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9 Popular Video Platforms in China | Chinese Version Of Youtube

Nowadays some Chinese video websites are not only trying to become the YouTube alternative but also trying to become the Netflix alternative in China, so you can see some websites are doing very complicated content businesses.

Related Topic:   How to watch YouTube in China?

However, there are some video websites developed by Chinese companies which are kind of looked like, or once trying to become, the Chinese version of YouTube and some of them play a crucial role, greatly affecting the daily lives of many Chinese.

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2. Bilibili

4. 56 video, 6. tencent video, 7. sohu video, 9. baidu video, faq: about the chinese version of youtube.

I think YouKu once was the closest one to becoming the Chinese version of YouTube. From its name, we can tell that YouKu was initially targeting to become a video platform like YouTube and I have to admit that YOUKU once was so close to it.

However, as more and more big companies started to get involved in the video platform market, the dominant status of YOUKU was greatly challenged, from the top one to nowadays around the third to fourth position.

Still, YouKu is one of the most powerful video platforms in China. Their video content is solid and rich. If this is your first time visiting China and having trouble accessing YouTube, you should take a look at the YouKu which can give you a basic picture of what types of content are Chinese favorites, gaining more insight into the daily life of modern Chinese.

YouKu provides some quality original entertainment shows, the most popular ones like “Street Dance of China”, and “Dunk of China”. Also, possessing numerous copyrights of film and TV series is another strength of YOUKU, you can watch almost all kinds of domestic TV shows, series, and movies on YOUKU.

Just like YouTube, YOUKU values and encourages users to create more and more personal channels and produce creative video content, so you also can find various interesting Chinese-style entertainment content, which could remind you a bit shadow of YouTube.  

Nowadays, Bilibili is certainly the Chinese version of Youtube in my opinion. This is a video website that is truly impressing me, not only because the user engagement is super well, but also because there are ZERO ads during the video watching, there are literally ZERO ads. Even on YouTube, you sometimes have to suffer some tedious ads for a few seconds, but in Bilibili, you don’t.

In my opinion, the main reason that Bilibili can be so successful is that Bilibili always sticks with its own style. Part of the reason that the “Second Dimension” culture is so hot in China is because of the content production from Bilibili.

Every day numerous Chinese younger generations are consistently creating various anime-culture-related content which is the main area in which Bilibili got involved from the very beginning. After years of development, Bilibili has truly built up a tide bond with its users and made a quality reputation in the industry, making lots of users with different preferences and hobbies more willing to come to this platform.

Bilibili nowadays has become one of the most diversified video platforms in China, attracting numerous young people to spend tons of time on it, including generation Z in China.

(If you want to know about Generation Z in China, feel free to check my article:  https://letschinese.com/chinese-generation-z/  )

Still, anime-related contents are the main strength of Bilibili. If you’re looking for anime videos in China, you definitely should go visit Bilibili because you can find almost every mainstream anime contents from all over the world.

Except for the YouKu, TuDou was another promising website that could become the Chinese version of Youtube.

Ten years ago, three main platforms are fighting for the champion of the Chinese video market, which includes YOUKU, 56, and TUDOU. I remember that almost all video content were offered by those three platforms at the time and TUDOU, in my opinion, was once the No.1, being listed on NASDAQ in 2011 and valuing more than 8 hundred million dollars.

However, as its competitor, YouKu, became stronger and stronger, Tudou chose to not face the competition but seek for cooperation. In 2013, TUDOU and YOUKU officially announced the enterprise merger, naming YouTudou video company. The two video platforms were still operated independently, but the power of YOUKU kept spreading to TUDOU and eventually destroyed it.

In 2017, TuDou was officially transformed into a short video platform, which means you can’t find creative and helpful solid content but some tedious lame entertainment short videos. If you visit TuDou nowadays, you still can find some interesting videos, but the quality is extremely affected.

My very memorable video website and I can surely tell you that it did have the potential to become the Chinese version of Youtube. Under the furious competition between YOUKU and TUDOU, 56 were always keeping low and playing their role in the industry.

56 Video platform, at the time, was using the theme color of YouTube, which reminded a lot of YouTube, and people loved to upload videos to 56 Video platform because of its friendly user experience, creating their own channels. When I was a high school student, I fell in love with street dance and I could find tons of excellent street dance videos on 56, which was so benefiting me.

What is funny is that 56 Video didn’t well manage its rich video contents at the time, which is gradually causing lots of negative content appearances. Until one day, the MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) asked them to immediately rectify and started serious punishments, causing 56 to lose most users and greatly affecting the reputation of 56 Video.

Nowadays, People seldom talk about 56 Video platforms. There are no many things to watch but some video contents are highly duplicated, lacking creative and original content.

In my opinion, AcFun is supposed to be another, except for Bilibili, a Chinese video website that can be called the Chinese version of YouTube nowadays. However, things are greatly different.

Likewise, AcFun is not putting any advertisements in their video content, which is also the main reason that AcFun once was so popular in China. Just like the story between YouKu and TuDou, AcFun is defeated by its main powerful opponent, Bilibili.

The strategy that AcFun was using for the website development was quite similar to the Bilibili one, focusing on providing an excellent user experience and choosing anime-related content as its main area.

However, one of the biggest mistakes that AcFun was committed to be that it’s too focusing on pushing users to create content and ignoring the importance of copyright fighting for various TV series, anime series, and cinematic resources from third-party companies.

Later on, users soon figured out that there were fewer and less popular series and show in AcFun so they transferred to another platform called Bilibili, which possesses more copyrights and more resources. AcFun is no longer a powerful opponent to Bilibili. Once I’ve heard AcFun was struggling with its serious financial issue but luckily it survives now.

Last month (August 2019), AcFun just announce a 5 hundred million RMB investment in the original content production, encouraging people to work with the AcFun platform and hoping can regain some of the markets in China.

I know when talking about Tencent Video, it will remind you of Netflix, not Youtube. But you know what, Tencent Video has also been putting lots of resources on developing and looking for talented content creators. Except for those contents generated and brought by Tencent, there are also many different personal channels you can follow.

We all know Tencent is big in China. Many years ago, Tencent didn’t invest a lot in the video platform business, but as the mobile devices and the mobile network became more and more mature, Tencent realized the opportunity and started to get involved in the video platform building.

With crazy investment and its powerful social network platforms like WeChat and QQ, Tencent video soon grew to be one of the most popular video platforms. Nowadays, Tencent video is the top 3 video platform in China.

You can find many quality TV shows produced by TENCENT and imported from overseas and creative user-generated content. Although its user experience level is still far away from YouTube, I’m sure you will find things that make you feel worthy to visit. 

Just like Tencent Video, SoHu Video also will make people think it’s not the Chinese version of Youtube but the Chinese version of Netflix. However, what you might not know is that SoHu Video actually is possessing many different personal channels and has been consistently encouraging people to become content creators, which is pretty similar to Tencent Video.

SoHu once mainly focused on providing various US TV shows and series, attracting many young Chinese users who are big fans of “Big Bang Theory”, “House of Cards”, “Breaking Bad”, and so on. The road to success seemed very clear to SoHu video at the time until China decided to limit content from overseas and help develop the domestic film & TV industry.

SoHu was hit so hard and immediately changed to invest in more original content creators, trying to stop the losing market share. I can’t say that the above accidence is the cause for SoHu never re-gaining its prime ever again, but it’s definitely one of the main reasons.

Although nowadays we can watch US TV shows in SoHu again, the experience is never the same regarding the quantity and quality. Other platforms like iQiYi and Tencent Video are offering a lot more versatile content as well.

Once targeting to replace YouKu by mainly producing entertainment content, KU6 did make a buzz in the market. I remember there were lots of unique resources that only could be found in KU6.

Established in 2006, KU6 video platform, just like other ones, was targeting to become the Chinese version of YouTube, offering Chinese users a broad range of contents including news, entertainment sports, user-generated content, and so on.

In 2007, KU6 reached a business cooperation deal with Baidu and receiving 10 million US dollars from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and DT Capital Partners. At the time, most of the videos posted on the KU6 are short-form videos submitted via users and were doing very well.

However, as KU6 was received the license issued by SARFT and then founded the “KU6 Media Theater” in 2010, KU6’s YouTube dream was gradually distracting, becoming a Netflix and Hulu-liked the website.

I’m not sure this transformation is a successful one. At least today, I don’t see KU6 have any competitiveness in the market. If you go visit the KU6 website now, you will just see another short video platform, nothing impressive.

Possessing the most powerful search engine in China, Baidu always wants to have a website like Youtube, just like Google. Unfortunately, Baidu never gets even close to having one.

Baidu has been invested a lot in content generation whether it is written content or video content, but it seems Baidu never got the talent, or luck, to be successful in the content business even though it’s possessing a powerful search engine.

For now, Baidu does have a video website called Baidu video, but it’s really an unpopular one. Its original purpose is to integrate all video content from different platforms, making Baidu video the ultimate video platform for Chinese users.

However, none of the video platforms is stupid enough to join this kind of agreement to help Baidu become “too big to fall”, which causes Baidu not only to have no way to access those quality original content but also haven’t generated a lot of contents from its own platform.

Regarding the user experience or content quality, Baidu has almost no threat to those successful ones like Bilibili, Youku, Tencent Video, etc.

It’s not illegal watching YouTube in China. It’s just because Youtube is blocked in China, you need to find a way to access YouTube. Using a VPN to unblock YouTube is certainly the best way and it’s legal in China.

TikTok is not available in China but users in China can download a twin app called Douyin, which has totally the same function and is also developed by Bytedancee.

According to the Netflix help center, Netflix is not available in China , Crimea, North Korea, Russia, and Syria. But Netflix is available for streaming in over 190 countries and its library of TV shows and movies varies based on the country and will change from time to time.

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The 8 most popular online video platforms in China

Online video in China is getting more and more popular nowadays because young people, especially the 00s, have established the habit of paying for subscriptions.

That’s why it provides a huge market for online video consumption.

Many directors and actors from the Chinese civil society have also been given great opportunities to make online movies and sell them on video platforms to make money, also for teams or individuals from outside China who want to join the Chinese video marketing market, don’t miss the video platforms mentioned in today’s article.

So let’s get into the introduction of online video platforms in China.

Membership fee: 6 yuan/month for the first month, 19 yuan/month from the second month

iQIYI is a popular online TV software in China. Like other online TVs, iQIYI also has online resources such as movies, TV series, animation, and so on. In addition, iQIYI has another highlight—Variety Shows’ channel, which is exceptionally outstanding. In this channel, U Can U BiBi, Talk show Conference, and other debate programs are loved more by countless young people. Therefore, they can not only have fun by watching these programs but also learn many speaking skills.

You can install the iQIYI app on your mobile phone to watch all kinds of online videos anywhere at any time, or you can simply watch them on the computer webpage. iQIYI’s interface design is quite good both in the web version and the mobile version.  You can easily search for the content you want to watch, and most of the videos are free!

Tencent Video 腾讯视频

In China, many young people refer to Tencent as the Penguin Factory for short because Tencent’s logo is a small penguin and its employees are quite many, reaching nearly 30,000, so it makes people feel that it is a penguin factory. For Chinese people, Tencent’s products QQ and WeChat have become an indispensable part of their lives. The reason is that most of the current social interactions are mainly based on QQ and WeChat.

Tencent Video is an online video platform launched by Tencent in 2011. Like QQ and WeChat, Tencent Video is also loved by many people. Compared with iQIYI, the videos Tencent Video provides have a wider range, even including hot current affairs and other news. It can be used not only for having fun but also for learning about national affairs.

In addition, Tencent Video updates its movies and TV series fast. Many newly released movies and TV series can be found on it. What is disappointing is that if you don’t have a Tencent Video membership account, you will see ads with a length of nearly 100 seconds. It is a test of your patience.

Tencent wetv

As a huge company who want to open the international market, Tencent has developed another video platform for people outside of China, its wetv.vip.

Just keep the domain in mind, it’s different with wetv.com, wetv.vip is other verison of v.qq.com, you can switch to different languages, such as English, Thailand, Simple Chinese, Indonesian, and with different video subtitles.

Membership fee: 8 yuan/month for the first month, 19 yuan/month from the second month

Youku is a video platform owned by the Great Youku Business Team of Alibaba Culture and Entertainment Group.  Youku has the most powerful video resource storehouse, where you can easily find the video you want to watch, and its online playback speed is quite good.

Compared with the videos on iQIYI and Tencent Video, Youku’s videos have a higher definition of image quality. Someone compared the movie scene played in this software with the one played in the other two software mentioned above and found that Youku’s image quality is better. In addition, Youku’s membership fees are relatively low.

