The Best TV Shows on CCTV-1

Every CCTV-1 Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Leading the pack on CCTV-1 are CCTV Spring Festival Gala: Crosstalk and Sketch and Journey to the West, with their initial broadcasts in 1983 and 1986. From 1983 through to 2025, CCTV-1 has accumulated a diverse collection of over 20 television shows. Explore our list of the top rated shows up to date from August 2025 that includes over 20 unique series.

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

  • Dream of the Red Chamber
    Dream of the Red Chamber (1987)9.4

    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.

  • The Water Margin
    The Water Margin (1998)9.2

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

  • Northward
    Northward (2025)9.2

    The story revolves around several boys and girls who grew up together along the canal, after leaving to make their own growth, reunite after many years. After experiencing competition and the pressures of life, they rediscover the hope for a new life.

  • The Romance Of Three Kingdoms
    The Romance Of Three Kingdoms (1994)9.1

    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.

  • GG Bond
    GG Bond (2006)9.1

  • CCTV Spring Festival Gala: Crosstalk and Sketch
    CCTV Spring Festival Gala: Crosstalk and Sketch (1983)9.0

  • The Grand Mansion Gate
    The Grand Mansion Gate (2001)8.8

    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 Lifelong Journey
    A Lifelong Journey (2022)8.8

    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.

  • Journey to the West
    Journey to the West (1986)8.4

    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.

  • Judge of Song Dynasty
    Judge of Song Dynasty (2005)8.4

    Stories of a judge who lives in the Song Dynasty of China and familiar with forensic pathology.

  • The Qin Empire
    The Qin Empire (2009)8.3

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

  • Boonie Bears: The Adventurers
    Boonie Bears: The Adventurers (2017)8.3

  • Like a Flowing River
    Like a Flowing River (2018)8.3

    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.

  • Boonie Bears
    Boonie Bears (2012)7.9

    Starring two bears, Briar and Bramble, who continuously try to stop Logger Vick from cutting down trees in their forest. Vick constantly tries to carry out his job as a woodcutter, only to be hilariously outwitted by the bears.

  • The Legend of Bruce Lee
    The Legend of Bruce Lee (2008)6.9

    The story of the legendary martial arts icon Bruce Lee following him from Hong Kong to America and back again, leading up to his tragic death at the age of 32.

  • Six Sisters
    Six Sisters (2025)6.9

    Set in post-revolution China, the He family faces challenges after the passing of their father, He Changsheng. With six daughters navigating love, work, and life’s ups and downs, their shared strength and unity help them uncover the true meaning of family.

  • Love Stories in the Countryside
    Love Stories in the Countryside (2006)5.4

  • Voice
    Voice (2012)N/A

  • China in the Story
    China in the Story (2019)N/A