6 C-Dramas To Watch For The Romantics At Heart

Passionate love affairs, cold betrayals, and high school romances to complicated adult relationships, love can make the world go round or turn it on its head. There’s the excited pounding of your heart when you spot your teen crush, the silent adoration for your childhood bestie, the first brush of love, and the inevitable heartbreak, only to meet years later. If you’re in the mood for romance, here are six C-dramas for the romantics at heart.

Warning: minor spoilers below!

“You Are My Glory”

Qiao Jing Jing (Dilraba Dimurat) is a superstar with drama hits to her credit as well as several brand endorsements. When a video of her poor gaming skills for an online game she endorses goes viral, Jing Jing has to do damage control. She comes across her former classmate Yu Tu (Yang Yang), now an aerospace research engineer on the gaming site, and she asks him to train her. Here’s the catch: Jing Jing was madly in love with Yu Tu who was the so-called “scholar god” in school but had been rejected by him. As the two meet after 10 years, Jing Jing realizes her feelings still run deep and gets rejected yet again by Yu Tu. The tables turn when Yu Tu realizes he cannot get Jing Jing out of his mind and has fallen hard for her, but he has to win her over. The relationship between the two is positive—they are not only supportive of the other but help each other grow and do better.

“You Are My Glory” will make your heart skip several beats thanks to the searing passion and the very scorching chemistry between the lead pair. Yang Yang and Dilraba Dimurat not only make a stunning couple but are fine actors and absolute naturals onscreen. The drama spends a lot of time on the online game world, techniques, and aerospace details, which could have been trimmed. But keep the remote close as you are bound to rewind to rewatch the kisses between the couple.

 

“Hidden Love”

14-year-old Sang Zhi (Zhao Lu Si) is infatuated by her older brother’s best friend, the cool and caring Duan Jia Xu (Chen Zhe Yuan). Sang Zhi’s feelings run deep, though she is at first just in awe of Duan Jia Xu’s personality. He indulges her like an older brother but realizes her adoration of him is something way deeper. A few years later as Sang Zhi starts attending the university in Duan Jia Xu’s hometown, she realizes she has always been hopelessly in love with him, but will he ever reciprocate her feelings?

“Hidden Love” is a tender coming-of-age love story. As Sang Zhi secretly guards her feelings for Duan Jia Xu and is a bundle of nerves whenever he is around her, you feel the intensity of her feelings. After all, teen crushes can be overwhelming. Duan Jia Xu is a walking green flag, and when he finally realizes his feelings for her, he tries to win Sang Zhi over, and you want him to win. There’s a cute moment when he sweetly confesses he no longer wants to be the older brother but rather her boyfriend instead, and another adorable scene is how his car number “34520” literally translates as “Sang Zhi, I love you”! There are a few hurdles to cross including Sang Zhi’s protective older brother and Duan Jia Xu’s complicated past for Sang Zhi to get her forever prince charming, but these are quickly resolved.

“Hidden Love” has a purity and innocence to it, and your heart flutters along with that of Sang Zhi’s and Duan Jia Xu’s. The two leads complement each other well and make the drama absolutely worth your while.

“Fireworks of My Heart”

High school sweethearts Song Yan (Yang Yang) and Xu Qin (Wang Chu Ran) have had a traumatic breakup and went their separate ways. A decade later, Song Yan is now a firefighter who runs into Xu Qin, who is a surgeon, and it seems he has got nothing to do with her anymore. Can old flames be reignited? And can the deep wounds of the past be healed, or will it be the end of the road for them?

“Fireworks of My Heart” is exactly what the title suggests. It’s a passionate love story of a couple weighed down by their past and the many curveballs life keeps throwing at them. Yang Yang is indeed the king of romance. He is fantastic as the brave heart firefighter as well as the deeply caring and reliable boyfriend. He silently emotes his character’s anguish and hidden strength of characters in sharp contrast to Xu Qin, who is complicated. Her inability to stand up for herself and emotionally manipulate Song Yan’s feelings come from her sense of inadequacy, which she tries to overcome.

Are you a fan of Yang Yang? Then you’ll want to watch the show for his brooding intensity and charm which is bound to sweep you off your feet.

 

“The Love You Give Me”

Min Hui (Wang Yu Wen) and Xin Qi (Wang Zi Qi) met as teenagers, fell in love, and broke up after a grievous misunderstanding. It has been five years since they last set eyes on the other, and their paths cross yet again. Min Hui is a single mom and a director of a technology firm, and Xin Qi is a bachelor and a successful business investor. Though the dormant sparks are reignited, there are several issues between the two and also the fate of a child. Can these two give love another chance?

“The Love You Give Me” is a romance drama based on author Shi Dingrou’s novel of the same name. Though there is too much time spent on the many subplots, the drama, especially the lead couple and the passion and tension between the two, keeps you involved. Wang Yu Wen and Wang Zi Qi have easy chemistry, and their comfort level with each other translates effortlessly on screen. And the scene stealer is, of course, the child actor.

 

“Exclusive Fairytale”

Ling Chao (SEVENTEEN’s Jun) and Xiao Tu (Zhang Miao Yi) have been together since the day they were born. They live in and out of each other’s homes and know practically everything about each other. But there is one small issue: Xiao Tu, who calls Ling Chao her brother of sorts, has missed out one tiny detail, and that is that Ling Chao does not regard her as a sister. Rather, he has very strong feelings for her. Their parents also see these two as a forever couple, but how does Ling Chao convince Xiao Tu that he is indeed the one for her?

As these two navigate the new phase in their relationship, it is hilarious as well as adorable. “Exclusive Fairytale” uses the familiar trope of “friends to lovers,” but it has a certain positivity to it, with deep messages of being comfortable with who you are and being able to express what you feel. Jun scores as the perfect boyfriend, while Zhag Miao Yi’s energy is infectious.

 

“Once We Get Married”

Talented and enterprising fashion buyer Gu Xi Xi (Wang Yu Wen) manages to snag one of the most coveted couture wedding dresses. The incident gets her acquainted with a smart and arrogant shopping mall CEO named Yin Si Chen (Wang Zi Qi). It is hate at first sight for the two, but they are compelled to get into a contract relationship to save themselves as well as win over a picky client. The rest is history, from “I cannot bear to be anywhere near you” to “I cannot live my life without you,” as Xi Xi’s effervescent personality thaws the cold Si Chen. But can Si Chen win her over and thwart the advances of a third wheel, an influential CEO who has always loved Xi Xi?

“Once We Get Married” is a breezy rom-com and a fun watch. And Wang Yu Wen and Wang Zi Qi notch up the romantic quotient with their chemistry.

 

cr: Soompi