儀), Zhang Wen (張雯), Calvin Chen (辰亦儒), Gao Tai Yu (高泰宇), Liu Mei Tong (劉美彤)

Based on a titular novel by novelist Tang Jia San Shao (唐家三少), Douluo Continent centers on Tang San (played by Sean), who learned to become independent and mature after losing his mother at a young age. When he turned six, he desired to become a martial artist, so he entered a Nuoshan martial arts school to practice the craft.

His teacher, Yu Xiao Gang later took him and his friend Xiao Wu, played by Xuan Yi, into Taishan School to further improve their martial arts. Soon enough, the teacher gathered a group of five talented teenagers to form a group called Taishan Qi Guai. Tang San later gets embroiled into a situation where princes compete for the throne. Amidst this, he accidentally uncovers the truth behind his mother’s death.

Source: HK01

This article is written by Minna for JayneStars.com.