This list looks at recent dramas, those in the 2010’s. Douban is similar to mydramalist, or RottenTomatoes and Metacritic if they only looked at user scores. In Douban you rate dramas, movies, books, etc. Douban scores are usually a good indicator of the quality of a drama or movie. With critically acclaimed dramas or movies usually having high douban scores. The website has over 200 million registered users.
These are some recent book to TV dramas with really high douban scores:
10. Back in Time with Yang Le, Bai Jing Ting, and He Hong Shan 8.0
9. Candle in the Tomb with Jin Dong and Joe Chen 8.1
8. Scarlet Heart/Bu Bu Jing Xin with Liu Shi Shi and Nicky Wu 8.1
7. Yu Zi with Zhang Yishan and Chang Rong 8.2
6. Wu Xin: The Monster Killer with Kevin Han, Gina Jin, Sabrina Chen, Zhang RuoYun 8.3
5. Remembering Lichuan with Gao Godfrey and Jiao Jun Yan 8.3
4. Too Late to Say I love You with Wallace Chung and Li Xiao Ran 8.3
3. With You with Tan Song Yun and Liu Hao Ran 8.7
2. Legend of Zhen Huan with Sun Li, Chen Jianbin, Ada Choi, and Jiang Xin 8.9
1. Nirvana in Fire with HuGe, Wang Kai, and Liu Tao 9.1
I have seen four of these dramas and I liked all of four. My favorites being Nirvana in Fire and Bu Bu Jing Xin. In my opinion, if you only watch two cdramas, these are the two that you should watch.
I will have to make sure to add Candle in the Tomb since I keep reading good things about it. I tried Wuxin, but I honestly couldn’t get past the first episode. And I am never going to watch Remembering Lichuan, too angsty for my heart.
Are the high scores of lesser-known dramas that high because they are lesser known, or are they actually that good? If you have seen any of them, please give me your opinion.
Cnewsdevotee 
I’ve watched Legend of Zhen Huan (which is my favouritest chinese drama…) and Back In Time from this list. Back In Time was pretty impactful. There were a lot of beautiful quotes (that wasn’t in the novel) that I still remember today. I think it was handled pretty well. Plus the cast was surprisingly refreshing too. (I got to know Bai Jingting from this drama and he’s high up on my ‘Little Tender Meat’ list now hahaha. So adorkable!) I read Remembering Li Chuan but I didn’t realise the drama is (finally) out. I might give it a try if I’m up for some angst anytime soon…
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I’ve seen NiF, Zhen Huan, Bu bu Jing xin, Candle and Wu xin. I loved all of them. NiF is my #1 and Zhen Huan is my #2.
Will you do recap on The Advisors Alliance? I really want to watch that drama but since it has no Eng sub, I can’t.
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I don’t think we will. It is getting really good reviews so far, so a shame that no one picked it up. Sadly, it seems that less and less cdramas are going to be picked up by Viki or DF.
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You should try Wuxin because it gets better as the show progresses. It’s not too long so there’s very few slow moments. I tried watching Candle in the Tomb, but I couldn’t get past the first few episodes. The production values are definitely high quality, the problem is I didn’t like how they characterized the female lead. Some moments are also kind of scary if you watch it in the middle of the night like I did.
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I think I will give Wuxin a third try, everyone seems to love it ^^
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Definitely watch it and let us know what you think.
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I’ve seen Scarlet Heart and Zhen Huan from this list and loved both of it. I’ve heard many things about NiF but I don’t really like politics so never watched the drama at all. I do want to try WuXin though!
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Nirvana is like The Count of Monte Cristo. It is on the serious side, but not too much. I would say my favorite thing was the cinematography, it is spectacular.
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I love WuXin!*Which is why I find it hard to hate YH on Princess Agent lol) anyways, the cast and chemistry were great, looking forward to S2. NiF will forever be above the rest and BBJX is just too pure (our OTP is real and happy so I’m happy)
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Have seen NiF, Candle in The Tomb and Wu Xin but never read the books so can’t comment on how close an adaptation it is. NiF is amazing – totally agree that it’s a great showcase of c-drama ; love the genre of Candle In The Tomb – it was also cool and Jin Dong brings on the right gravitas ; Wuxin – I usually do not watch horror but somehow I just really liked this – the right balance of mild horror, tender romance and nostalgia – helps too that Elvis Han was sweetly dashing, Gina Jin embodying peasant beauty and Ian Wang rounding off the trio as a brash army general with a heart of gold under the bluster.
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I don’t think it is necessarily comparing how closely it matches the book, but more like overall quality. You haven’t seen Scarlet Heart?
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No I haven’t ! I started watching c-drama only after Zhen again 🙂
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Highly recommend it. A classic. It got me into cdramas.
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Wuxin is actually a really good drama. Looking forward to season 2. I’ll be honest you have to watch pass like the first few episodes and it gets very good. I remember watching episode 1 and nearly give up. Actually I did give up but give it a second chance. Glad I gave it a 2nd chance.
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I did too. The first time I couldn’t get past the first 15 minutes. Then the second time I finished the first episode, but I didn’t really feel like watching the rest. I just couldn’t get into it.
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