The Best TV Shows on CCTV

Every CCTV Show Ranked From Best To Worst

As of December 2025, we’ve curated over 20 of CCTV’s premier shows for your viewing pleasure. Highlighting CCTV’s quality programming, CCTV Spring Festival Gala and 月亮街 stand out, premiering in 1983 and 1995. From 1983 through to 2025, CCTV has accumulated a diverse collection of over 20 television shows.

  • A Son Of The Good Earth
    A Son Of The Good Earth (1995)10.0

  • Dong bei yi jia ren
    Dong bei yi jia ren (2002)9.5

  • For the Sake of the Republic
    For the Sake of the Republic (2003)9.2

    Towards the Republic, also known as For the Sake of the Republic and Zou Xiang Gong He, is a Chinese historical television series first broadcast on CCTV in China from April to May 2003. The series is based on events that occurred in China between the late 19th century and early 20th century that led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China. Owing to its portrayal of historical issues deemed politically sensitive by the Chinese government, the series has been subject to censorship in mainland China.

  • Romance of the Three Kingdoms
    Romance of the Three Kingdoms (2009)9.0

    Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a 2009 animated television series joint produced by the Beijing Huihuang Animation Company of China and Future Planet of Japan. It was broadcast in Japan starting April 2010.

  • AI Football GGO
    AI Football GGO (2010)8.9

    Artificial Intelligent Football GGO is made by Puzzle Animation studio Ltd. It's an animation series about football and future technology.

  • Journey to the West – Legends of the Monkey King
    Journey to the West – Legends of the Monkey King (1999)8.4

    Sun Wukong, who was born from a magic stone, has been imprisoned underneath a mountain for five centuries for his mischief in the heavens. One day, the Guanyin told Monkey that the Monk Tang Sanzang will set him free and Monkey will join him on a pilgrimage from China to India. The next day, Tripitaka came and set Monkey free, and the two started their Journey to the West. Along the way, they meet two new friends, Zhu Bajie and the Hermit Sha Wujing, who join them on the journey; together, they face many dangers and evil creatures and sorcerers and learn to get along.

  • Hongmao and Lantu: Martial Arts Series
    Hongmao and Lantu: Martial Arts Series (2006)8.2

    An animation series produced by Hongmeng Cartoon Communication Co., Ltd. There are two branches: martial arts series and preschool education series. And the martial arts series is China's first animation series on the theme of traditional Chinese martial arts.

  • The Firmament of the Pleiades
    The Firmament of the Pleiades (2010)8.0

    Two young men looking for a better life enter the royal palace in the midst of a tumultuous political era of the late Qing Dynasty. Chun Er, a poor peasant boy, and Liang Wen Xiu, who grew up in a wealthy household, find their fates are tied together in unexpected ways. The two young men and Chun Er’s younger sister, Ling Er, travel to the Forbidden City together to look for a better future. Based on the popular novel Sokyu no Subaru by Asada Jiro.

  • The Return of the Condor Heroes
    The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006)6.3

    The Return of the Condor Heroes is a Chinese television series adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same title. It is the second installment of a trilogy produced by Zhang Jizhong, preceded by The Legend of the Condor Heroes and followed by The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. It was first broadcast on 17 March 2006 in China and subsequently broadcast in other Asian countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.

  • A Soul Haunted by Painting
    A Soul Haunted by Painting (2003)6.0

    Pan Yuliang struggles as a courtesan to a concubine as she navigates her path to success in the art world as a painter.

  • CCTV Spring Festival Gala
    CCTV Spring Festival Gala (1983)5.8

  • 月亮街
    月亮街 (1995)N/A

  • 中华传统美德故事
    中华传统美德故事 (1997)N/A

  • Merry Go Round
    Merry Go Round (2003)N/A

    This drama follow the lives of two young sisters as they grow from children to adults. They each face many twists and turns before achieving true happiness.

  • How Much Sorrow Do You Have
    How Much Sorrow Do You Have (2007)N/A

    Set in the 10th century, the story revolves around two monarchs: Zhao Kuang Yin, conqueror extraordinaire and the first ruler of the Song dynasty, and Li Yu, literary giant and the last ruler of the Southern Tang dynasty. It is a TV series focusing on the complex friend-foe relationship between these two historical characters and their love story with one woman by the name of Zhou E Huang.

  • The Grand Join Forces
    The Grand Join Forces (2016)N/A

  • Heart and Greed
    Heart and Greed (2017)N/A

    Ling Lai-Ying and her husband Wong Wing-Ching have worked hard to develop their modest tea restaurant into an entrepreneurial success involving real estate investing and business. Lai-Ying’s younger brother Ling Shing-Fung even tries to help them get the company listed on the stock market. Initially, Wing-Ching does not agree with this. After seeing the century-old family print business run by his benefactor Hui Nga-Lun, who helped him get acquitted of a charge years ago, on the verge of bankruptcy, Wing-Ching agrees to Shing-Fung’s proposal by merging the two families’ businesses for mutual benefit. However, complications arise when other family members oppose the idea, and the social inequality between the two families causes more conflicts. Soon, the two families find themselves on the brink of open hostility and a massive war for revenge brews.

  • 区小队
    区小队 (2018)N/A

  • The Passionate Years
    The Passionate Years (2019)N/A

    A group of Chinese scientists return from overseas to contribute to their country’s future. Led by physicist Wang Huaimin, they join China’s first nuclear research institute and overcome immense challenges to develop the nation’s first atomic and hydrogen bombs.

  • 驻店
    驻店 (2025)N/A