12 Streaming Sites to Watch Chinese Movies & Dramas Online (FREE & Paid)
In recent years, Chinese television dramas and movies have attracted a lot of media attention and gained a lot of popularity around the world. Whether the historical context of the drama, the set design, the period in which it is set, or the unique storyline and emotional acting, Chinese movies and dramas are always sure to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. But where to watch Chinese TV series online? Is there any website can watch Chinese movies & dramas for free? Are you looking for reliable websites to watch Chinese movies with English subtitles? Here I list the 12 best streaming sites to watch Chinese movies & dramas online, some can watch for free and even have English subtitles , others should pay for VIP fee. You can choose on your demand.
1. iQIYI(International Version)
Cost: Free (limited content), or paid version at $7.99 per month.
Subtitle language: Chinese or Chinese + English bilingual subtitles
iQiyi is one of the largest video platforms in China that have purchased streaming rights of an uncountable number of movies, TV series, entertainment shows, variety shows. This is its international version, although this site won’t have all the Chinese dramas from iQiyi Chinese site, it has the most popular ones. What's more, all the Chinese TV series and movies on this streaming site offer English subtitles which is so friendly to overseas viewers.
The interface is neat and clean with a search bar to help you explore. It allows you to filter movies by region, category, subtitle, subscription, periods, etc. To access all the dramas, you need to get a VIP subscription, but there are tons of free content worth checking out on the site. And you can also get iQIYI from Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store.
2. iQIYI
Cost: Free (limited content), or paid version at ¥8 first month, then after¥22 a month.
Subtitle language: Chinese
爱奇艺 – iQiyi is owned by Baidu, the largest Chinese search engine company which offers various full-length and copyrighted contents including movies, TV shows, animation, documentaries, musics…etc. You can not only find Mainland Chinese movies but also Hong Kong (Cantonese movies) movies and Taiwan movies there. Many are trending movies at the time. So iQiyi is one of the best websites to download and watch Chinese movies and series.
Many movies & dramas on iQiyi are free to watch, if you want to unlock all the source, you need to buy its membership.Iqiyi has both Android and iPhone app available. Pay attenton, this Chinese site only allows China IP to access, if you live outside of China you must use VPN to unlock the site.
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3. WeTV
Cost: Free (limited content), or you can get a paid plan for unlimited content.
Subtitle language: Chinese or Chinese + English bilingual subtitles
WeTV is the international version of Tencent Video that focuses on overseas users, so you can trust it regarding quality and reliability. There is an extensive array of Chinese dramas hosted on Wetv across several genres such as romance, fantasy, period costumes, horror, action, etc. You’ll also find the most famous Tencent Animations from WeTV.
While those newly-released series on WeTV are not 100% free (there is a paid plan), you can stick around with plenty of comparatively older content. The Chinese drama and TV shows on WeTV are all offer English subtitles. And the best part is that you can view them across multiple devices like Android TV or smart TVs by downloading their App
4. Tencent Video
Cost: Free (limited content), or ¥20 per month for unlimited.
Subtitle language: Chinese.
Owned by Tencent, the world's largest video game company, Tencent Video is another famous video platform in China. It has over 200 million daily users and 106 million VIP subscribers. Compared to its international version WeTV, Tencent Video provides richer content for audiences. Apart from the most recent TV shows and original series, it has a vast collection of classic dramas, HD movies, and anime, many free of charge without creating an account.
But pay attention that Tencent Video only offers Chinese subtitles and is available in China only. So if you are located overseas, you need use a VPN to access this website. It has app on Windows, Android, Mac and iOS available.
Due to iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku and Sohu TV are only available with IP from China. If you live outside of mainland China,when you watch these movies it will show “Sorry, this video is not available in your region due to copyright limitations” or “很抱歉,由于版权原因暂无法播放” in Chinese language. The best way to resolve this problem is to use a VPN service with a server in China. I recommend you use:
NordVPN (up to 85% cash back from extrabux)
Surfshark (up to 95% cash back from extrabux)
It can unblock all Chinese video sites and allow you to watch all Chinese movies smoothly on computer and mobile devices including Android and iOS and the speed is very good.
5. Youku
Cost: : Free (limited content), or or paid version at ¥10 first month, then after¥25 a month.
Subtitle language: Chinese.
Youku is like Chinese YouTube, but focusing on catching up with the latest TV series in China, and provides users with free, high-quality and the latest Chinese movie content. Navigating the website is pretty easy if you can read Chinese. It allows you to explore shows based on genre (romance, adventure, comedy, crime, period costume, sci-fi, wuxia fantasy, and more) and sort by latest and ratings.