Mango TV 芒果TV

Membership fee: 9 yuan/month for the first 3 months, 15 yuan/month from the 4th month

Mango TV is the only online video platform under the command of Golden Eagle Broadcasting System. The platform has many advantages and some disadvantages. The advantage is that its interface is very clean and tidy, so it is very comfortable for its users to use. This is unmatched by other platforms.

Since Mango TV is owned by the Golden Eagle Broadcasting System, it has most of Hunan Satellite TV’s resources, but the other aspects of its content are limited. For those who like Hunan Satellite TV, this is quite friendly, but for those users who want to watch a wide range of genres, it is not so practical. Moreover, the pop-up ads on Mango TV that appear at any time will make you feel annoyed.

Membership fee: 15 yuan/month for a continuous monthly subscription

Bilibili, also known as B Site(B站), is a well-known video bullet screen website. On it, there are the timeliest animation new updates, the best ACG atmosphere, and the most creative Uploaders, and everyone can have a lot of joy here. Now bilibili is one of the birthplaces of many trendy internet slang words.

The biggest feature of bilibili is the real-time comment function that allows comments to fly across the screen, and its fans call it “bullet screen”. This unique video-viewing experience allows the internet-based instant bullet screen to transcend the limitations of time and space, creating a wonderful synchronic relationship and forming a virtual tribal video-watching atmosphere, so that bilibili can be a trendy cultural entertainment community for so much interaction and sharing as well as secondary creation.

Watermelon Video 西瓜视频

Membership fee: Hollywood membership price: 5 yuan/month, 12 yuan for 3 months, 42 yuan/year

Watermelon Video is a personalized video-recommending platform under the command of ByteDance. Based on artificial intelligence algorithms, it recommends short videos to its users. It can let its users get the short videos that meet their tastes every time they refresh the page.

Short videos are very suitable to watch during fragmented scenes, such as commuting, waiting for people, and taking a break.  They are light-loaded, interesting, and efficient with great attraction and breaks the traditional leisure modes of texts, images, games, and so on.

Of course, in addition to short videos, Watermelon Video also has movies and TV series, with a variety of popular products in the world, from Masha and the Bear  to Dracula  of the UK, Lost in Russia  and Crazy Alien  of the mainland and numerous other popular high-reputation films and TV series.

Sohu Video 搜狐视频

Membership fee: 9.9 yuan/month for the first month, 15 yuan/month from the second month

Sohu Video is a professional comprehensive video website owned by Sohu, providing genuine high-definition movies, TV series, variety shows, documentaries, cartoons, etc. It has two highlights.

First, Sohu Video has purchased the copyrights of many American TV series, which you can’t download from other websites but there. This is something great for those who love American TV series.

Second, under the circumstances that large numbers of self-made web dramas sprout up, Sohu Video does not do things blindly or take abusive action. Instead, it presents Sohu Video’s web drama boutique platform’s unique self-made positioning, and every drama it produces has a strong Sohu flavor.

Membership fee: 19 yuan/month, 15 yuan/month for a continuous monthly subscription

LeTV, formerly known as Le Web, is a relatively comprehensive online TV video platform. Each of its videos has a simple opening and fewer ads, which can improve its user experience. LeTV’s sports channel live broadcast has such a wide range of copyrighted programs that it has gained many fans who love sports. The commentary of its sports programs is remarkable: It is professional and humorous.

LeTV has sufficient film and TV series resources. It has launched its own web series, which you can’t watch on other online TVs. In addition, you can also find its mall entrance in its video for shopping. Since you can watch videos and go shopping, you kill two birds with one stone.

However, LeTV also has some shortcomings. For example, some quite popular TV series can’t be found here. In addition, the membership fees of LeTV are a bit high, so you had better choose your right platform according to your needs.

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Top 20 Online Video-On-Demand (VOD) Platforms in Asia [2023]

December 2, 2023 /

What is a VOD Platform?

A platform that allows users to access video content with their time preferences. Without any schedule, you can watch content anywhere from any device. Users will have complete control to pause, fast forward content. Example: Netflix, Disney+ are a few of the top VOD platforms.

Video on demand (VoD) services is ushering in an era of convenience for the digital consumer. These are newer, sometimes much more affordable, alternatives to cable entertainment. Connectivity allows consumers to shift to VOD platforms, without sacrificing quality content.

Now, all eyes are on Asia as it’s predicted to be the main driver of growth in the VOD industry. Here’s a list of the best VoD platforms used among Asians.

Table of Contents:

Analysis of vod platform market trends, successful content strategies of vod platforms, top video-on-demand platforms from china, top video-on-demand platforms from southeast asia, top video-on-demand platforms from india, top video-on-demand platforms from south korea, other video-on-demand platforms, how to build your own video on demand platform.

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Build Your Own VOD Platform With VdoCipher

Vdocipher helps several VOD Platforms to host their videos securely, helping them to boost their video revenues.

The Video-on-Demand (VOD) platform market in Asia is characterized by rapid growth and diversity. Key factors driving this growth include:

• High Internet Penetration and Mobile Usage – Asia’s large and growing internet user base, coupled with high mobile device penetration, provides a fertile ground for VOD services.
• Diverse Consumer Preferences – Asian audiences have varied content preferences, leading to a demand for a wide range of genres and languages. This diversity encourages VOD platforms to offer a mix of international, regional, and local content.
• Rise of Local Players – Unlike Western markets dominated by global giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime, Asia sees strong competition from local players like iQiyi in China, Hotstar in India, and Iflix in Southeast Asia, which offer content tailored to local tastes.
• Original Content Production – Following the global trend, Asian VOD platforms are increasingly investing in original content to differentiate themselves and attract subscribers.
• Technological Innovation – Adoption of advanced technologies such as AI for personalized content recommendation and high-quality streaming capabilities (like 4K) is becoming a standard among Asian VOD services.
• Regulatory Environment – The regulatory landscape in Asia varies significantly across countries, affecting the operation and content strategy of VOD platforms, particularly in terms of censorship and local content quotas.
• Monetization Models – There’s a mix of monetization strategies in the Asian VOD market, including subscription-based models, ad-supported content, and pay-per-view options, catering to the varied economic capabilities of the audience.
• Partnerships and Collaborations – Strategic partnerships between VOD platforms and telecom providers, content creators, and other tech firms are common, aimed at expanding content libraries and improving service delivery.
• Challenges – Key challenges include content piracy, intense competition, and infrastructural limitations in certain regions.

• Local Content Creation – Platforms like Hotstar in India and iQiyi in China focus heavily on local content. For example, Hotstar streams popular Indian cricket leagues and iQiyi produces Chinese dramas, aligning with regional tastes.
• Original Programming – Netflix and Amazon Prime have set a trend in producing original content. Netflix’s investment in original content reached $17 billion in 2020, leading to hits like “Stranger Things”.
• Data-Driven Content Development – Platforms use viewer data to inform content creation. Netflix’s recommendation algorithm, for instance, plays a crucial role in retaining viewers by suggesting highly personalized content.
• Diverse Genre Representation – Successful platforms offer a wide range of genres, from drama to reality shows, catering to diverse preferences.
• International Expansion with Localized Content – Netflix’s strategy includes localizing content and interface for different regions, and producing local originals like “Sacred Games” in India and “Kingdom” in South Korea.
• Partnerships for Content Acquisition – Collaborations with local and international studios help platforms like Amazon Prime and Hulu expand their content libraries.

1.  Youku Tudou

Countries: China

The most populous nation in the world occupies almost half (47%) of Asia’s video on demand (VOD) market. Yet the Chinese don’t turn to global brands such as Netflix and YouTube. They stream on local websites, one of which is Youku Tudou.

Founded in September 2005, Youku Tudou started as China’s version of YouTube. E-commerce giant Alibaba acquired the company later on in 2016. It has seen tremendous growth since then, clocking in 500 million users monthly.

The video on-demand platform allows users to view, search, and share videos through many devices. It has a vast video library—from TV dramas, music videos, interviews, and the like. Like Netflix, it also offers a subscription service for its video content.

Pros – Extensive library of local content; user-friendly interface. Cons – Limited international content; some issues with streaming quality. User Review – “Popular for its wide variety of Chinese content, but some users report issues with buffering.”

Platforms: Web, iOS, Android, PC, Smart TV Countries: China

Iqiyi is also one of China’s top video-on-demand platforms. Baidu, China’s largest search engine company, launched Iqiyi in April 2010. It is currently the largest VOD platform in terms of hours spent, nearly 6 billion hours per month. The video-on-demand website also amasses 500 million active users monthly.

Iqiyi offers a hybrid freemium and subscription model. Their users can watch videos free of charge, although these are not free of ads. Premium subscribers, on the other hand, have access to ad-free video streaming, as well as exclusive releases. The streaming site also established entertainment production companies to create their video content.

Users of the VOD platform also have access to graphic novels, online games, and merchandise from the company’s intellectual property.

Pros – Large selection of Chinese dramas and movies; high-quality original content. Cons – Subscription required for premium content; ad-heavy in free version. User Review – “Highly praised for its original series, but ads can be intrusive.”

3. Tencent Video

Tencent Video is also leading China’s video-on-demand pack. Tencent, the makers of messaging services WeChat and QQ, created this subscription service in April 2011. The VOD platform has 62.59 million paid subscribers as of February 2018. It also reached 137 million daily active users in the fourth quarter of 2017.

VOD streaming service attributes its massive success to its commitment to delivering high-quality content. Their self-commissioned programs consist of TV drama series, movies, variety shows, and more; which contributed to users watching more hours on the website. Its comprehensive library also contained exclusive HBO content—the only one in China—so subscribers can get caught up with well-beloved shows like Game of Thrones.

Pros – Exclusive content, including popular Chinese TV shows and movies. Cons – Some content is region-locked; occasional app glitches. User Review – “Appreciated for its exclusive content, but some international users face access issues.”

Way before Netflix delivered the video on-demand experience, LeTV was first. Released in 2004, it is now one of the largest online companies in China, currently valued at US$6.43 billion.

LeTV provides an extensive library with over 100,000 TV episodes and 5,000 film titles. It specializes in film and television drama, both from local and international productions. The video on demand (VOD) platform offers free, ad-supported content, subscription options, and pay-per-view content.

Pros – Offers both Chinese and international content; good streaming quality. Cons – Subscription model can be confusing; occasional server downtimes. User Review – “Good mix of content but some complaints about customer service.”

Platforms: Web, iOS, Android Countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives

More Asian VOD platforms, particularly in Southeast Asia, are getting a hold of the emerging middle-class population. Like Iflix: it prides itself on delivering high-quality content in developing markets. This approach gained them 15 million subscribers since it started in 2015.

Iflix has a vast library of local and international entertainment available for streaming and downloading. It uses a localized model not only for content, as they adapt their payment options depending on the country. Philippine users, for example, can pay through prepaid data instead of using a credit card service. It also lets you watch videos on demand for one low monthly fee, along with 30 days of unlimited VIP access.

Pros – Strong selection of local and Hollywood content; affordable pricing. Cons – Limited availability in regions outside Southeast Asia. User Review – “Known for its affordability and local content, but has a smaller library compared to global giants.”

Entertainment companies Sony Pictures Entertainment and WarnerMedia, and Singaporean telecom Singtel released the video on-demand service in 2016. It is the market leader in highly-populated Indonesia, amassing 20% active app users in the country.

Aside from a proportional yet vast amount of local and foreign releases, what makes HOOQ stand out is its “sachet pricing”. It will be the first to launch daily pricing options for as low as US$0.25. The VOD platform also offers a freemium, ad-free option for its subscribers. Customers can watch the first episode of all TV series for free.

Pros – Good selection of local and international shows and movies; affordable. Cons – Discontinued service in 2020. User Review – “Was popular in Southeast Asia for its range and price, but ceased operations.”

Platforms: Web, iOS, Android Countries: Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand

With the recent global interest in Korean culture, one must surf through the K-waves: and Viu offers that. Hong Kong telecom PCCW released the service in October 2015. Since then, it has gained 16 million monthly active users as of April 2018.

The VOD platform is a treasure trove of Kdramas, as well as other original Asian content. Episodes first released on cable TV are uploaded hours after the telecast, complete with accurate subtitles. You can use the video on-demand service for free, although these are ad-supported. Premium subscribers, on the other hand, get extra features such as watching in HD.

Pros – Excellent source for Korean dramas; timely updates. Cons – Limited content variety outside of Korean shows. User Review – “Highly recommended for K-drama fans, though some desire more diverse content.”

Viki is a video on demand website founded in Singapore in 2007. Rakuten Group of Companies acquired Viki three years after, joining big tech giants such as Viber and Lyft. Following the deal, the service garnered 35 million monthly active users.

