The Best TV Shows on CCTV-1

Dream of the Red Chamber, first released in 1987, was a television series produced by CCTV, adapted from the classic 18th century Chinese novel of the same name. It gained enormous popularity for its music, cast, and plot adaptation, being regarded by many within China as being a near-definitive adaptation of the story.

Adapted from the classical 14th century novel of the same title by Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is part historical, part legend, and part mythical – romanticises and dramatises the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, who tried to replace the dwindling Han dynasty or restore it. The focus is mainly on the three power blocs that emerged from the remnants of the Han dynasty, and would eventually form the three states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu.

The trials and tribulations of 108 outlaws during the mid Song Dynasty.

This Chinese period drama series follows the fortunes of a prominent merchant family engaged in Traditional Chinese Medicine during the waning years of the Ching dynasty. The affairs of this family of doctors/pharmacists (which in those days were one and the same) are intimately linked with social upheavals of the time such as the encroachment of Christian missionaries and foreign imperialism as well as conflicts that inevitably emerge in a large upper class family. Comparable in scope and production value to such recent titles as "Downton Abbey", the lives and character of both masters and servants intertwine in plot lines that spans more than a generation.

A story that details the the lives of ordinary civilians amidst the magnanimous changes in Chinese society over the years. At the end of the 1970s, the Zhou family lived in a provincial city in the north. The father, Zhu Zhi Gang, has just participated in the Third Front Movement in Xi Nan. The eldest son, Zhou Bing Yi, responds to a national call to become part of the first batch of "educated" youths sent to live and work in rural areas. The eldest daughter, Zhou Rong, follows her poet husband to the countryside of Guizhou. The youngest son, Zhou Bing Kun, is the only one left at home with their mother. In the span of 50 years, the Zhou family is swept by the tides of change in China.

During the tumultuous period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, three determined youths—Qian Hongshu, Zhao Kuangyin, and Guo Rong—navigate the chaos of political upheaval and war as they strive to overcome the suffering caused by endless conflict.

The story of Song Yunhui, Lei Dongbao, and Yang Xun as they take part in China’s economic reform from the 1980s to the 1990s.

Journey to the West is a Chinese television series adapted from the classical novel of the same title. The series was first broadcast on CCTV in China on 1 October 1986. The series became an instant classic in China and is still being praised as the best and most authentic interpretation of the novel. Unadapted portions of the original story were later covered in the second season, which was released in 1999.

The rise of the Qin state in the Warring States period during the reign of Duke Xiao of Qin.

The story of county party secretary Mei Xiaoge and the reforms he and his colleagues introduce to bring about much-needed change and development to the lives of the people of Guangming County.

In the final days of the Chinese Civil War, Communist agents Wu Shi and Zhu Feng go undercover in Taiwan to gather vital military intelligence. Sacrificing their personal lives for their mission, they risk everything to aid the liberation of key islands until a betrayal jeopardizes their lives.