The 20 Best Hong Kong TV dramas

Shady dealings, triad business, violent confrontations, a tragic love triangle, murders, revenge – think of The Bund as a Hong Kong version of The Godfather. Spawning remakes, spinoffs, movies, not to mention Chow Yun-fat's acting career, The Bund is classic HK drama at its finest.

With an all-star cast headed by future Cannes award-winners Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Maggie Cheung Man-yuk, not forgetting Carina Lau and Sean Lau who also have major roles, Police Cadet centres around a group of young police cadets as they grow and develop throughout their training. Of course, they also experience a plethora of tragedy, romance, jealousy, and in later seasons, workplace struggles and dastardly criminals.

With its not so subtle Chinese title that translates as ‘Righteousness doesn’t permit feelings’, this TV drama was lovelorn, emotionally complex, and heart-wrenching. Despite its convoluted plot set over three decades, with its A-list cast – consisting of Felix Wong, Deric Wan, Carina Lau, Kathy Chow Hoi-mei and Maggie Shiu – and masterful storyline, this show is one that's loved by many even to this day.

Spanning from the 1970s to the 1990s, The Greed of Man follows the ruthless Ting family, headed by their patriarch Ting Hai (played by Adam Cheng Siu-chow), as they make their fortune through unscrupulous means. The end of the series, where *spoiler ahead* the Tings lose their fortune and Ting Hai forces his sons to jump off the Hong Kong Stock Exchange building, is famous for having shook Hong Kong audiences to their core.

* Did you know...

This fictional TV series about the stock market seems to have a weird effect on the real one. Stockbrokers and the Hong Kong public have long noticed that ever since The Greed of Man was aired, whenever another TV series or film starring Adam Cheng is released, the stock market suddenly experiences a drop. This is popularly referred to as the Ting Hai effect.

Following a handful of young lawyers, File of Justice has everything from grizzly murder cases to melodramatic personal lives. This addictive TVB serial with slightly comical overtones developed over five seasons into quintessential HK drama viewing. 

With well over 1,000 episodes aired, A Kindred Spirit was one of the longest-running Hong Kong dramas. The show follows the trials and tribulations of the Lee family, who run a small siu mei restaurant headed by Lee Biu-bing, aka Char Siu Bing. It’s your usual hodge podge of life, love, family and all that good stuff, except it goes on forever. But still, Char Siu Bing is, and always will be, one of the most classic characters in the history of Hong Kong TV dramas.

There’s no shortage of remakes and adaptions to this classic Chinese novel, but this is the one that people often remember most fondly – mainly due to Dicky Cheung’s portrayal of Shuen Ng-hung (the monkey king) and how he brilliantly encapsulates the charm and mischief of the character. Add that to the undeniable chemistry between Cheung and the rest of the cast, and you've got yourself a buddy road trip story that will keep you glued to the screen.

Set during the roaring 60s, this rom-com tells the tale of struggling actors Tse Yuen and Lee Kei, and charts their journey (as well as hilarious mishaps) through Hong Kong’s cut-throat film industry back when the burgeoning local movie business was starting to produce its first real icons. Old Time Buddy proved to be so successful that it spawned a sequel by way of Old Time Buddy – To Catch a Thief as well as inspiring the film Those Were the Days.

Following the success of other ATV vampire dramas (namely Vampire Experts 1 and 2), My Date with a Vampire was arguably some of the only work the channel has done that's legitimately competed with the almighty TVB. All but doing away with the Qing-style vampires – stiff hopping and all – My Date with a Vampire went all-out on special effects, action set pieces, and a super-stylised aesthetic reminiscent of the contemporaneous Blade. It may look a little hooky now but at the time, this was badass. Even if the action didn’t appeal, almost everyone was sucked in (pun intended) by the intense love-triangle shared by the leads.

This classic aspirational medical series covered all the expected storylines and emotional tent poles often associated with this kind of drama – life, death, and love. Things flagged towards the end as the show became somewhat creatively bankrupt, but whenever the three leads Paul, Henry, and Gilbert shared a scene, TV gold ensued.

One of Hong Kong’s most well-loved period dramas, Virtues of Harmony is a sitcom that has it all: family drama, romance, plot twists, at times heartwrenching storylines, and character arcs that makes it near impossible to dislike anyone. Think Modern Family, but set roughly during the Ming Dynasty. Hongkongers will remember this series for its silly puns in character and place names, as well as its wildly popular theme song, which they sometimes still make singer and lead actor Nancy Sit perform during big events to this day. A sequel to Virtues of Harmony was made with the same cast and characters, but set in modern Hong Kong – while still entertaining, it is the original series that takes the cake.