The service differentiates itself from making the Asian experience global and communal. Although users can access it from anywhere in the world, its library is primarily Asian. Unlike most streaming services that are more for solitary binging, the VOD platform emphasizes the fan experience. Viki users can create “fan collections”, also building communities by allowing fans to interact with each other through timed comments. Plus, they have a LEARN mode that allows users to pick up the languages of the content they’re watching.

Pros – Wide variety of international content; community-subtitled shows. Cons – Some content is region-locked; ads in free version. User Review – “Fans enjoy the community features and content variety but dislike the ads and region restrictions.”

9. Catchplay

Launched in early 2013, Catchplay is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming company based in Taiwan. Its VOD platform reached around one million subscribers, making it one of the most popular digital movie channels in Taiwan.

Users can access Catchplay through transactional and subscription videos on demand . Aside from having an unlimited-use film library that provides detailed browsing information, Catchplay has a rental service for newer movies. It also allows easy-switching of viewing devices without interruption. Users can watch for free, while premium subscribers can pay US$9.50 monthly.

Pros – Strong library of movies; user-friendly interface. Cons – Limited selection of TV shows; mainly focused on movies. User Review – “Movie lovers appreciate its collection, but some desire more TV series.”

OONA is an advertising-centered VOD platform created in 2017, allowing users to watch TV for free. Its recent partnership with communications giant Telkom Indonesia allows 185 million Indonesians to have subscription-less content.

OONA tags itself as the “YouTube of TV”. It’s free, with no subscription nor data needed. Viewers can watch their favorite show when they want, how they want, without commitments. One of its unique selling points is a virtual currency called coins, which can be redeemed for Telcom Indonesian products and other goods.

Pros – Free to use; includes a unique virtual currency system. Cons – Limited content selection; primarily Indonesian content. User Review – “Appreciated for being free, but with a limited and niche content library.”

11.  Hotstar

A significant chunk of the Asian video on demand market in India, in which streaming users ballooned to 49.8 million in 2018. One of the huge players in the Indian VOD scene is Hotstar. Their humongous success is evident in the first 40 days of its launch, as they have amassed 10 million app downloads. Hotstar is a VOD platform that offers live video streaming, hence the record-breaking number of users in the app. This allows the users to watch live sports such as cricket, the Premier League, and Formula 1 with ease.

It also provides Bollywood content, alongside American shows and blockbusters. Users have the option to browse a huge amount of ad-supported content for free or choose premium membership plans which are monthly recurring.

Pros – Extensive range of Indian content; includes live sports streaming. Cons – Streaming quality can vary; geo-restrictions outside India. User Review – “Highly popular in India, especially for cricket streaming, but users outside India face access issues”

12. Eros Now

Platforms: Web, iOS, Android, Smart TV (Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Google Chromecast) Countries: Worldwide (based in India)

Probably one of the oldest in this list, Eros Now is India’s go-to VOD platform ever since August 2004. It prides itself in having the widest range of music and movies in several Indian languages. Currently, they have 100 million registered users and 7.9 million paying subscribers.

While local competitor Hotstar specializes in sports, Eros Now is a gold mine for music videos. Alongside these MVs was the vast content of Bollywood movies (over 10,000!), letting anyone from the world access Indian entertainment. The service has the basic option which allows you to watch unlimited music videos, music, movie trailers, and shorts for free. Premium users, on the other hand, have the access to unlimited movies and TV shows and more video on demand.

Pros – Vast Bollywood content library; includes music videos. Cons – Occasional streaming issues; user interface can be improved. User Review – “Bollywood fans love the content selection, though some report technical glitches.”

Voot is the video on demand arm of Indian channel Viacom 18. Coming from one of India’s largest growing media networks, it aims to deliver fresh content. It has 32 million active monthly users, spending an average of 50 minutes per day.

Users can search from Voot’s library containing 45,000 hours, which includes TV shows, films, cartoons, and originals from MTV, Nickelodeon, and more. The best part of this VOD platform? It’s free.

Pros – Wide range of Indian content; includes shows from Viacom 18. Cons – Ad-supported; some content only available in India. User Review – “Popular for Indian TV shows and movies, but ads can be a downside.”

14.  Watcha Play

Watcha Play is a subscription VOD platform that rolled out last January 2016. It has been gaining traction in the Korean video on demand market, having 640,000 subscribers so far.

Dubbed as the “Korean Netflix”, Watcha Play’s fee is cheaper than Netflix’s charge, despite giving the same amount of local and foreign content. The movies are collated from Watcha, a “machine-learning-driven personalized content recommendation service”. This allows their users to get the best recommendations on what they’ll watch.

Pros – Curated content; personalized recommendations. Cons – Focused mainly on Korean content; limited international titles. User Review – “Praised for its curated Korean content, but those looking for more international variety might be disappointed.”

One of Korea’s video on demand pioneers, Tving continues to provide high-quality streaming services. CJ E&M, a Korean entertainment company, acquired it in 2016. Since then, it has had 7 million subscribers and 8 million app downloaders.

Tving offers not only CJ E&M content, but they’re also expanding to providing clips from other networks. The VOD platform is aiming to give unlimited movie screenings and live professional baseball games in the future. Recently it launched its global counterpart, Global Tving, where people all over the world can watch content in real-time.

Pros – Diverse range of Korean content; offers live TV streaming. Cons – Primarily focused on Korean audience; limited international reach. User Review – “Appreciated for its comprehensive Korean content but less known globally.”

Pooq is a Korean VOD platform established in 2012. It is the joint venture of KBS, MBC, and SBS, three of Korea’s biggest broadcasting companies. As of October 2017, it has 3 million registered users, making it Korea’s #1 OTT online video player .

Pooq delivers real-time streaming from 64 different channels. It also has a library of 6,000 movies and TV series, including content from BBC and Cartoon Network.

Pros – Offers content from major Korean broadcasters; live streaming options. Cons – Limited to Korean content; may require a Korean IP for access. User Review – “Valued for local content and live TV, but accessibility is an issue for international users.”

Although Japan’s video on demand market is relatively new, forecasts say that it will grow to US$2.4 billion in 2022. dTV is Japan’s market leader, occupying a 20.3% share among other VOD sites. It is a joint venture with entertainment company Avex Broadcasting and Communications, and mobile operator NTT Docomo. Estimates say the ott broadcasting iservice has more than 4.51 million subscribers.

dTv delivers 120,000 titles from different genres, from 13 channels. Subscription and movie rental services are offered, and these are charged by title and format.

Pros – Wide range of Japanese content; affordable subscription. Cons – Content mostly in Japanese; limited global availability. User Review – “Popular in Japan for local content, less known outside.”

18.  Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is the largest streaming service focused on Japanese animation (anime) and East Asian content. Starting in May 2006, it grew into 35 million community members worldwide.

The VOD platform provides over 900 anime shows and 200 dramas, including fan favorites such as Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist. Free users can access a small library of content, along with the advertisements. A 14-day free trial is also an option for new users.

Pros – Extensive library of anime; available globally. Cons – Ads in the free version; some region-locked content. User Review – “Highly popular among anime fans worldwide, though some complain about the ad-supported model.”

19.  Amazon Prime Video

Of course, the mainstream Western services will eventually find their way into Asia. Amazon Prime Video launched its VOD platform in 11 Asian countries last 2016. It is the streaming platform of the biggest e-commerce website in the world, containing critically-acclaimed shows like Transparent, and Mozart in the Jungle.

Customers can try out free for seven days, as well as sign up for the service at US$2.99 for the first six months. Subscribers are also given a Twitch Prime membership, granting them exclusive content on the said gaming platform.

Pros – Diverse content library; includes Amazon Originals. Cons – Some content is region-specific; interface could be more user-friendly. User Review – “Praised for original content and movie selection, but some find the interface less intuitive.”

20. Netflix

Netflix is one of the most popular and the best video on-demand apps. Netflix changed the face of video on demand by providing binge-able original content. Its global expansion in 2016 cemented itself as an entertainment powerhouse.

The quality didn’t change, as Asians can chill to shows such as Stranger Things, Westworld, and Narcos, among many others. Premium users can create different profiles for every person using Netflix, allowing it to give recommended content for each.

Interested to learn more about how Netflix got started? Here’s a blog covering history of Netflix to help you know how the company got founded and challenges it had to go through before becoming one of the streaming giants.

Pros – Large, diverse content library; strong original programming. Cons – Subscription cost; content varies by region. User Review – “Widely popular for its range and originals, though some users are concerned about rising costs.”

The video on demand industry is projected to grow at a rate of 3.6% by 2024. It is a good opportunity for content creators to create content and build their video on demand websites. 

Content: To get started, plan your type of content for the audience. Content can be of any industry like entertainment, sports, education, etc.

Video Monetization: You can explore various monetization platforms. In advertisements, you can show other companies ads on your platform. With a subscription model similar to Netflix you can charge on a monthly basis for content access. In the Pay-Per-View model, charges are applied on watching a specific video like conferences, events, or shows. Choosing the absolute right monetization model based on your audience, type of content and revenue goals is must for creating a successful video monetization platform .

VOD Streaming Requirements: 

• Make sure to have a good internet connection to stream high-quality videos. 
• Select a good hosting solution and CDN that offers quick video access. 
• A Video streaming service should have robust security for authorized content access. Security features like DRM, Watermark, Restricted Domains can safeguard your content. 

Vdocipher offers a content management system to host your video content with advanced features like DRM encryption, Unlimited Video Storage, Video Analytics, Smart HTML5 Player.

VOD Platform

Despite hundreds of VOD streaming platforms at their disposal, most Asians prefer to copy pirated content.You can also check out our top vod streaming services for Video Hosting. If you are looking to launch a VOD platform with the highest video piracy protection, have a 30 day free trial at VdoCipher. 

What are the best Indian VOD platforms?

Some of the best Indian VOD platforms include Hotstar, Voot, and Eros Now.

What are the Key Features to Look for in a VOD Platform?

There are several features to consider in VOD such as a well-built Video Content Management System, Customizable, Device Compatibility, Video monetization, and Security.

Why is Video on demand Important?

Video has become the most sought-after way of consuming content. VOD gives the users flexibility and functionality to watch content at their own pace where users can pause, rewind and fast forward the content. For content creators, the platform provides a great opportunity to showcase their talent.

Supercharge Your Business with Videos

At VdoCipher we maintain the strongest content protection for videos. We also work extremely hard to deliver the best viewer experience. We'd love to hear from you, and help boost your video streaming business.

CEO, VdoCipher. Writes about video tech, ed tech and media tech.

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12+ Best Chinese Movie Sites

• There has been an increase in media attention for Chinese television dramas and movies in recent years. 
• Viewers are always on the edge of their seats when it comes to Chinese movies and dramas. Is there a place where Chinese TV series can be viewed online?
• Here in this article, you will get some of the best Chinese movie sites where you can easily watch Chinese movies. 

With Chinese cinema making a huge impact on the international stage, the global cinematic landscape has changed significantly over the years.

There is no shortage of cinematic gems China produces, ranging from epic historical dramas to cutting-edge martial arts films. You need access to the best Chinese movie site to enjoy this treasure trove of Chinese cinema.

In this article, we’ll introduce you to the top Chinese movie sites that offer a rich collection of films, TV shows, and more.

Content Table

Best Chinese Movie Sites

#1. iqiyi .

You can watch Chinese movies online with English subtitles on iQIYI, one of the most popular Chinese movie sites.

It is possible to switch a video’s subtitles to other languages, such as Korean, Thai, Spanish, Indonesian, Arabic, etc., when you are watching it. Additionally, you can change the video quality, speed up the video, or edit the subtitles.

Chinese dramas, variety shows, and anime can also be viewed on iQIYI. Moreover, it allows you to filter movies according to regions, categories, subtitles, subscriptions, and periods of time. In addition, iQIYI is available for download from the App Store and Google Play Store.

Website : https://www.iq.com/

#2. Youku 

Youku is the third largest video platform in China and one of the best Chinese movie sites behind Tencent Video and iQIYI. It is often called the YouTube of China.

While Youku is similar to YouTube in terms of its user-generated content, the platform also offers a variety of long-form user-generated content and original TV shows.

Youku has over 1,500 licensed networks with loyal followers, making it a powerful platform for reaching local Chinese audiences in a variety of demographics.

In the Chinese streaming industry, Youku is another major player owned by Alibaba Group. In addition to Chinese movies, TV shows, and variety shows, it also offers a large selection of Chinese music.

There is a free and premium membership option available on Youku, with the premium membership offering a broader selection and higher quality videos. With its user-friendly interface and wide range of genres, the site is known for its user-friendliness.

