Meet Yourself
A slice of life drama with comforting vibes. It centers around a manager at a five-star hotel who quits her job and takes time out in the countryside to reassess her life after her best friend dies unexpectedly. The young woman ends up sharing a homestay with a group of former city dwellers who try to escape the rat race and gets entangled with the local village beau. Their slow burn romance plays a minor part for the lion’s share of the show before it gets center-staged in the last few episodes.
Most of the drama takes place in a beautiful old village in Yunnan Province, set in a gorgeous landscape – just watching the scenery is already relaxing and feels like virtual green bathing. Village life is presented as rustic, authentic and slow – and so for our friends at the homestay there is always time for a chat or a walk, an opportunity to daydream or meditate. Just watching them, we slow down ourselves and happily spend time with these well-developed characters, listening to their often thought-provoking conversations and watching their relationships form. Lucky for us, acting and writing are top-notch so it never gets boring during the 40 episodes. (For a longer review, go here.)
Hunan TV, Mango TV. China. Written by Shui Qian Mo and Wang Xiong Cheng.

Love Between Devil and Fairy
A spectacular action-packed supernatural fantasy (xianxia) about the romance of a seemingly insignificant member of the Fairy tribe and the leader of its mortal enemy, the Lord of the Moon tribe. Esther Yu plays the sweet and bubbly fairy to perfection while Dylan Wang shines as the terrifying, emotionally dead anti-hero Moon supreme who can’t help himself from falling for the fairy. A captivating romance without a dull moment, easily switching between comedy, action, romance and melo.
Be warned, though, the mainly lighthearted tone of the first 20+ episodes changes later on. The last third has a good deal of angst, so sensitive viewers might want to skip from episode 26 to the end in their first watch to assure themselves of a happy ending. The ending, while happy, feels a little rushed — that’s probably why two short special episodes, mostly consisting of flashbacks, were added later.
A suspenseful story of forbidden love that is as exciting and addictive as it is visually stunning. Is this the most romantic drama of 2022?
iQiyi. China. Written by Cao Xiao Tian and Bai Jin Jin.

The Day of Becoming You
A romcom fantasy about an entertainment reporter and the leader of an idol group whose bodies get switched. Well written, often funny, sometimes self-ironic (“Doesn’t it feel like a scene in a Korean Drama?” asks one of the protagonist). The focus is on the leads Zhang Xin Cheng and Liang Jie (Hi Venus) who do a great acting job making the body swap visible by impersonating the other character.
Two negative aspects: First, the drama is framed by a meta plot that undermines the emotional impact of the story. So, for the first watch, I recommend eliminating the framing by starting episode 1 at 6:48 minutes and stopping at episode 26, 32:43 minutes. Second, the show has one of the most obnoxious product placements I’ve ever seen. If laughing it off doesn’t work for you, be prepared to skip, rather than be annoyed.
But these are minor points that only slightly detract from the overall excellence of the show. Another winner by screenwriter Wang Xiong Cheng, who also penned Hi Venus. Highly recommended.
iQiyi. China. Written by Wang Xiong Cheng.

My Unicorn Girl
Heart-fluttering moments in every episode and the extra-cuteness of the leads (Darren Chen, Chen Yao) make this romcom about a crossdressing girl playing on a male hockey team worthwhile to watch. A rare drama in which haircuts (esp FL boyish cut) double the cuteness factor.
The plot involving our leads employs many typical drama cliches (face blindness, accidental kisses, fated love, etc.) in an entertaining and generally well thought out way. Their romance often plays out on kindergarten level (boy annoys/teases girl, girl has no clue (or does she?), boy acts like that because he likes her) but all is forgotten when they gaze into each other’s eyes. Sigh!
Sadly, other aspects of the drama are a lot less fun: While the sports part is generally okay, the second and third leads vacillate between barely tolerable to completely irritating. If you skip most of their scenes, you’ll enjoy this piece of sweet, silly and simply adorable super-fluff a lot more.
Chinese. iQiyi. Written by Fan Kan and Fang Qiang Qiang.

Far Away Love
Do you particularly love the classics when it comes to K-rom-coms? Then I’ll bet you’ll like this drama. It’s a Chinese production, released in 2016, but has the feel of favorite shows like Secret Garden (2010) or Lie to Me (2011).
Right away, we have a similar set-up – a son of a wealthy family fighting with his mother about a woman not to her liking. In Far Away Love, it goes like this: Straight-laced and emotionally numb rich-guy Shen An, a CEO of a food conglomerate, keeps having run-ins (and later gets entangled) with Meng Chu Xia (played by Li Fei Er), a clumsy, soft-hearted but stubborn 28-year-old who’s raising her nephew by herself. Korean actor Park Hae Jin (My Love from the Star and Cheese in the Trap) plays the male lead, which enhances even more the Korean rom-com-feeling. But, most important, this drama has the same tone and similar structure as those archetypal K-rom-coms: Lots of funny, cute and screwball-ish parts in the first half of the series, while later episodes add emotional depth and drama. Plus an excellent ending.
On the downside, we have a truly cringeworthy song in Italian and a few slips into too-obvious soap opera territory – but that only marginally mars an otherwise excellent show. As I’ve noticed with other Chinese dramas, the beginning of each episode previews too much of the plot – to remedy, just skip the first minute and 40 seconds.
Excellent.
(For a more detailed version of this review, go here.)
Chinese. Southeast and Guangdong TV. Written by Mi Tian Hui.

Boss & Me
What would happen if a relationship between the young CEO of a big corporation and a lowly office worker would be allowed to develop – without the drama-typical interference from the rich family’s side? Life turns immediately into a bed of roses? Not quite, as financial assistant Xue Shan Shan (Zhao Li Ying) finds out when one of the biggest prizes on the marriage mart – smart, handsome and rich CEO Feng Teng (Zhang Han) – becomes interested in her. We witness in more than 30 episodes how adorable, innocent 23-year old Shan Shan deals with “Big Boss’” attention and faces office gossip, romantic competition and social pressure – all this, without losing her upbeat attitude.
What a fun journey it is. It works so well because the drama brings the Prince Charming fairy tale at least a notch down to earth. The couple faces regular everyday problems and behaves more normally than the leads in a typical Korean rom-com – for example, in this drama, there’s quite a bit of cuddling, hugging and light kissing. And then there’s the great performance by Zhao Li Ying, who beautifully inhabits the character of the delightful heroine. For sure, there’s a reason that she is currently the best paid actress in China. A very nice OST, too – the title song is performed by none other than male lead Zhang Han himself. Oh – and just ignore the weird fast-forwarding effect in the first episode, it’s just a fluke. The rest of the show runs at normal speed.
In short: irresistible mix of fluffy and cute with just a sprinkle of realism. Perfect anti-stress prescription. Excellent.
JSTV (China). Written by Good Story Workshop. (Based on the novel Shan Shan Lai Chi by Gu Man)