The Best TV Shows on CCTV-8

In 1916, Chu Shaohua marries Chen Dashun, the eldest son of the Chen family’s pharmacy, to save her brother. With integrity and sharp business skills, she earns the respect of Chen’s father and becomes the manager. After the sudden deaths of Chen’s father and Dashun, the pharmacy passes to Chen Ershun, who squanders the family fortune, driving it to ruin. Through hardship, Chu Shaohua establishes Huashun Pharmacy to support the family. Just as she plans to start a new life with her first love, Xia Chu, Chen Ershun and his mother block her path. When bandits raid the Chen household, Chu loses her daughter and, devastated, leaves for Shanghai. There, her outstanding performance at Yongxin Department Store draws the attention of business talent Wen Zhiqiu, who invites her to co-found a new venture. Step by step, she rises to become a bold and trustworthy woman entrepreneur.

Di Renjie is Tang dynasty magistrate and statesman, who investigates mysterious murders.

In 1997, before the anti-drug bureau was established, Halan City in Northeast China formed a temporary elite team to tackle a sudden drug crisis. Despite their skills, they are unfamiliar with new drugs and must confront ruthless traffickers and devious smuggling methods while grappling with moral dilemmas and the tests of justice and humanity. United by their courage and determination, they create a stirring legend of fighting crime and corruption.

A comedy about some friends and their stories in Qixia Town.

Set against the backdrop of massive economic growth in the 1990s, the story follows A Bao, a self-made millionaire and his journey from being a young opportunist with a troubled past to accumulating dazzling wealth in the city of Shanghai. It also follows his entanglement with four women who represent the pursuits of his life: adventure, honour, love and innocence.

Kangxi Dynasty is a 2001 Chinese television series based on the novel Kangxi Da Di by Eryue He. The series is a prequel to the 1997 television series Yongzheng Dynasty, and was followed by Qianlong Dynasty in 2002.

20 years of perseverance, hot-blooded teenagers finally become the people's hero.

Zhang Qing, a present-day college student in culture and history major wants to study in professor Ye's postgraduate class, so he decides to write a historical fiction to elaborate his perspective of analyzing ancient literature history with modern concept. In the fiction, Zhang himself acts as a young man Fan Xian with mysterious life who lives in a remote seaside town of Kingdom Qing in his childhood, under the help of a mysterious mentor and a blindfolded watchman. Fan goes to the capital when he grows up, where he experiences plenty of ordeal and temper. Fan persists in adhering the rule of justice and goodness and lives his own glorious life.

"Legend of Zang Hai" follows the son of Imperial Astronomer Kuai Duo. Consumed by vengeance, he spends a decade honing his skills. Assuming the name Zang Hai, he ventures into the capital to uncover the truth, avenge his family, and restore justice.

Li Lian Hua is a countryside doctor who travels dragging around a lotus tower. He accidentally becomes "famous" and gets pulled into the pugilistic world that he no longer wants to have any connections with.

Nanotechnology researcher Wang Miao is taken to the Joint Operations Center by police officer Shi Qiang, who's investigating the mysterious suicide wave among scientists worldwide, and recruited to sneak into an organization called the Frontiers of Science to help the investigation. When Wang Miao is contacted by the leader of the organization, Shen Yufei, she introduces him to a sophisticated VR video game called Three-Body, but soon he discovers that it's more than just a game.

Lu Yiping, one of many children of a retired general with nine wives, is banished from her family home due to Wang Xueqin. Driven by resentment, she plots revenge by targeting her stepsister's love interest, He Shuhuan. But as Yiping navigates life with her mother, she unexpectedly finds forgiveness and love through the people she meets, transforming her journey of vengeance into one of self-discovery and healing.

Xu Qi’an, a recent police academy graduate, awakens in a strange world filled with Confucians, Taoists, Buddhists, demons, and warlocks. Facing imminent exile to a remote frontier town, he seizes the chance to change his fate by joining a powerful organization of guardians.

Born into a scholarly family, Huang Yimei grows up surrounded by care and affection, displaying artistic talent from a young age. Early in her career, she quickly gains recognition and meets her partner, Zhuang Guodong. They fall in love but eventually drift apart. This period of professional growth gives her a clearer vision for her future, leading her to return to school for further education. After graduation, she marries her senior, Fang Xiewen. However, their divergent career paths lead to a divorce. Huang Yimei then starts her own business and makes a name for herself in the planning for art exhibitions. During this time, she meets her soulmate, Fu Jiaming, but their love story ends tragically with his passing just a few months later. Despite this, Huang Yimei remains resilient, continuing to strive for a more fulfilling life.

The story follows Li Shande, a man deceived by his colleagues and demoted from his supervisory role. Now forced to become the “Lychee Envoy,” he faces a near-impossible mission to deliver fresh lychees from Lingnan to Chang’an as a birthday gift for the Noble Consort. The saying goes that lychees change color in one day, lose their fragrance in two, and their flavor in three days. With more than 5,000 li between Lingnan and Chang’an, and under tight deadlines with limited resources, how can he possibly pull it off?

Mai Chenghuan, a post-95 girl born into an ordinary family in Shanghai, agrees to marry her boyfriend, Xin Jialiang, under her mother’s urging. However, the economic gap between them creates an imbalance in their relationship, ultimately leading to its end. Mai Chenghuan then gains her grandmother's approval and is entrusted with the heavy responsibility of managing a hotel. Through cooperation, Mai Chenghuan and the professional hotel manager Yao Zhiming become working partners and go hand in hand. Mai Chenghuan transitions from being under her family's control to achieving self-fulfillment, forging her own path.

Five independent career women living in the Ode to Joy apartment building navigate love, ambition, and personal growth as they chase fulfillment on their own terms. From a successful businesswoman returning from New York to a small-town girl trying to make it in the big city, each faces unique challenges and romantic entanglements while discovering who they truly want to be.

The Drive of Life is a 2007 grand production drama by TVB and CCTV as a joint production. It was specially filmed to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong back to China from Britain during the period of 1997-2007. The theme of the series revolves around the automobile industry in China. Told in flashback from 1994, the ups and downs and transformations that Hong Kong has been experiencing before and after the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong is used as a narrative device. The series was filmed in Hong Kong, Beijing, Ningbo and Vancouver from early October 2006 until May 2007. The automobiles featured in the series are from Geely Automobile, as a fictional brand name "Hua-Zhe". This film ties with TVB drama "War and Beauty" for the record of having the most "Best Actress" winners, where Jessica Hsuan, Charmaine Sheh, Sheren Tang and Myolie Wu won their respective "Best Actress" awards in 1999, 2006, 2009/2010, and 2011.