Website : https://www.youku.com/

#3. Tencent Videos

In Tencent Video, viewers can stream original and popular television shows, dramas, and variety shows. Using a new interface, interactive optimization, and a variety of speed options, it provides a premium watching experience.

Additionally, the app allows users to select categories, continue watching, adjust the video definition, view subtitles, and control the screen. In China, Tencent Video is a popular streaming platform operated by the tech giant Tencent.

Its comprehensive selection of movies, dramas, and variety shows offers a wide variety of Chinese and international content. Tencent Video is a go-to source for streaming and user-generated content in China, thanks to its high quality.

Website : https://v.qq.com/

#4. NewAsianTV

It is a good place to watch free Chinese movies online sites in high-definition for free at NewAsianTV. An impressive collection of Chinese shows, movies, and dramas is available on this site. Moreover, NewAsianTV offers a wide range of Korean, Thai, and Japanese videos.

The genre, country, release year, etc., of your favorite movie can be sorted to find your favorite one. However, there are some movies without English subtitles.

Website : https://newasian.tv/

#5. AsianCrush

There’s a reliable video streaming site called AsianCrush where you can watch Asian films and series online. In addition to watching Chinese movies online with English subtitles, it’s also one of the best Chinese movie sites for watching Chinese movies.

You can also watch Thai dramas/movies, Korean dramas/movies, and Japanese dramas/movies on AsianCrush, as well as Chinese movies.

Website : https://www.asiancrush.com/

#6. Sohu Movie

This Chinese movie site has become one of the most popular streaming movie sites in the country. It offers free streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows. It is also possible to legally watch some of the most recent American movies and shows.

There is, however, only Mainland China access to all those movies. To access the site from outside mainland China, VPNs are required.

There are many channels available on Sohu Movie, including Chinese movies, North American movies, and European movies. Moreover, it is available both on Android and iOS devices. 

Website : https://tv.sohu.com/movie/

#7. Kankan Movie

Chinese movie site Kankan, also known as Xunlei Kankan, is another popular website for Chinese films. A lot of movies, TV shows, and other programs are available on the site that are copyrighted.

In order to watch its streaming movies, users outside China must use a VPN to enter China if they want to access all of its movies.

#8. Bilibili

Bilibili is not only a great platform for anime & user-generated videos, but it is also a great place to watch Chinese movies without charge, and it is also advertisement-free.

In order to enrich its movie inventory, it continuously purchases copyrights to recent movies to provide free movies in impressive 1080p quality.

Free movies, premium accounts, and movies requiring a certain amount of payment are separated into three main categories, allowing users to pick the movies that fit their budgets efficiently.

Users will also enjoy interacting with other people who are viewing or have watched the video through the exclusive comment system “Danmu,” fast-floating comments during video playback.

Website : https://www.bilibili.com/

#9. ViewAsian

There is another free Chinese movie site called ViewAsian that features full-length Asian movies. You will be surprised at how many and how high-quality movies and TV shows it has in Cantonese dubbed Chinese & Hongkong.

Apart from having to be careful about redirects when switching media player servers or playing videos, ViewAsian isn’t that bothersome.

On the right side, you’ll find the “Tag Cloud” of hot-searched ViewAsian tags that might appeal to you, and it will lead you to other ViewAsian content you may be interested.

However, many websites, such as View Asian and FallDrama, that stream Chinese movies with English subtitles are technically borrowing Chinese movies from Chinese streaming sites (they didn’t even remove the Chinese logo from the Chinese website), so they translated the subtitles.

Website : https://viewasian.co/

China’s QQ instant messaging platform is the biggest and most popular. It offers full-episode TV plays online through its TV channel. When you log into your QQ account, you can bookmark the series you’d like to watch later and subscribe to its updates.

If you want to watch the videos later, you can download them to your computer or mobile device. Various mobile platforms are supported by its app, including Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

Website : https://v.qq.com

#11. 88 Movie Site

There are several good Chinese movie sites, including 88 Movie. On the site, you can watch full-length Chinese movies for free.

There is a huge collection of movies from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Europe for visitors to enjoy.

To visit the website online in the language of your choice, you can use Google Translate “if you don’t know Chinese.

You can also enjoy Chinese dramas and TV shows with English subtitles on WeTv, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent.

On Wetv, you will find a wide selection of dramas, including romance, fantasy, period costumes, horror, action, etc. You can watch plenty of older content.

While you cannot watch recent series for free (there is a paid subscription plan), you can watch plenty of comparatively older content. It’s even better; downloading the app lets you view them on multiple devices like Android and smart TVs.

Website : https://wetv.vip/

#13. Mango TV

In 2023, Mango TV will offer free full-length Chinese TV shows for download without any restrictions. The company has a strong focus on overseas audiences and is best known for its original variety shows.

There are also a lot of free English-subbed Chinese dramas available on this website, including many that were previously unavailable with English subtitles.

Website : https://w.mgtv.com/tv/

From Author’s Desk

So, that’s all we have for you about Chinese movie sites. It’s our hope that the list given above helped you. Meanwhile, comment below and let us know if you have any other suggestions. 

Further Reading:

• 10 Best Torrent Sites for TV Shows
• 15+ Websites to Download Movies for Free
• How to Find Movies on Google Drive for Free? (Google Drive Movie Hack)

How to & Tips

Top 17 Video Streaming Websites to Watch Chinese Movies, Series, Episodes, Drama Online Free

Updated on Mar 15, 2024

Everyone should try learning some Mandarin, since it’s profound, intriguing, catchy and popular worldwide. And watching movies and TV serial has always been a terrific and pleasant way of joyful language learning. Lately, I’ve found many great video streaming websites for this, without paying, without the need to install additional video player, and without registration. In the following article, I’ll introduce the top 17 websites to watch Chinese movies, series, episodes, drama online free , they all carry rich and juicy Chinese filming content. I hope you enjoy it.

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Chinese domestic websites and foreign websites are both introduced, plus, giving the ubiquity of Chinese & English bilingual subtitles among Chinese movie streaming sites, you don’t have to worry even if you don’t understand a single word of Chinese. No matter you’re an experienced Chinese learner; a beginning Chinese learner; or just someone who is interested in Chinese culture, I believe you can benefit from this article. Now, let’s cut to the chase.

Please note that some of websites have only purchased streaming right within Mainland China, if you encounter a message like “ Sorry, this video can only be streamed within Mainland China. ” or “ 抱歉，此视频只限于中国内地播放。 ” when trying to play a video: using a proxy from China, converting your IP address to China, or downloading video not available in your country are solid fixes.

Best websites to watch Chinese movies, series, episodes, drama online free at a glance

5. FallDrama

7. Asiancrush

9. 1905 movie, 11. tencent video, 13. dramacool, 15. filmdoo, 2. bilibili, 4. viewasian.

10. Vidfish

12. Migu Video

14. Baidu TV

16. YuYu TV

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Website URL: https://www.viki.com/

Totally qualified as the best DramaFever replacement , Viki is one of the best video streaming platforms for watching Asian drama and TV shows – free, no registration, and no buffering. From the filters in the Explore section, you can find the desired Chinese movie/TV show/variety without a hitch - you can even search for movies using subtitle language as a filter! Viki video player supports switching subtitles among multiple languages including English, thus whatever language you can read, you can fully enjoy desired Chinese movies, TV series, variety shows, etc contents on Viki. No limitation for free users but SD video quality. HD quality requires Viki pass, $ 4.17/month at least.

· On Viki, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series, Variety shows

· Subtitle language: Deutsch, English, Spanish, French, Bahasa Indonesia, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Hungarians, Serbo-Croatian, etc.

Website URL: https://www.bilibili.com/

Apart from being the best anime & user-generated video platform among youngsters in China, Bilibili is also a good place to watch Chinese movies without cost, the best part is, it doesn’t even have any advertisement . It provides free movies in fabulous 1080p quality, and keeps purchasing copyrights of recent movies, to enrich the inventory of its movie inventory day by day. Movies are categorized into three major sections: free movies; movies for premium accounts; and movies that require a specific amount of payment, facilitating users picking movies as per budget.

Moreover, with its exclusive comment system “Danmu”, floated comments fast passing through the screen during video playback, users will not only enjoy the movie itself, but the pleasure of interactions with other people who are watching or have watched the current video.

· On Bilibili, there are Chinese: Movies

· Subtitle language: Chinese or Chinese + English bilingual subtitles

Website URL: https://www.iq.com/

iQiyi is one of the largest video platforms in China that have purchased streaming rights of an uncountable number of movies, TV series, entertainment shows, variety shows. There’s barely any audiovisual resource that you can’t find on iQiyi - many so-called free video streaming sites in China will sneakily direct you to iQiyi for video playback, I guess that suggests the power if iQiyi to a good degree. On iQiyi, full-length movies are clearly classified into free or paid, the TV series are usually free to watch until a certain episode.

Whereas there are two obvious defects about iQiyi: 1. It has too much advertisement, one-minute ad before movies and even every episode of a TV series could really be intolerable. 2. The streaming rights that iQiyi has for most videos are restricted to Mainland China. To solve that, as mentioned, get iQiyi download is a reliable fix.

· On iQiyi, there are Chinese: Movie, TV Series, Variety shows, TV Shows

Website URL: https://viewasian.co/

Just like Viki, ViewAsian is another free video streaming website focusing on full-length Asian movie content. Its number and quality of Cantonese dubbed Chinese & Hongkong movies & TV series are impressive. Putting aside that you have to carefully watch out for redirects while switching media player server and playing videos, ViewAsian doesn’t bother you much. Consulting the “Tag Cloud” from the right side, you’ll find hot searched tags of ViewAsian users that might appeal to you, it’ll lead you to other contents on ViewAsian that you may dig as well.

But, here’s the thing, many websites like View Asian and FallDrama that stream Chinese movies in English subtitles, most Chinese movies upon are technically “borrowed” from Chinese streaming sites (they didn’t even remove the Chinese website logo), what they do is just translating the subtitles to English.

· On ViewAsian, there are Chinese: Movie, TV Series

· Subtitle language: English

5. FallDrama (Not working)

Website url: https://verdrama.com/.

FallDrama is another good website to watch Chinese TV episodes. To the benefit of Indonesian users, this site supports Bahasa Indonesia as the display language. Every movie has a specified introduction and was tagged with keywords to find similar series.

They have two player servers to switch to another in case one fails to load videos. BTW, this website has the most redirects as I have ever seen, it even leads me to another new page three times until I can actually click on the play button.

· On FallDrama, there are Chinese: Movie, Drama, Kshow

Website URL: www.youku.com

Youku is like Chinese YouTube, but focusing on catching up with the latest TV series in China, and provides users with free, high-quality and the latest Chinese movie content. On Youku, there are time-limited special offers for users to try paid movies. Ads on Youku are much shorter than those on iQiyi, and the video quality is on par with the counterpart. Although Youku video player seems to buffer more; users outside China have to unblock Youku before using; and the movie thumbnails are lack of basic intro... I say the overall terrific performance of Youku is certainly outweighed the shortcomings.

· On Youku, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series, Variety shows, TV Shows

Website URL: https://www.asiancrush.com/

Asiancrush is a website consist of numerous Asian Movies and TVs. There are hundreds of Chinese movies to watch for free with English subtitles, and their reads about Celebrity, Culture, Interviews, etc. are perfect for fans to waste time with relish. It worth mentioning that, surprisingly, some trending Chinese filming that might charge you on Amazon Prime or Netflix can be found here. Although video quality is not the best, usually at around 576p, and they do have a serious advertisement issue, but considering the above mentioned merits, Asiancrush is also a good go-to.

· On Asiancrush, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series

Website URL: https://www.youtube.com/

As the hugest giant in online video hosting, YouTube will come in handy. Although YouTube is not a specialized website focusing on Chinese film works, you can certainly find a good deal of Chinese TV Channels providing full movies and TV episode playlists with English subtitles/closed captions. Just type whatever on your mind into the YouTube searching box and see if it’s there. Besides, there’re many free YouTube video downloaders nowadays, making it much easier for us to enjoy buffering-free offline playback in our leisure time.

· On YouTube, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series

· Subtitle language: Subtitle language: Chinese/English/Chinese + English bilingual subtitles

· Some great YouTube channels for watching Chinese movies & TV series free online:

CCTV TV Series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Vl0YiY0rDlovqcCFN4yTA

CCTV6 China Movie Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA5WZBVcP0sfQwUqLlp_t1g

China Huace Film & TV Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/huacemedia

YoYo Television Series Exclusive: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTvseriesofficial

HLBN Entertainment: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJXahC9cJK7EpSvWuLz87sw

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Website URL: https://www.1905.com/

1905 Movie is not as famous as the above-mentioned Chinese video streaming platforms, but it’s also an excellent choice, no less. 1905 Movie has two major movie sections: “VIP Movie theatre” that covers a wide scope of movies, but requires VIP account; and “Free Movies” that present many free resources to trending movies, TV series, and China Central Television filming. According to “Best received”, “Highest rated”, “Best in history” and other metrics from 1905 Movie, finding yourself a worth-watching movie is a breeze.

