"Jolene Foo's route to Chinese drama fandom happened after she moed from her native Malaysia to Norway in her late 20s. Foo, who grew up as a "third-generation Chinese kid," was looking for a way to reconnect with her homeland. Her friends recommended Chinese dramas, or C-dramas for short. "What really drew me in was the cultural dimension," she told DW. "As someone who is of the Chinese diaspora, watching C-dramas became a way of reconnecting with my roots.""
"He came across a short video from the serialized C-drama "The Story of Yanxi Palace." He was enthralled. "I don't know whether I can explain it properly or not, but you know when you see a scene and something inside you just clicks?" Khan, who is now in his final year of undergraduate studies in Dhaka, Bangladesh, told DW. "It's like your mind tells you: Yes, this is exactly what I wanted to watch.""
"The global rise of Chinese entertainment began in the early 2000s, when the poetic martial arts and sweeping visuals of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" put Chinese storytelling on the map. That momentum carried into television, where dramas evolved from historical epics to modern romances and fantasy hits. In the 2010s, Netflix and Viki introduced these dramas to global audiences and, since 2020, have moved to video-on-demand (VOD) apps. Many are now being streamed on YouTube and"
Chinese dramas attract international viewers by combining cultural detail, storytelling, and production value that resonate across borders. Diasporic viewers use C-dramas to reconnect with heritage and cultural identity. New fans discover series through social media clips and platform recommendations, then join online communities and subtitle efforts to share content with local-language audiences. The global spread accelerated after major film hits in the early 2000s, expanded via television genres in subsequent years, and broadened rapidly through streaming services and video-on-demand apps in the 2010s and 2020s.
Read at www.dw.com
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