Out of TVB’s many, many attempts to make a programme about time travel that’s not complete dross, this is arguably the only one that actually succeeded. Starring Louis Koo and Jessica Hsuan, A Step into the Past follows Hong Siu-lung (Koo), a special agent who’s recruited for a secret time travelling experiment – because the government wanted him to film the coronation of the Yongzheng Emperor in 1722 and they couldn’t think of a better use for time travel – Hong ends up in 250BC in the middle of the Warring States period by accident. Yup, definitely a classic TVB-style storyline.

Having achieved some of the highest viewing figures of any TVB dramas, War of the Genders is one of TVB's best. Starring Carol Cheng and Dayo Wong, the romantic comedy series follows the fortunes of a bickering couple, Miss Mo (Cheng), a sharp-tongued, confident, and classy solicitor, and Yu Lok-tin (Wong), a loud-mouthed paralegal advisor who's also a gambling addict with a pet cockroach. But he's you know, lovable and stuff. Opposites attract!

They say true love overcomes any obstacles, right? Well, at least that what Square Pegs is all about. An endearing tale with a lot of heart, Square Pegs revolves around Choi Fung (Jessica Hsuan) and Ding Seung-wong (Roger Kwok), a man with the mental capacity of a child who Fung is forced to marry. The excellent performances by the two leads made both Hsuan and Kwok a household name. 

The one that everyone knows, in no small part thanks to Eason Chan's theme tune Years like a song (歲月如歌). Triumph in the Skies follows the literal highs and lows on the never-ending rollercoaster that is life in the aviation industry. Featuring not one, but two separate love triangles (one of which could possibly be classified as a love square), the romance is off the charts. The series even provided a surprisingly detailed examination of the industry, from the ground control staff through to the airline chefs. The less said about the sequel, though, the better.

Set in the Qing dynasty, this drama focuses on the power struggles between different royal concubines as they strive to gain the emperor’s attention. With a strong cast featuring Sheren Tang, Maggie Ho Yee Cheung, Gigi Lai, Charmaine Sheh, Moses Chan, and Bowie Lam, War and Beauty perfectly nails the survival of the fittest politicking of the imperial court, and its attendant scheming and back-stabbing that is so often over-wrought in similar dramas.

This 40 episode-long drama featuring an all-star cast was the water-cooler topic back in 2007. Heart of Greed follows the trials and tribulations of the wealthy Tong family, where the patriarch Tong Yan-Gai (Ha Yu) struggles to keep his two wives and four children happy as they fight over status and the family fortune. Think of it as Hong Kong’s answer to Dynasty but with more outbursts and a lot of shouting. The show was so popular that it spawned two spin-off series in 2008 and 2017 – with a majority of the same cast returning but with a completely different storyline. 

Yet another period drama starring Charmaine Sheh, Beyond the Realm of Conscience was blessed with an all-star cast. As young children, Lau Sam-ho (Sheh) and Yiu Kam-ling (Tavia Yeung) enter the palace to work under the Imperial Household Bureau – which manages the internal affairs and activities of the inner palace and the royal family – and eventually get drawn into the schemes and machinations that inevitably arise within the walls of the Forbidden City. As Sam-ho, Prince Lee Yi (Moses Chan), and imperial scholar Ko Hin-yeung (Kevin Cheng) get embroiled in a love triangle, Kam-ling claws her way up the concubine ranks and eventually comes to view her childhood best friend Sam-ho as an adversary as well. A must-watch for the lavish costumes and makeup, if nothing else.

There's no set formula to a successful TV drama, but if we had to find an example, Rosy Business comes close to it. Set in the mid-19th century in eastern China, this historical drama had something for everyone. Whether it's a complicated romance, intense fight scenes, tear-jerking monologues, or butt-clenching cliffhangers – you name it, it's there. As one of TVB's highest-rated series of all time, Rosy Business successfully swept up six awards at the 2009 TVB Anniversary Awards, with the main leads Wayne Lai and Sheren Tang taking home the Best Actor and Best Actress awards.

Line Walker is arguably one of the most successful drama series in Hong Kong. Since the series premiered on TVB in 2014, the crime thriller only grew in popularity following its sequel seasons in 2017 and 2020. The story is riddled with jaw-dropping plot twists, intense fight scenes, and even heartwarming moments that will make you drop a tear or two. To top it off, the Line Walker series stars some of the biggest names in the industry including Michael Miu (苗僑偉), Raymond Lam (林峯), Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼), and many more. The TV series was so successful that it was adapted into a movie of the same, with some of the same characters played by the original cast of the TV drama.