Free users have only access to “smooth” quality, about 320p to 576p video quality that runs smoothly, little buffering.

· On 1905 Movie, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series

10. Vidfish (Not working)

Website url: https://www.vidfish.com/.

Vidfish features a sleek interface and easy to navigate page layout. Vidfish brings user convenience that not just the webpage display that supports five languages: Chinese, English, Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish, Portuguese. That applies to their searching bar too. You can easily find a Chinese movie, not with a precise Movie title in Chinese, but the translation in your country.

· On Vidfish, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series

Website URL: https://v.qq.com/

Owned by Tencent, the world's largest video game company that has tried long to have a finger in the pie of online media streaming, Tencent Video is another famous video platform in China. Aside from the latest China’s movies and dramas, you can also find amusing web series, a novel kind of TV shows similar to video-on-demand, favored by young users.

· On Tencent Video, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series, Variety shows, TV Shows

Website URL: https://www.migu.cn/video.html

Migu is a famous music brand in China to download Chinese songs . Its sub-brand Migu Video is a large platform for short video and live sports. Migu Video serves comedy and action movies, and detailed categorized TV series (Spy war, military, family, love, costume, youth, idol, ethics, martial arts, criminal investigation, suspense, city) which you can easily navigate with their filter. Putting your mouse over the movies’ thumbnail will show you the cast, year, intro of the TV series/Movie.

· On Migu Video, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series, Variety shows, TV Shows, Sports

Website URL: https://wwv.dramacool9.co/

DramaCool is a website where you can watch a lot of latest Korean Drama, Korean Variety Shows, Taiwanese & Chinese Drama for free in English subtitles, and they provide links to free download Chinese and Korean Drama . The website keeps adding new Drama series and fixes videos that got removed due to copyright issues.

When watching videos on DramaCool, please watch out clickbait pictures and taglines, and close the redirect window after starting play videos, to steer clear of potential risks behind these ads.

· On DramaCool, there are Chinese: Drama

14. Baidu Video

Website url: https://v.xiaodutv.com/.

Baidu is known for its most-used search engine in China. Baidu TV and Baidu Movie are more like a video version of the search engine. Baidu Video looks like a video streaming site on the outfit, but if you actually click on any of those movie resources, Baidu TV will direct you to another platform (like iQiyi) for further playback. What’s good about Baidu TV is that you won’t miss a thing, whatever you’re looking for. Just search the name of the Chinese movie or episodes you want to watch.

· On Baidu TV, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series, Variety shows, TV Shows, etc.

Website URL: https://www.filmdoo.com/

Technically speaking, FilmDoo is not a free place to watch Chinese movies online. FilmDoo is a video-on-demand (VOD) platform that specializes in independent and world cinema. Its premium service covers 400+ Chinese movies buying/renting. If you rather not pay, there are a handful of Chinese movies from “Watch for Free”, and 100+ completely free short films.

· On FilmDoo, there are Chinese: Movies, Short films

· Subtitle language: English or Chinese + English bilingual subtitles

16. YuYu TV (Currently unavailable)

Website url: https://www.yuyutv.com/.

On YuYu TV, aside from movies of about 20 kinds of genres: Action, Drama, Independent, Short, Adventure, etc. from 60+ countries, you can also watch many free full episodes Chinese TV series. From the “Movie” category, you can find the movies you want with Genre, Region, Themes, Date as filters. Most movie subtitles on YuYu TV can’t be switched, it’s usually hardcoded into the video.

· On YuYu TV, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series

17. 27K.CC (Currently unavailable)

Website url: http://m.27k.cc/.

27K.CC is a Chinese torrenting website hosting free and gorgeous quality video download resources. Here you can find Anime, Chinese Movies, TV series, variety shows, etc. Just like other torrent movie websites, 27K.CC is full of eye-popping ads. But fortunately, this website doesn’t redirect you like most similar do all the time. So, just watch your clicks, and 27K.CC will be a great place to free watch and download Chinese movies .

· On 27K.CC, there are Chinese: Movies, TV Series, variety shows

More Website Choices to Watch Chinese Movies Online Free without Downloading

Website url: https://w.mgtv.com/, website url: http://movie.le.com/, 20. kankan tv (currently unavailable), website url: http://tv.kankan.com/, website url: https://www.pptv.com/, 22. sohu tv, website url: https://tv.sohu.com/.

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Everything about China's Innovation

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China’s Most Popular Online Video Platforms

Fifteen years ago, on April 23, 2005, the first ever video was uploaded to Youtube. After the launch of Youtube, now the world’s largest online video platform, China also went on to establish its own video hosting services. Now, after a decade of development and vicious competition, a slew of video platforms and short video apps have emerged at the top of the Chinese online video streaming game.

SEE ALSO: Top 3 E-commerce Livestreaming Platforms in China

Tencent Video

Douyin/Tiktok

Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, was first launched in 2016 by tech giant ByteDance , a company then known for its news aggregator Jinri Toutiao. Powered by a strong recommendation algorithm and funny short videos, Douyin went viral among young people only within a few years. In 2017, ByteDance went global with TikTok and later acquired Musical.ly for nearly $1 billion. The short-video app became the world’s second most downloaded app after WhatsApp in 2019. In January 2020, Douyin’s DAU passed 400 million. It also became the top downloaded app in the social media category in India, as the country went on lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Known overseas as Kwai, Kuaishou is China’s second largest short video app. In 2012, Kuaishou transformed itself from a GIF making app “GIF kuaishou” into a short video platform. As Douyin’s biggest rival in China, it takes a different approach from Douyin by targeting lower-tier cities and rural users. With competition increasing in the short video market, Kuaishou has also moved into live streaming, e-commerce and social media. Kuaishou’s DAU reportedly hit 300 million on Chinese New Year 2020.

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Most Popular Chinese Short-video Apps 2019

Due to the large number of mobile users and short video’s virus spread on social media, short video industry is seeing booming growth in China.

10 Things You Should Know About Kuaishou — TikTok Rival Zynn’s Parent Company

Kuaishou is one of China’s largest short video-sharing and livestreaming apps, which has also become a conspicuous power in China's e-commerce industry.

Alibaba Buys 8 Percent Stake in Popular Chinese Video Platform Bilibili

As if making a marriage announcement on Feb. 14, Alibaba Group announced that it will be deepening its cooperation with the popular Chinese video platform Bilibili.

Tencent Plans to Invest Over $1 Billion in Short-Video App Kuaishou

Chinese tech giant Tencent is planning to invest between $1 billion and $1.5 billion in short-video application Kuaishou, known outside of China as Kwai, which has a current valuation of around $25 billion.

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हम यह भी हिन्दी भाषा का समर्थन है, आप इसे करने के लिए परिवर्तन करना चाहते हैं?

We also support Punjabi language, do you want change to it?

ਸਾਨੂੰ ਇਹ ਵੀ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਨੂੰ ਸਹਿਯੋਗ ਹੈ, ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਇਸ ਨੂੰ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਤਬਦੀਲੀ ਚਾਹੁੰਦੇ ਹੋ?

We also support Bengali language, do you want change to it?

আমরা বাংলা ভাষা সমর্থন, আপনি এটি পরিবর্তন করতে চান?

We also support Burmese language, do you want change to it?

ငါတို့သည်လည်း, မြန်မာဘာသာစကားကိုထောကျပံ့သငျသညျကအပြောင်းအလဲလိုသလဲ

We also support Nepali language, do you want change to it?

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We also support Tagalog language, do you want change to it?

Sinusuportahan din namin ang Tagalog wika, ang gusto mong pagbabago dito?

We also support Malay language, do you want change to it?

Kami juga menyokong bahasa Melayu, adakah anda mahu perubahan kepadanya?

We also support Indonesian language, do you want change to it?

Kami juga mendukung bahasa Indonesia, apakah Anda ingin perubahan untuk itu?

We also support Thai language, do you want change to it?

นอกจากนี้เรายังสนับสนุนภาษาไทย, คุณต้องการที่เปลี่ยนแปลงไปได้หรือไม่

The Hottest Video Streaming Platforms for Chinese Audience in North America

• Post author By Eastward Media
• Post date July 2, 2021
• No Comments on The Hottest Video Streaming Platforms for Chinese Audience in North America

Chinese consumers in North America retain lots of their consumer values as well as media usage habits after they immigrated. They still mostly use their familiar Chinese websites, mobile apps, and video streaming sites instead of the mainstream platforms. When it comes to entertainment, Chinese publishers do a very good job in offering great content with plenty of choices. This explains why Chinese immigrants could stick with these Chinese platforms even after they have settled in North America for years.

In this article, we are going to talk about the hottest Chinese video streaming platforms not only popular inside China but are also magnets to Chinese audience in North America.

China’s 3 tech giants and their most popular video streaming platforms

Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, known as the BATs (often compared to the FANG stocks in the U.S.), are three of China’s most prominent technology firms. The BAT companies are estimated to control over 70% of the internet business and transactions in China directly or indirectly. Thanks to the Great Firewall policy, China has developed a huge, isolated Internet industry. YouTube and many other Western video platforms have been unavailable in China since 2009, the ban has created room for domestic video platforms to step in and entertain consumers and have been expanding quickly in the past decade. And the 3 giants of the BAT are of course the biggest players in the online entertainment ecosystem.

According to  Statista 2021 , the leading online video platforms in China based on monthly unique users are: iQiYi.com (owned by Baidu, the search engine giant), qq.com (owned by Tencent, the gaming giant who also owns WeChat) and Youku.com (owned by Alibaba, the e-commerce giant).

# 1 – Baidu’s iQiyi

Launched by Baidu in September 2010, iQiyi is China’s most popular video platform. It is also loved by Chinese audiences worldwide.

Described as China’s Netflix, iQIYI provides highly popular original content, user generated content, partner-generated content, live sports, and fully licensed media. In 2017, Netflix signed a licensing deal with iQiyi, under which some Netflix original productions would be available on the Chinese platform. It also acquired the rights to many South Korean films and partnered with Japan’s Fuji TV to produce online dramas.

Reality shows are viewers’ favorite in China. One of the most popular programmes currently on iQiyi is Mr. Housework, a reality show which captures all the fun, awkward, and insightful moments of men doing housework while discussing social relationships, interactions, and responsibilities, among other everyday wisdom.

iQiyi also offers lots of great choices of drama. The Rebel, a latest released spy war drama with story background of Shanghai back in 1936, co-produced with CCTV has been ranked the top searched drama on Baidu’s chart.

• In the United States, iQIYI ranks as the 4th most visited Chinese website with 531,000 unique monthly users.
• In Canada, iQIYI is the 5th most visited Chinese website with 207,000 unique monthly users.

#2 – QQ.com / Tencent Video

Tencent launched Tencent Video in April 2011 as an expansion of its live video streaming platform Tencent QQLive.

In addition to letting users upload videos, Tencent developed original content and secured distribution partnerships with six British content providers — BBC Worldwide, ITV Studios, Fremantle Media, All3Media International, and Endemol UK — to become the largest provider of British video content in China. It also secured HBO shows and NBA games for its viewers. Westerners will be familiar with BBC’s documentary Blue Planet— the UK’s most watched TV programme of 2017— which Tencent Video co-produced.

Tencent users can enjoy a wide variety of content including TV shows, sports, news, drama, and movies. The latest released Ancient Love Poetry, lead by the highly anticipated Zhou Dong Yu and a historical romance drama adapted from a novel, has created a big hit on the platform.

Another viral production by Tencent, the Produce Camp 2021 was a Chinese boy group survival show and is the fourth season of the Chinese edition of the Korean original show Produce 101. A global audition was held and had gathered 90 trainees who accepted several challenges to fight a spot in the newest boyband in mainland China. The final 11 competitors formed an international boy group called INTO1 in the finale streamed live on April 24.

• In the United States, QQ is the most popular Chinese website with over 1.08 million unique monthly users.
• In Canada, it is the 2nd most visited Chinese website with 520,000 unique monthly users.

#3- Alibaba’s Youku

Streaming video sites Youku and Tudou merged in 2012 to become the larger Youku Tudou, which was then acquired by Alibaba in late 2015. Youku Tudou grew rapidly under Alibaba and become the 3 rd  most popular video site in China.

Often referred to as the YouTube of China, YouKu originally hosted user-generated content, but has since shifted towards professionally produced videos licensed from its content partners. It now functions analogously closer to Hulu or Netflix.

