{"id":3596,"date":"2015-05-20T17:22:16","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T09:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/?p=3596"},"modified":"2022-10-02T18:43:58","modified_gmt":"2022-10-02T10:43:58","slug":"10-guilty-pleasure-reality-shows-that-will-help-your-chinese-language-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/10-guilty-pleasure-reality-shows-that-will-help-your-chinese-language-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Guilty Pleasure Reality Shows that Will Help Your Chinese Language Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Watching TV in Chinese is a great way to learn vocabulary that actually sticks in your brain. But if you\u2019re not into historical dramas, then you might find that even watching TV becomes a chore when you\u2019re looking for ways to incorporate Chinese in your daily life. Introducing Chinese Reality TV Shows!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Chinese learner myself, I\u2019ve never really been much a fan of the shows that my Chinese friends are into. The language in these shows is often flowery and idiomatic, too much for my laowai<\/a> brain to handle. I know that forcing myself to watch these shows definitely does help in learning the language, but it just hasn\u2019t been fun. I\u2019ve tried tricking myself into thinking I could get into one, but at the end of the day, especially when I\u2019m tired after work, the last thing I want to do is figure out some complex, melodramatic storyline that requires a deep understanding of the Chinese historical context. I may be a language nerd, but sometimes I wanna just pop open a pint of ice cream and switch my brain off!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I sought out a better way that, as a bonus, also satisfies my guilty pleasure of watching trash TV (that\u2019s right, I admit I watch that nonsense and I like it)! Ever since I arrived in China, production quality has improved exponentially in Chinese TV. I can\u2019t even scoff at the commercials anymore like I used to. Chinese are going pro when it comes to TV and to them, that means going Hollywood. Within the last year or two, many of my top guilty pleasure reality shows like America\u2019s Next Top Model, Top Chef, Road Rules, etc., now have a Chinese equivalent and as icing on the cake, China has upped its production quality so that it looks, feels, sounds just like the Hollywood version. Crying and cat fights included!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had my friend, Chamcen, here at Written Chinese scour the web to find me the highest quality, most exciting, hottest trending Chinese reality TV shows on the web today. Doing the research for this post has been far from a chore! The following TV shows are all available online for free if you are able to search Chinese websites. Here\u2019s a list of Chinese websites that have tons of TV and movies both in Chinese and English. Go ahead and try copying the Chinese name (without the Pinyin) for the TV shows below into these sites to get watching:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.youku.com\/<\/a>
http:\/\/www.hunantv.com\/<\/a>
http:\/\/www.iqiyi.com\/<\/a>
http:\/\/www.tudou.com\/ <\/a>
http:\/\/www.pptv.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having trouble accessing the Chinese websites? We\u2019ve uploaded some of the episodes to the Written Chinese YouTube channel<\/a> to get you started watching right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn this Chinese word! Reality Show = \u771f\u4eba\u79c0<\/a> (zh\u0113nr\u00e9n xi\u00f9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, listed in order of how popular these TV shows are in China, let\u2019s get cooking with the top 10 picks for Chinese Reality TV that you\u2019re actually gonna have to admit you love\u2026
 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u82b1\u513f\u4e0e\u5c11\u5e74 Divas Hit the Road<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Closest Show Equivalent: I\u2019m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! + The Amazing Race<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Diva's<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n


What do you get when you take 5 female Chinese celebrities and 2 male Chinese celebrities then make them travel abroad without their credit cards? Some good trash TV, that\u2019s what. Watch as this group of normally pampered stars, race around the world on a shoestring. It\u2019s funny, entertaining and addictive even for new Chinese learners. Plus, you\u2019ll even get a brain break when they\u2019re forced to use their English skills abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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