I know Chinese dramas are popular across the globe thanks to the intriguing ancient Chinese culture of different dynasties and beautifully designed architecture and dressing. Were the ancient Chinese people living in a paradise of a finely built world? Some may wonder how the old times look and how they lead their life in such a mysterious oriental culture? Today, we are going to unveil the mystery of the best Chinese dramas of all time and bring our readers a closer look at the oriental legends. Check them out now!

Part 1: 10 best Chinese ancient/historical dramas

When speaking of Chinese dramas featuring ancient Chinese people and their life, you may naturally and firstly think of a couple of themes, such as famous historical dynasties, characters, and life style. These are precious cultural heritage, allowing modern people to take a glance of how ancient people live and how they build the culture which has influenced people ever after. There are tons of famous Chinese dramas and we are very happy to share some of them with you here. Note that the top picks here will definitely worth a watch.

1. Empresses in the Palace

If you ever heard of classic Chinese dramas, Empresses in the Palace will show up in your list in the first place. It is such a masterpiece talking about the grand story of the inner workings of the harem of classic China. You know Chinese ancient emperors have countless so-called wives and this Chinese drama unveils the story among the emperor of Qing dynasty and his multiple women. This epic tale of love, betrayal and scandal will surely bring you visual enjoyment and mind refreshment.

Empresses-in-the-Palace

2. My Fair Princess

As one of the most watched Chinese ancient dramas, My Fair Princess features Xiao Yan Zi, a street girl, and Xia Zi Wei, a daughter of emperor Qian Long and their love and hatred story with the group of emperor family. There were full of adventures among the young girls and their loved ones, which make viewers laugh and cry. When the drama is on, the fun trip is on.

My-Fair-Princess

3. New Legend of Madame White Snake

This supernatural love story happened between a human and a snake-like creature who strives to be a human though they suffered a lot to be together. It is known as one of the most intriguing mythical Chinese dramas that told viewers how much love weight over anything else. Besides, the music is very touching too.

new-legend-of-white-snake

4. Story of Yanxi Palace

It is a recent-year produced Chinese drama talking about how a maid struggling to become a concubine of emperor Qian Long, one of the most sentimental emperors in Chinese history. Though the hostess, Wei Yingluo does not have a very good breeding growing up but her plucky attitude, street smarts, and a good heart make her stand out from others and finally win the heart of the emperor. Undoubtedly, she experiences a slew of dangers through her years in the palace to become a concubine of Emperor Qian Long.

story-of-yan-xi

5. The Romance of Tiger and Rose

This is a typical female-centric Chinese drama talking about an expected adventure across the universe. Featuring the modern shooting technology, this drama ranks top in 2020 TV series, attracting thousands of viewers to watch. The drama tells the funny love story of Chen Qian Qian, the leader of Gui Ma, and Han Shuo, the young leader of Quan Xi. You will be impressed by the romance story for sure.

the-romance-of-the-tiger-and-rose

6. Serenade of Peaceful Joy

Serenade of Peaceful Joy, unlike other traditional Chinese dramas lavishing much efforts on romance, tells the story of Song Ren Zong, emperor of Song, and his daughter. The series was aired over the television early this year and soon gained increasing popularity among televiewers. The drama is set during the Northern Song Dynasty and focuses on the turbulent events of Northern Song and the relationships within the palace, showcasing a complicated but real Song Ren Zong.

Serenade-of-Peaceful-Joy

7. Legend of Fuyao

If you are a fan of great mythology, Legend of Fuyao will surely be your taste. This Chinese drama tells a story of a lotus princess who journeyed across the land to gather the magical artifacts that could lift the curse that blighted her life. It was by accident or it was destined to meet the crown prince who fell in love with Fuyao during her journey across the land. Will she restore peace for man’s world? Let’s watch and find it out!

Legend-of-Fuyao

8. Joy of Life

In the story, we know that this Chinese drama is actually a time travel drama, featuring a guy who is writing a script and falling into the twilight years of Eastern Jin. Fan Xian, the main character in the drama, was the only royalty to survive the bloody purge when Liu Yu usurps throne to become the founding emperor of the Liu Song dynasty. When Fan Xian turned 18, he was sent to the capital to meet and marry his never-seen wife as this is a set political marriage. What will happen? Check it out!

joy-of-life

9. Princess Agents

Most ancient Chinese dramas will praise the righteousness and selflessness of heroes and heroines. Princess Agents is a good example of that theme. The story takes place during the chaotic times of Northern Wei, where innocent citizens are often kidnapped and turned into slaves. Chu Qiao, a slave girl in the beginning, swears to take her sisters out from the chaotic situation and return to peaceful life. Unfortunately, things go in another way and she makes herself trapped in the center of the chaotic times.