Falling Into Your Smile is one of the most popular romance TV drama currently aired on YouKu, attracting lots of young viewers. Another big hit Ni Chang is YouKu’s own production of historical romance series set in the Ning dynasty. It also collaborates with Hong Kong TVB to exclusively premier some of the Hong Kong dramas like the latest popular Murder Diary. So, it is also the go to platforms for lots of fans of Hong Kong dramas.

Unlike Tencent and Baidu’s video platforms, which were extended from their core ecosystems, Youku Tudou is not as heavily connected to Alibaba’s core e-commerce platforms.

• In the United States, YouKu is the 3rd most visited Chinese website with 676,000 unique monthly users.
• In Canada, YouKu is the 4th most visited Chinese website with 292,000 monthly users.

And the new rival – Mango TV

Other than the 3 giants in the video streaming war, there are other smaller players also shaping the ever-changing market. One of them is Mango TV.

Established in 2006, Mango TV is more than just an internet video-streaming site. It has become the video platform branding title of Hunan Television since 2008, currently China’s most popular provincial satellite TV station and the second-most-watched channel. The partnership has granted Mango TV the exclusive copyright to the productions from Hunan Television, many of which were an instant hit when first aired, such as I Am A Singer and Where Are We Going, Dad a few years back.

In the summer of 2020, Mango TV produced The Sisters Who Make Waves, a talent show which featured 30 female celebrities over 30 years old who must compete to debut in a seven-member girl group. The show created big resonance from the Gen-X career women and emerged as an Internet sensation, generated over 5 billion views. Working women, and even some men, say they can relate to the “Sisters” because the showbiz hierarchy to an extent mirrors office culture. Season 2 of the show was launched January 2021 and is still a big talk of the town.

• In the United States, Mango TV has not yet made official site rankings.
• In Canada, it ranks as the 15th most popular Chinese website with 78,000 unique monthly users and is growing quickly.

Reach Chinese consumers in North America through these popular streaming platforms

Chinese newcomers in the United States and Canada can spend up to 19 hours per week watching video content on Chinese streaming platforms, making these sites great touch points to reach the Chinese consumer’s market. However, these sites are disconnected from the open auction due to China’s internet policies, so their ad inventories cannot be reached through Google Display Network or North American DSP’s.

Eastward Media helps advertisers target audiences on these Chinese video streaming platforms through in-language pre-roll video ad campaigns .

Our managed programmatic solution uses first party audience data from leading DMPs like Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent for targeting the right audience.

Interested in learning more? Connect with us today.

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ChinaWhisper

5 Best Websites to Watch Chinese Movies Online

In order to help Chinese movie lovers, I made a list of the Top 7 websites to watch Chinese movies online for free , but some visitors outside of mainland China complained that they could not watch the Chinese movies in their own country. Then here I compile this new list, all sites listed below allow people to watch latest HD Chinese movies online anywhere in the world.

Website: https://www.1905.com/

2. 1080 Movie （1080电影网）

1080 Movie site is an online video content portal which offers latest high quality movies. All movies are free and when you click the play button,there is absolutely no ads will display before the movie. Click “立即播放”, you can watch the movie. There is no region restriction for all its movies, which means visitors can watch them anywhere in the world. The speed is very good and there is almost no delay while watching the movie from outside China.

Website: https://v.1080kdy.com/

3. 88 Movie Site（88电影网）

88 Movie is one of the best Chinese language video websites. The site offers free full-length Chinese movies. Visitors can find huge amount of movies from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Japan, South Korean, the US and Europe. If you do not know Chinese language, you can use Google translate” to visit the site online in your language.

Website: https://www.88ys.com/

4. Chinese Movie (华人影院)

Website: https://tv.msuedu.net/

5. Kankan Movie 看看电影

4 Responses

• Pingbacks 0

..too old we have BILIBILI Youku.com

As many peoples knows that chinese movies have a great value in movies industry also chinese movies industry are consider as one of the best movie industry I want to share one of the great chinese movies website with you guys which http://utumb.net you dont need to use any kind of proxy software to open this website i hope you guys will like this website

Some of the websites don’t work, or at least not in Europe. Nonetheless my Chinese is still to shit to care.

Anyway it depends on the film and not necessarily the website your watching the film on. I think it depends on whether the film has been released overseas as it would have an international copyright.

Nonetheless I suggest people just watch on Youku and use Google Chrome Youku unblocker.

You can use vpn service to unlock the sites and enjoy all the movies.

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Top Websites to Watch Chinese Movies and TV Series Online Free

Posted by Mollan Mo 251805

Learning a foreign language by watching movies/TV series can be a great way to get ahead in learning a second language. Of course learning Chinese has no exception. If you have been learning Chinese for a period of time, watching Chinese movies can help you with your listening skills, but also improve your spoken Chinese , too.

Chinese spoken in movies is very close to what you'll hear if you speak with native Chinese speakers. Sometimes, you will encounter some dialects, that is also an interesting part.

Watching TV series is a fun and entertaining way to immerse yourself in the language context, which offers you the benefits of visual comprehension. If you're tired of going to class or reading a book, learning Chinese through movies and film is your best choice.

Chinese TV series is usually longer than TV Plays in western countries. It portrays a story with a complicated plot. Below are 10 most popular websites for you to watch Chinese TV series online for free.

1. YouKu TV (http://tv.youku.com/)

Youku.com is a Chinese version of YouTube.com. It is one of China's largest streaming video sites. The TV Channel offers thousands of latest TV dramas that are newly released. There is a special channel offer some mini-series and gains great attention among Chinese netizens.

Most Chinese movies has Chinese subtitles, in this way, your Chinese listening and reading comprehension can be greatly improved. Youku can be my top position among the resources to watch Chinese movies.

2. Tudou TV (http://tv.tudou.com/)

Tudou, another Chinese video sharing website, merged with YouKu. It provides many full-length TV series, TV shows and movies from China, South Korea, America and other European countries. For some new released movies, you may have to subscribe to their monthly or yearly plan.

3. PPTV (http://tv.pptv.com/)

PPTV, formerly known as PPLive, is a right place for you to watch Chinese TV series. The series are categorized in multiple aspects, like countries, themes, year and actors. As to other Chinese video sites, there are some ads before you actually enjoy the TV series. You have to pay if you would like to block the ads.

There are also applications for desktop and mobile platform, both Windows and Mac, Android and iOS versions are available.

4. PPS.TV (http://www.pps.tv/)

PPS.TV is another great streaming video network. There are programs on Windows and Mac available. But the whole interface is in Chinese, so if you can't recognize hanzi very well, it would be a great challenge for you to browse the channels you want. The quality of playback is generally very good and users should have a decent connection.

5. Baidu TV (http://v.baidu.com/tv/index/)

Baidu TV Series Channel is attached to Baidu, China's largest search engine. The site provides a large number of up-to-date hit dramas and feature programs. With considerable financial strength, Baidu can provide viewers with the up-to-date the complete TV plays.

6. iQiyi (http://www.iqiyi.com/dianshiju/)

Iqiyi TV, like Hulu in the US, is a streaming video platform that owed by Baidu, which focusing on Chinese HD TV series and movies. It not only provides the newest copyrighted video content, but also produces its own funny content to attract young generations.

7. QQ TV (http://v.qq.com/tv/)

QQ is the largest and most popular instant-messaging platform in China. Its TV Channel provides the full-episode TV plays online. With your login to QQ account, you will be able to bookmark the shows you would like to watch later and subscribe to the update of the series. You can also download the videos to your computer or mobile devices to watch later. Its mobile app supports Android, iOS and Windows Phone platform.

8. Sohu TV (http://tv.sohu.com/drama/)

Sohu is a part of Sohu搜狐. Sohu Video channel streams up-to-date legitimate HD TV plays, TV shows, sports broadcasts and movies from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as TV Plays from Asia and western countries.

9. 360 TV (http://www.360kan.com/dianshi/index.html)

360 TV is more like a video directory platform, which provides many resource entrances which can direct you to the popular TV series owned by other sites. Until you find the best site with amazing watching experience, you can switch the links as you wish.

10. Letv (http://tv.le.com/)

LeTV, a popular Chinese streaming website, provides legal TV shows and movies from countries and regions such as Mainland China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand.

11. Xiangchao Kankan (http://tv.kankan.com/)

Xiangchao Kankan is a video-on-demand site which HD TV and many other video materials. There are Android and iOS app version available. Kankan is also available on mobile platforms including Android and iOS.

On the above 10 websites, you can watch a variety of Chinese TV Dramas, animations, movies, TV shows from US, UK, KR, as well as Korean productions. However, the website languages are all in Chinese, and not all videos on the above websites are free.

Also, you can only watch these videos with IP address in China. For users from other regions outside Mainland China, you would need a VPN service to watch it.

What have to mention is that the ads before or during the video are unbelievable nowadays, it's about 99 seconds long, if you would like to remove the annoying ads, you can subscribe to their VIP plans, generally, the rate is 20 RMB per month. If you would like to watch some hot videos or movies, you would also need a VIP privilege to unlock it.

The websites listed above will almost certainly not have English subtitles and some may have none at all. Well, it's a bit challenging for your listening comprehension . Have fun in China! If you want to learn more Chinese, you can book a free trial class here and learn with our teachers now!

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China’s Top 10 Video Sharing Websites (aka YouTube Equivalents)

Youtube’s Chinese equivalents were born on hosting ripped content from overseas, such as popular western TV series and movies, and grew from humble bootlegging websites into fully fledged internet companies.

So popular in fact, from tapping into a massive Chinese netizen audience, that many listed on the stock markets of the US (yes, there is a certain irony). Most content nowadays is licensed, and many of the popular sites are self-producing local shows. Of course, there’s still the regular uploads of daily life and crazy antics from Chinese netizens, news bulletins, documentary, opinion, DIY videos and everything you could imagine.

Here are the Top 10 video sharing sites in China, plus a few extras.

No 1 Tudou.com

No 2 baomihua.com, no 4 iqiyi.com, no 5 youku.com, no 6 xunlei.com, no 7 letv.com, no 8 bilibili.com, no 9 56.com, no 10 kankan.com.

There’s several more outside the Top 10 including kankan.com , video.sina.com.cn , pptv.com , 1905.com , v.qq.com , v.baidu.com .

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A Guide to China’s Top 5 Video & Livestreaming Platforms

Last updated on March 1, 2024

Livestreaming has become a daily routine for Chinese internet users, and it’s now a billion-dollar industry experiencing continuous growth. This expansion is evident through the increasing variety of content and a growing viewer base.

More and more companies, ranging from video games to luxury one-on-one consultations, are embracing livestreaming for e-commerce opportunities. Beyond China, even Amazon and Instagram have launched their own livestreaming and selling platforms.

This digital trend isn’t slowing down, and social commerce is becoming the norm in China . In fact, it’s estimated that the gross merchandise value (GMV) of the livestreaming e-commerce industry will surpass US$732.8 billion in 2023 .

With algorithm-driven short-video apps dominating the online advertising landscape in China , here’s what global brands need to know about the top 5 video and livestreaming platforms in China.

Douyin (抖音)

Douyin, often referred to as TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, has a livestreaming service that revolutionises the way products are introduced to potential buyers. It utilises the app’s interest-based e-commerce model to create a seamless journey from sparking initial interest to completing a purchase. Luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci have found great success using this social commerce platform.

Douyin Social Commerce Journey

Step 1: Content

Step 2: Interest

Step 3: Purchase

One of the reasons for Douyin’s popularity among younger consumers in China is its accessibility. The platform makes it easy for well-known Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to promote products, and this often results in direct sales. For instance, a recent livestreaming event featuring NBA star James Harden led to 10,000 bottles of wine being sold in just 10 seconds.

Moreover, Douyin offers attractive features like the Flagship Store and Global Choice, further solidifying its position as both a personal and commercial platform. This unique combination of features has contributed to Douyin’s success as a powerful tool for businesses looking to engage with their audience and drive sales.

Taobao Live (淘宝直播)

Taobao Live, Alibaba’s short-video platform, as rapidly grown to become China’s biggest B2C platform since its launch in 2016. It stands out as the dominant livestreaming platform in China, accounting for a remarkable 80% of all e-commerce livestreaming transactions in the country. 

One key factor contributing to Taobao Live’s success is its wide-ranging selection of affordable products. Coupled with its remarkably fast supply chain response, the platform simplifies the process for livestreamers to swiftly showcase, review, and sell a multitude of products to their dedicated audiences.

Kuaishou (快手)

Luxury brands have traditionally focused their marketing efforts on platforms like Douyin. However, Kuaishou, backed by Tencent, has been making a significant impact with its 673 million monthly active users (MAUs) and nearly US$4 billion in revenue during the second quarter of 2023.