However all Youku movies are only available with IP from China due to copyright restrictions. If you want to watch movies on Youku outside China, you need to unblock Youku with VPN.
6. Sohu TV
Cost: : Free (limited content), or ¥9.9 per month for VIP members.
Subtitle language: Chinese.
Sohu IV is a part of Sohu搜狐. Sohu Video channel streams up-to-date legitimate HD TV plays, TV shows, sports broadcasts and movies from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as TV Plays from Asia and western countries. You can filter dramas based on genres like idol, family, romance, suspense, fantasy, and much more.
This website also has a free version and a VIP section, but most of the new shows become free when they end, so you don’t have to buy their subscriptions if you’re willing to wait.Users outside of mainland China need to use VPN to unlock the site.
7. Mango TV
Cost: : Free (limited content), or $1.99 for one month, $8.49 for 3 months, and $29.99 for one year.
Subtitle language: Chinese or Chinese + English bilingual subtitles.
Mango TV is a great video entertainment platform which is best known for its original variety shows. On Mango, you’ll find many videos from China, all in Chinese with Chinese subtitles mostly.
It has also released a ton of English-subbed Chinese dramas, including many that weren’t available with English subtitles before. No registration is required to access its free content. You can unlock early episodes and archived VIP drama by paying VIP fees.
8. Viki
Cost: : Free (limited content), or VIKIPASS at $4.99 per month.
Subtitle language: Deutsch, English, Spanish, French, Bahasa Indonesia, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Hungarians, Serbo-Croatian, etc.
Viki is one of the best streaming sites for watching Chinese drama without registration and downloading. In fact, it has the most extensive array of shows catering to Asian drama fans. Besides Mainland Chinese shows, there are tons of TV series and movies from Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. The video quality is outstanding, and the streaming is pretty fast compared to other websites.
From the filters in the Explore section, you can find the desired Chinese movie/TV show/variety without a hitch - you can even search for movies using subtitle language as a filter! Viki video player supports switching subtitles among multiple languages including English, thus whatever language you can read, you can fully enjoy desired Chinese movies, TV series, variety shows, etc contents on Viki. No limitation for free users but SD video quality. HD quality requires Viki pass.
9. YouTube
Cost: : Free
Subtitle language: English.
As the hugest giant in online video hosting, YouTube will come in handy. Although YouTube is not a specialized website focusing on Chinese film works, you can certainly find a good deal of Chinese TV Channels providing full movies and TV episode playlists with English subtitles/closed captions.
Simply type [Chinese drama name+ eng sub] in the search bar, and you will get a list of matching results. If you don’t know what to watch, start with producers’ official channels. Here are some top recommended YouTube channels to watch C-dramas in high picture and translation quality.
10. Netflix
Cost: : $6.99/month.
Subtitle language: English.
Netflix is another one of those sites with so much content. It’s geared specifically towards TV shows and movies, with many being international. Yes, you can watch numerous Chinese TV shows, movies, and dramas on Netflix. Many of the Chinese movies on Netflix are quite recent.
You can search by genre easily. Searching “Mandarin language shows” or “Chinese dramas” brings up plenty of options, including some Mandarin-language movies, all of them with English subtitles for those who need their assistance (whether content is offered in the original language may vary).
11. Amazon Prime Video
Cost: : 30-day free trial. $119 a year or $13 per month for Amazon Prime.
Subtitle language: English.
Amazon
Prime Video, or simply Prime Video, is an American subscription
video-on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon.com,
Inc., offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime
subscription.
Amazon Prime Video is another go-to place for viewers from America and worldwide. If you’re a Prime member, don’t waste it. You can find many Chinese movies and shows there for free. Sometimes, I feel the Amazon has more and better Chinese movies than Netflix
12. M1905
Cost: Free or ¥9.9 per month for VIP members.
Subtitle language: Chinese or Chinese + English bilingual subtitles.
M1905
is a Chinese streaming video website owned by CCTV6, the largest movie
channel in China. It is not as famous as the above-mentioned Chinese
video streaming platforms, but it’s also an excellent choice, no less.
1905 Movie has two major movie sections: “VIP Movie theatre” that covers
a wide scope of movies, but requires VIP account; and “Free Movies”
that present many free resources to trending movies, TV series, and
China Central Television filming.
The site supports search function, when you find your favorite Chinese movie, then click “立即播放”, after about one minute ads you will see the full-length movie. Besides most of its Chinese movies have English subtitles.
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