Princess-Agents

10. Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace

It is not rare to see battles in palace among royal family and related personnel. Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace is a typical Chinese drama of this type to showcase how Ruyi handles the palace battles and how she survives the difficult circumstances.

Ruyis-Royal-Love-in-the-Palace

Part 2: Where to watch Chinese dramas with English subtitles

You have obtained really good Chinese dramas and now you may be desperate to watch these Chinese dramas with English subtitles. Is it difficult to find Chinese dramas with English subtitles? Actually it is quite simple. You may watch them with ease via below websites or apps.

1. NewasianTv

This website accommodates a series of great Asian TV shows, including but not limited to ancient Chinese dramas. Of course these Chinese dramas will be aired with English subtitles in this website, and viewers can enjoy the most authentic Chinese dramas with proficient English translations shown on subtitles.

2. Yuyu TV

Yuyu TV features another great digital streaming service, which contains a premier library of top films and TV series from around the globe. The website can curate and distribute compelling content that span styles, countries, and genres across North America to a variety of platforms viewers. Viewers can absolutely rely on this powerful website to reach their favorite Chinese dramas with accurate English subtitles.

Part 3: Workable programs to download Chinese dramas

Speaking of how to download Chinese dramas, we will share with you two useful programs. Both of them are capable of downloading Chinese dramas based on our tests. Let's just check them out!

1. Leawo Video Downloader

Leawo Video Downloader allows users to download videos from more than 1000 sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Vevo, etc. Most videos you find on the internet could be downloaded with this toolkit. You may download and install this application on your computer and move forward to get Chinese dramas from popular web-sharing websites.

  • Leawo Video Downloader
  • Leawo Video Downloader

    Download Video & Music from 1000+ Sites.
    Support 720P, 1080P HD Videos Downloading.
    Download Live Stream Videos from YouTube Live and Others.
    1-Click to Play Downloaded Videos.
    6X Faster Downloading Speed.

2. CleverGet Chinese Dramas Downloader

CleverGet Dramas Downloader, a comprehensive online dramas downloader that could not only download online videos, but also free movies, paid movies and even live streams, could help you easily complete online free movies/TV series download tasks in simple clicks. With it, you could easily download video from mainstream video-sharing websites, like YouTube, Twitter, Tubi, Facebook live, and various other sites.

  • CleverGet
  • CleverGet Dramas Downloader

    Download Movie Video With 320 Kbps audio.
    Easily Download Live Streams Without Quality Loss.
    Video Info Extractor.
    Supports Playlist Downloading.
    Support Multi-tasking & Video Info Extractor Inside.
    Ease to Use UI.

Part 4: Best Chinese drama player - Leawo Blu-ray Player

You have already obtained the best Chinese ancient dramas and you know how to download them for offline streaming. Aside that, you will need a powerful and professional media player for playback. Leawo Blu-ray Player will be the best choice for you. This 6-in-1 multi-functional media player provides comprehensive solutions for you to play back Blu-ray, DVD, ISO files, VC-1 file. For advanced users, they may upgrade to the premium version and let it act as an .mkv converter, meaning that you can directly convert your DVD/Blu-ray disc to .mkv files for smooth playback on any devices, apps, or systems.

  • Leawo Blu-ray Player
  • Leawo Blu-ray Player

    Region-free Blu-ray player software to play Blu-ray disc and DVD disc for free, regardless of disc protection and region restriction.
    Play 4K FLV videos, 4K MKV videos, 4K MP4 videos, etc. without quality loss.
    Support the conversion from Blu-ray/DVD discs to MKV in the premium version.
    Deliver super high-quality stereo audio experience with the support of various advanced audio decoding technologies like Dolby, DTS, AAC, TrueHD, DTS-HD (including 5.1, 7.1 channels), etc.

In this case, we can rely on the free version for playback of Chinese dramas. It will be fun.

  • Blu-ray-Player

    Step 1: Load the Chinese dramas to the media player. Click Open File to load the source Chinese dramas to the media player.

  • subtitles

    Step 2: Edit the playback settings. Click the editing button to enter the window, where you can set the playback parameters or options freely.

  • play back Chinese drama

    Step 3: Play back Chinese dramas. Now hit the playback button to play and get ready for superb drama enjoyment.