What makes Kuaishou stand out from Douyin is its unique user base and product offerings. Kuaishou primarily serves users in lower-tier cities and small towns. This presents an exciting opportunity for brands looking to reach this demographic, especially considering that less prominent regions like Hubei, Fujian, and Yunnan have seen a substantial 10% increase in consumer goods sales.

Chinese e-commerce experts predict that the most significant consumer growth will continue to happen in these smaller cities in China.

Tencent Video (騰訊視頻)

Tencent Video, owned by the Chinese tech giant responsible for WeChat , stands as one of China’s largest online video platforms. Since its launch in 2020, it has quickly garnered a staggering 800 million users in just 3 years. Notably, it ranks as the world’s fourth-largest video platform, trailing only behind Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+.

This platform offers a diverse range of content, including movies, TV series, documentaries, animations, short videos, and sports events. What sets Tencent Video apart is its unique feature that enables users to interact, share recommendations, and engage in discussions with one another.

In 2012, two former competitors, Youku and Tudou, joined forces to create the popular online video platform known as Youku Tudou.

Youku Tudou now dominates the Chinese online video market, boasting a remarkable 60% market share. It stands as one of China’s premier platforms for online video streaming.

Comparisons are often drawn between Youku Tudou and YouTube, given their similarities. However, it’s essential to recognize that they operate differently. While YouTube relies heavily on user-generated content, Youku Tudou functions more like Hulu or Netflix. It invests in creating its own content and also offers a wide range of licensed TV shows, movies, and documentaries.

FAQs: Navigating China's Livestreaming Landscape for Global Brands

How can international brands navigate China's regulatory landscape?

International brands must comply with China’s stringent content regulations and censorship laws. Navigating these challenges involves obtaining necessary licenses and partnering with local entities to ensure compliance. Brands should also stay informed about the ever-evolving regulatory environment to adapt quickly to any changes.

WPIC offers expertise in aligning brand content with regulatory requirements , ensuring that marketing strategies are both effective and compliant with Chinese standards.

What strategies can brands use to analyze and engage with Chinese audiences?

By leveraging WPIC’s data and analytics tools , global brands can deeply understand user engagement and preferences on China’s dynamic livestreaming platforms. These insights enable the creation of highly tailored content that resonates with trends, demographics, and viewer behaviors.

This strategic approach not only enhances marketing efficacy but also significantly boosts relevancy among the diverse and rapidly evolving Chinese audience, ensuring that brands can effectively connect and engage with their target markets.

What are the costs of establishing a presence on these platforms?

Brands must consider platform fees, content creation costs, and partnerships with local influencers. Additional expenses might include commissions and mandatory local partnerships for compliance, impacting overall budgeting.

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6 Chinese Streaming Platforms to Amplify Your Business

The video hosting aspect of most Chinese streaming platforms means that your brand can reach millions of internet users in China and around the world. Short videos are an excellent way to capture the attention of online consumers for foreign brands in China using unique and dynamic ways.

China Gravy covers the video hosting aspects of Chinese streaming platforms and what it means for digital marketing success for foreign brands interested in updating their online presence in the largest market worldwide.

The Asset of Video Hosting on Chinese Streaming Platforms

Online videos are such regular occurrences in our everyday lives that it is often hard to remember that it was only 16 years ago, in 2005, that YouTube uploaded its first-ever video . Since then, viral videos and the integration of digital video content onto major online and mobile platforms have remained a constant trend.

By December 2020, the world of online video content in China had amassed a market size of approximately 927 million users and is on track to generate 100 billion RBM (15.6 billion USD) by 2022.  

As more online video platforms emerge, the market has split into two respective markets: live streaming platforms and short-form videos.

• Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Youku were the largest Chinese streaming platforms as of 2019, holding 79% of online video market shares . 
• At the same time, Douyin and Kuaishou maintained their lead within the short-form video market with 62.7% of the market shares .

So, what does that mean for your business?

Benefits of Streaming Platforms in China for Your Business

So just how does video hosting on Chinese streaming platforms benefit online businesses?

1. Enhanced interaction and relationship builder

For one, potential consumers and businesses can use the platforms as an enhanced interaction and relationship builder, in which consumers can learn more about unique ecommerce goods and the features that make them competitive to other similar items. 

Companies may use these platforms to address questions or concerns, offer relevant information, and offer special deals to those that engage with active content during ecommerce live streaming or hosted short video clips, generating more leads.

2. PGC & UGC to address actual needs

Second, as users flock to the platforms for the popular video programs, referred to as Professional Generated Content (PGC), they also come across User Generated Content (UGC) by foreign brands that they might not have encountered before. 

This “digital shopping” experience within the live streaming platforms’ environment means that consumers are coming to businesses rather than the traditional outreach companies usually need to perform with traditional advertisements.

3. Word-of-mouth marketing through shareable content

More importantly, the social aspect that comes with video hosting capabilities on Chinese streaming platforms can benefit businesses greatly. Unlike when a customer buys a product in a physical store, online users are more likely to share content and products they are interested in or have purchased themselves on other social media platforms. 

For online businesses, word-of-mouth can be an effective way to achieve lead generation goals and funnel them into productive Call to Actions (CTAs) or build up a reputation for being experts in their respective industries.

Streaming Platforms in China

The Chinese streaming platforms are not all the same and digital marketers might mistake all live video platforms to be the same. While YouTube boasts over 2 billion logged-in users monthly , it is blocked in China and has given rise to a surge in new and popular Chinese video platform alternatives .

Yet, simply picking one platform over another for the Chinese market simply because of the user base may not give your particular brand an edge over the competition. 

For Western businesses, there are two options when it comes to using video content for digital marketing. The first is to host directly on your own website. However, video and website settings must be optimized for speed, not to mention the need to still find effective marketing techniques that bring viewers to your website to engage with your content. 

The other option is to host your videos on Chinese streaming platforms, which already have a large user base, and compete with other video content on the same platforms. But a thing to consider is the amount of ads that may be displayed on video streaming sites, which may be even more lengthy as those found on Western video platforms. 

Discover some of the top streaming platforms options to host videos from your company in 2021 and how they can help you reach the right audience for your brand.

1. Tencent Video

Did you know that Tencent Video is one of the largest online video platforms in China with a daily user base of 120.7 million ? Both the internet and mobile versions rank the highest among competing Chinese streaming platforms and have landed them the opportunity to produce their own content as well as co-produce popular international content with the likes of BBC.

For digital marketers, Tencent Video not only provides a large audience on their platform to engage through video hosting in special areas such as games, sports, and music but also acts as an ecommerce platform important for lead generation and sales .

Digital marketers know the huge success of Baidu, the largest search engine in the Chinese market, and its video streaming platform is another distinct tool useful for digital marketing. 

With 174 million monthly unique visitors , iQiyi is second among Chinese streaming platforms, generating a short partnership in 2016 with Netflix and also leading to the nickname “Netflix of China”. Sports, news, and games are the highlighted content found on iQiyi beyond film and television.

Given Youku ’s 144 million unique visitors , it is no surprise it landed the streaming rights for the FIFA World Cup in 2018 . Since being acquired by Alibaba, China’s most important ecommerce platform, Youku has been dubbed the “Youtube of China”. 

More accurately, Youku is an internet television company that offers foreign brands the chance to shine in UGC with a mass-marketing approach.

4. BiliBili

BiliBili is the newcomer among Chinese streaming platforms, and in actuality is closer to a short-video platform. One of the unique aspects of the platform is that it is heavily dominated by UGC. 

In fact, BiliBili is hailed as the closest of all the top video platforms to YouTube even though it is one of the newest on the scene, stealing the title from Youku. It currently has 170 million monthly active users which enjoy its crossover as a mobile gaming platform as well as the live comment feature that allows viewers to see user comments appear during the video. 

Other growing areas of content are focused on food and travel as well as collaborations with content creators for younger audiences. B2B marketing often prefers the platform over others for the potential it offers for advertising and its large-scale popularity among Chinese consumers.

5. Other Platforms: Kuaishou and Douyin

In terms of short-video platforms, Kuaishou and Douyin are also extremely effective digital marketing tools for foreign companies. The success of both has demonstrated the increasing trend of young consumers relying heavily on social platforms to engage with all types of brands and influencers. 

Kuaishou jumped up in usage and had obtained more than 820 million monthly active users . One of the biggest advantages for digital businesses is the platform’s reach into smaller towns and lower-tier cities, which opens up a new range of potential audience outreach.

Douyin /TikTok, is no stranger to Western businesses and online users, averaging more than 400 million monthly users globally and 300 million in China alone. Find out more about the craze of Douyin and how to best market to its unique audience in this article .

While Kuaishou and Douyin center on short videos, their impact, and potential alongside Chinese streaming platforms should not be discounted.

Chinese Streaming Platforms – The Takeaway

Western businesses have many options when it comes to selecting the right Chinese streaming platform or short-video platform. However, setting up your platforms and understanding how to target specific audiences within the platforms might seem daunting. This is where China Gravy comes in!

China Gravy is a digital marketing agency that can help you showcase your brand to the right audience using Chinese streaming platforms as an effective marketing tool for a Chinese audience. Let us help you narrow down your selection of optimal platforms or get set up on the short-video platforms of Kuaishou and Douyin, providing you with more B2C cost-efficient solutions over search engine marketing. 

Contact our digital marketing professionals to learn more about the various platforms and, after thorough consultation over your business goals, discover tailor-made strategies to achieve success in China and its extensive global communities.

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Chinese Movies Online – LTL’s Top 10 Chinese Streaming Sites

Watch chinese movies online – ltl’s ultimate list of chinese streaming sites .

Looking for the very best places to watch Chinese movies online ?

Don’t worry, we got you.

We’ve put together the ultimate list of sites for watching Chinese movies online and Chinese TV shows online.

Whether you’re looking to practice your Mandarin or simply to indulge in some Chinese entertainment, the following websites will give you everything you’re looking for.

#1 YouTube Chinese Movies #2 Netflix Chinese Movies #3 Baidu Chinese Movies #4 Youku Chinese TV Shows #5 BiliBili Chinese Youtube #6 CCTV Chinese Movies #7 Tudou Free Chinese TV Shows #8 Iqiyi Free Chinese Movies #9 MGTV Chinese Streaming #10 ACfun Chinese Videos

Let’s start with the most obvious.

#1 YouTube Chinese Movies

If it wasn’t your first choice for Chinese movies online, it certainly should be!

You’ll find no shortage of Chinese Movies on YouTube , it has everything ranging from classic films to contemporary blockbusters, and you can find both subtitled and dubbed versions.

There is now also a Google chrome extension called Language Learning with YouTube that allows you to view two set of subtitles making it even easier to watch Chinese content on YouTube!

Pros of YouTube Chinese movies:

• Huge amount of options available!

Cons of Youtube Chinese movies:

• Some Chinese movies on YouTube may have low-quality video or audio, especially if they are older or have been uploaded by individuals
• Some Chinese movies may be blocked in certain countries due to licensing agreements, so you may need to use a VPN to access them.

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#2 Netflix Chinese Movies

A somewhat obvious choice – but one that’s definitely worth exploring! Netflix offers a huge range of Chinese movies and TV shows, including both Cantonese and Mandarin language!

To find Chinese movies on Netflix, you can search for them using the search bar or browse through the “International Movies” or “Asian Movies” categories.

Some hugely popular Chinese movies currently available on Netflix include “ Ip Man ,” “ The Wandering Earth ,” and “ Tigertail .”

You’ll have hundreds of options to choose from. If you need help with the translations Chinese and English subtitles are available.

Want an even bigger challenge?

Change the language settings to Mandarin! You’ll have no choice but to read Mandarin all over your Netflix account and you’ll be watching all your favourite TV shows with Chinese subtitles.

There is also a great extension called Language Learning with Netflix which makes practicing your Chinese with Netflix even easier!

We have created a comprehensive list of all the Chinese Movies on Netflix !

Pros of Chinese Netflix:

• Huge amount of options available with regular updates
• High quality picture and sound

Cons of Chinese Netflix:

• Difficult to search by genre other than ‘Chinese’ film.
• Availability of Chinese movies on Netflix may vary depending on your location

#3 Baidu Chinese Movies

You’ll do no better than Baidu for a healthy collection of free Chinese dramas and movies online.

Baidu is a lot like the Google of China with functions such as search, maps, translate and you guessed it, video !

Strictly speaking, Baidu is a search engine, but it still functions as a great gateway to lots of Chinese movies.

Be warned, they do love to add a compulsory 60 second commercial at the beginning of each clip.

