I would argue that wuxia is a pan-Sinophone genre rather than specific to any particular region. Yes, there are lots of differences between wuxia shows from different regions, but many wuxia fans will watch shows from all regions, mainland shows sometimes star Taiwanese actors, Hong Kong shows sometimes bring in actors from the mainland, Singaporean wuxia is often shot in China due to the lack of appropriate scenery in Singapore itself, etc.

Anyway, while I probably do not have a sufficiently broad enough knowledge of wuxia TV (there are so many ‘classic’ shows I have yet to see), my pick would be ‘A Deadly Secret’ (連城訣). It is a 33-episode show based on a 400-page novel, which means that it has a much simpler plot than most wuxia TV shows, and it tells the story in a slow, methodical manner – which is great for people who do not have such great listening ability. Someone who didn’t know Chinese at all would probably still figure out much of what is going on in that show. Basically, there are a few love triangles (which are no harder to understand than the love triangles in idol shows) and there is a martial arts manual which not only describes Awesome Sword Techniques, but also explains how to find a giant treasure trove, which means lots of greedy people want the manual, and are willing to do horrible things to get it. And the protagonist is totally naive, innocent, and clueless. As long as you understand that much, you can probably follow the story. Really, aside from some historical vocabulary/phrases, it is not harder to understand than the typical idol drama.

Yup, Mars (戰神) was my first idol drama, and it holds a special place in my heart. Of course, the manga was the first shojo manga I really go into way back in high school, so that is another layer of special. And some of 戰神 was filmed in the first neighborhood I lived in in Taiwan.

And ‘Fated to Love You’ also has a special place, not just because it is excellent, but much of it was shot in Taoyuan City/County (as well as Yingge, which is right on the border with Taoyuan City), and that is where I lived for over two years.

About news programmes. I don’t watch these a lot ‘cos to be honest I’m not really interested in current affairs, but although they initially sound difficult, actually the vocabulary used is very standard, very predictable and much repeated. So if you are reading about Syria in the newspaper, then all that same vocab will pop up on the news tonight….and tomorrow night. The vocab is easily reinforced and there’s no slang or local dialect to be worried about. Deadly dry though.

There are a couple of shows on Youtube that I watch from time to time. 1) 非诚勿扰 – the dating programme . This comes in convenient bursts of 15 minutes or so – kinda fun. (There is also a film with the same name starring葛优 － that’s pretty good too).

2) Yang Lan’s talk show杨澜访谈录– she interviews all the big stars, noteworthy people in China – v. interesting.

Your absolutely right Luke, it holds a special place already. I’m already planning to watch it again next year to see how I would have improved by then.