Taiwanese dramas vs Chinese dramas?

[nazreal]

Hello everyone,

Recently, in prep for going to China to study, I've been indulging in rather a lot of internet Taiwan drama viewing. I've always liked watching Hong Kong and Taiwanese dramas but I wandered what people generally thought about these kind of dramas (mostly the fluffy romantic kind and sometimes more intense types like 'Black and White') compared with ones from China?

Also, can anyone recommend a good drama from China? And generally, what type of programmes does Chinese TV have? I know it's a hugely wide question but I'm just interested in thoughts and feelings.

Nazreal

[renzhe]

I guess you're missed the stickies <-- CLICK ME.

I haven't watched too many Taiwanese shows, but I do hate the cheesy teenage love ones. That eliminates many of them, unfortunately. "Black and white" was surprisingly good, but I haven't had the time to get into it.

Mainland series are like a box of chocolates. You'll find everything from really great stuff to unprofessional idiotic abominations. Most of the stuff is somewhere in between, and there are many entertaining and unusual things to be found because things haven't become too standardised yet. Many of them lack the final polish, but make for decent language practice.

[calif90071]

I've only seen one Taiwanese drama--"Love at the Aegean Sea". Yes it is as corny as it sounds, but I really did enjoy it (not to mention it really helped me use my fledgling Mandarin skills in a somewhat realistic manner) . I watched it during my freshman year of college at mysoju.com. I don't know if you've been to that site, but it has an incredible amount of Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese and Korean dramas/movies.

[calibre2001]

Taiwan variety talk shows are much better produced than their serial dramas. So i would keep away from the latter unless I have alot of time. Alot of the variety talk shows are very colloquial and so these are good resources to listen to real time spoken mandarin.

[dumdumdum]

my past experience with taiwanese dramas... 12 words... 哭哭啼啼拉拉扯扯婆婆妈妈.

but thats just me. others feel free to try your luck out.

[doraemon]

I tend to think Taiwanese ones are more cliched, romantic, and a bit corny at times. They're more for entertainment.

Most Mandarin dramas on the other hand are a lot more sombre in my opinion, but most of the time, you learn something useful from them, whether it be a lesson on life, Chinese history or contemporary issues in China.