However, if you’ve come here to practice listening to Chinese, watching a 1-minute Chinese commercial isn’t the end of the world.

Pros of Baidu Chinese Movies:

• Plenty of Chinese films and Chinese TV shows available!
• Baidu will also provide links to shorter videos and livestreams

Cons of Baidu Chinese Movies:

• Text on screen without a paid subscription.

#4 Youku Chinese TV Shows

Youku is popular a blend of YouTube and Netflix . You’ll find plenty of clips similar to YouTube but also full-length episodes of Chinese TV shows for lots of genres like drama and reality television.

Similar to YouTube, there is a premium service allowing you to view all content. However, you can always see free Chinese Movies online and free Chinese tv shows by clicking on the ‘free’ tab on the home page.

Pros of Youku Chinese TV Shows

• Similar navigation to Youtube.
• Youku has an app you can use on your phone for viewing on the go!

Cons of Youku Chinese TV Shows

• Need VIP membership to watch movies.
• Frequent commercials.

#5 BiliBili Chinese YouTube

Bilibili is a Chinese video sharing website that focuses on anime, comics, and games (ACG) culture and with more than 200 million users , it’s no small site!

Bilibili also features content related to technology, education, and lifestyle.

Similar to YouTube, you’ll find unlimited short clips in categories like funny, life, music, animation and much more!

You can certainly gain a lot of insight into Chinese life, culture and language on BiliBili.

Check out the live video section! Similar to YouTube, BiliBili allows users to watch a live stream of users on the platform.

Pros of BiliBili Chinese YouTube

• Great selection of Chinese videos to choose from.

Cons of BiliBili Chinese YouTube

• Difficult site navigation but you can find some internet gems.

#6 CCTV Chinese Movies

To watch TV and movies on CCTV, you can visit the CCTV website or download the CCTV app.

CCTV offers a variety of channels, including news, documentaries, entertainment, and sports. You can select the channel you are interested in and then choose the program you want to watch.

CCTV also has a video-on-demand service that allows you to watch previously aired programs at any time. You can search for specific programs or browse through the available categories.

Pros of CCTV Chinese TV Shows

• Great way to watch Chinese news media.
• Lets you keep up with modern day hot topics in China

Cons of CCTV Chinese TV Shows

• English subtitles might not be available – we’d recommend CCTV for more advanced learnes!

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#7 Tudou Free Chinese TV Shows

If you’re willing to push through the 60-second commercials popping up every 10 minutes, Tudou is a great way to watch Chinese dramas online and other Chinese TV shows.

Typically, you’ll see all the latest and greatest on the home page.

You’ll be able to check out other categories like Chinese music videos and anime.

Pros of Tudou Chinese TV Shows

• Good for watching short clips from Chinese Movies
• Great Chinese TV show recommendations.

Cons of Tudou Chinese TV Shows

• Can be difficult to navigate your way around the site, but hang in there!

#8 iQiyi Free Chinese Movies

iQiyi offers a wide range of media including Chinese TV and Chinese movies online!

It was launched in 2010 by Baidu and is now one of the most popular video streaming platforms in the country, with a vast library of both domestic and international content.

iQiyi offers both free and paid subscriptions, with the paid subscription providing access to more exclusive content and features, such as ad-free viewing and higher quality video.

The platform also includes original programming produced by iQiyi itself, as well as live broadcasting of major sports events and concerts.

They’ve recently launched some really high quality TV shows that have become huge hits, such as The Bad Kids .

Pros of Iqiyi Chinese TV Shows

• Fast loading
• Easy Navigation

Cons of Iqiyi Chinese TV Shows

• Long commercials at the beginning of videos
• Depending on your region, some content may be restricted

#9 MGTV Chinese Streaming

Mango TV (芒果TV) is a Chinese video streaming platform that offers a wide range of content, including TV dramas, variety shows, movies, and documentaries.

It is known for its popular reality TV shows and talent competitions , such as “ The Voice of China “.

Mango TV also produces original content and has partnerships with major studios in China to provide exclusive content to its users.

The site has relatively  easy navigation menus compared to most Chinese streaming sites. There are plenty of free Chinese shows to watch. Just be sure to skip the videos labelled VIP to avoid having to pay.

You don’t have to look too far for a good Chinese TV show. Trending programs are always on the home page.

Pros of MGTV Chinese Streaming

• Wide selection of TV shows.
• Good recommendations on home page.

Cons of MGTV Chinese Streaming

#10 ACfun Chinese Videos

Our final site recommendation for free online Chinese TV shows is ACfun.

ACfun (short for Anime Comic fun) originally focused on anime, manga, and other forms of animation, but has since expanded to include a wider range of content, such as gaming, music, and live-action videos.

The site features user-generated content, including videos, images, and text posts. Users can create their own channels and upload their own content, as well as comment and interact with other users.

ACfun also hosts a variety of online events and contests, and has a community forum where users can discuss various topics – excellent language practice!

You’ll have to endure the 60-second commercials at the beginning of most videos, BUT hey, for free Chinese learning material, we’ll take it.

Pros of ACfun Chinese videos

• There is a wide selection of TV shows.

Cons of ACfun Chinese videos

• You’ll need to pay for premium access to all Chinese TV shows.

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Read our guide to the differences between YouTube vs YouKu and find out which one is better.

Chinese Movies Online – FAQ’s

You can but you need to use a VPN to access it.

YouTube is banned in China , amongst a number of other popular social media websites. Therefore, the only way to access these is by using a VPN.

Here is a full list of banned websites in China .

China has it’s own version of YouTube which is called YouKu (优酷 yōu kù).

Additionally, you’ll be able to watch Chinese drama, news and documentaries!

We sure do! Find every single Chinese movie available on Netflix here .

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[…] Chinese Movies Online – LTL’s Ultimate List of Chinese Streaming Sites […]

Awesome post, really useful things for living in China. Thanks LTL

No problem, thanks for your feedback Anne.

[…] Source […]

[…] TV subtitles which is actually another great way to learn Chinese free now we think about it… watching Chinese movies! Let’s come onto that one […]

[…] Not sure how you can watch these films in China? Have a look at our list of Chinese streaming sites. […]

Good post. Never knew some of these

Pleasure, there is plenty more for you to enjoy also Isaac!

[…] doesn’t have the rights to stream it’s entire movie and TV catalogue to all […]

[…] Chinese Movies Online – LTL’s Ultimate List of Chinese Streaming Sites (LTL Mandarin School) […]

[…] I watch TV shows and movies in your target […]

Cheers mate nice post

Our pleasure!

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I was looking for a list like this, thank you LTL

[…] è possibile trovare questo film Cinese in streaming ora. Forse il motivo si riferisce alla citazione di cui sopra […]

[…] il film ha incassato più di 3 miliardi di CNY al botteghino cinese e ha recensioni molto alte su le piattaforme di streaming di film cinesi, come ad esempio su Youku dove ha un punteggio pari a 9,6 su […]

[…] series is also available to watch on the Chinese streaming site […]

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12 Best Chinese Movie Sites (Free) in 2024 (With English Subtitles)

Movies are a great source of entertainment for many, to the extent that they have a vast collection of movies.

Even OTT platforms these days offer many movies from different film industries, languages, nations, and regions.

Chinese movies are very popular on the internet for their diversity and stories depth.

This is because China is the home of the largest movie and drama production houses in the entire world.

These Chinese movies are available in popular genres including action, drama, horror, war, animation, horror, history, and biography.

So, if you are a fan of Chinese movies or wish to practice Mandarin (the official language of China), then you have come to the right place.

Here, we’re providing you with the best Chinese movie sites to watch Chinese movies for free online with English subtitles.

Best Chinese Movie Sites

• 1. iQiyi (Free/Paid)

iQiyi is a great way to watch Chinese movies. Launched by Baidu in 2010, the website offers a vast library of Chinese as well as international content.

Many say that it is the Netflix of China. On iQiyi, movies are distinctly categorized as either free or paid, while TV series are typically free up to a specific episode.

You will get up to a minute-long ad as a free viewer to stream Chinese movies here.

Also, if you can bear ads in between Chinese movies and TV shows, then it’s a great app.

With the paid subscription, you can enjoy an ad-free experience with high video quality.

iQiyi also provides its own produced content on its platform.

Visit: iQiyi

• 2. Netflix (Paid)

The second on this list is the very obvious – the world’s largest streaming site Netflix .

Netflix has a vast collection of Chinese movies and TV shows. The user interface is simple and interactive.

To find out the movies on Netflix, you can simply search for them in the search bar. Or, can explore in “International Movies” or “Asian Movies” categories easily.

The website offers a paid subscription, and you can enjoy movies or TV shows only after paying the subscription fee.

The subscription plans vary from country to country. There is a free trial here, but it is available in a few regions, owing to submitting your payment information.

Visit: Netflix

• 3. Baidu (Free/Paid)

Baidu is next on this list with its vast collection of authentic Chinese movies and TV shows.

The site is more like a Google of China, where you can search for anything (including Chinese movies). In short, it’s a search engine (not “only” a streaming site).

So, everything on the Chinese internet related to Chinese movies and TV shows will appear after one search.

The UI is similar to Google.

The only downside we see is, that Baidu is banned in some countries.

Visit:  Baidu

• 4. Youku (Free/Paid)

The popular mixture of YouTube and Netflix, Youku is another excellent option for the best Chinese movie site.

There, you can find plenty of Chinese movies and TV shows for free and by paying a subscription fee as well.

The UI is similar to YouTube and you will find yourself comfortable with the interface.

Although, it is banned in some countries. But, still, you can enjoy the website using a VPN.

So, if you’re looking for a mixture of a Chinese version of YouTube and Netflix, Youku is something you can consider.

Visit: Youku

• 5. Bilibili (Free)

Bilibili is one of the biggest websites for Chinese movies and TV shows.

According to some stats, it has more than 100 million users worldwide.

Bilibili mainly focuses on comics, anime, and games, while being the biggest Chinese video-sharing website. Users can share, view, and comment on the videos.

The website is just like YouTube where you can find plenty of Chinese culture-based movies, TV shows, short videos, and more.

Visit:  Bilibili

• 6. CCTV (Free/Paid)

Next on the list is the CCTV website. It is a China-based broadcaster with the full form of China Central Television .

It offers a variety of channels, ranging from news and documentaries to sports and entertainment.

CCTV also offers a video-on-demand service. It means you can enjoy a lot of Chinese movies and TV shows.

The website is very popular globally. You can even dive deep into the news of China and hot topics related to it.

So, we can conclude that CCTV is a mixture of news and entertainment, and anybody can have access to it as it is legal to watch globally.

Visit: CCTV

• 7. YouTube (Free)

The first is YouTube , which has thousands of movies in Mandarin.

YouTube is not only the second-largest search engine after Google, but, also has a wide variety of Chinese movies.

From classic films to blockbusters, you can easily find Chinese movies here for free.

The user interface is nice on multiple platforms, apart from their website.

You can watch Chinese movies for free on their platform. It even lets you watch them without ads by subscribing to the premium plan.

Many movies are already available in dubbed form with subtitles. This makes it easy for the users to understand movies on their own.

Visit: YouTube

• 8. Mango TV (Free/Paid)

So next on the list is Mango TV . It’s a great Chinese video-streaming platform which is offering content related to Chinese movies, dramas, and TV shows.

Mango TV is known for its popular reality TV show “The Voice of China.” It also produces its exclusive content with the partnership of major studios in China.

Visit:  Mango TV

• 9. WeTV (Free/Paid)

WeTV, owned by Tencent, is a free TV streaming site with Chinese shows and English subtitles.

You can watch Chinese movies and shows for free and without an account.

One of the standout features of WeTV is the provision of English subtitles, making it easier for non-Chinese speakers to understand and enjoy the movies

It is reliable and has good quality. Besides TV shows, they have live streams, game videos, and popular Tencent comics.

Visit: WeTV

• 10. Tencent Video(Free/Paid)

Tencent Video is a streaming giant for Chinese movies and TV shows. You will find one of the widest collection here.

From blockbuster hits to indie films, and historical epics to modern dramas, the platform offers a wide range to cater to various tastes.

Most movies on Tencent Video come with Mandarin audio. However, to cater to the international audience and the Chinese audience globally, many films also feature English and sometimes other language subtitles.

As a registered user, you can comment on content, share your favorite movies, and even engage with movie stars or creators during specific events or premieres.

It is available only in China and Hong Kong due to geo-restrictions, so you might need a VPN when accessing from other areas.

Also, you can join their YouTube channel and become a member. They actively upload popular Chinese movies and shows for members.

Visit: Tencent Video

11. Asiancrush (Free/Paid)

AsianCrush boasts a vast collection where you can watch Chinese movies and TV shows.

They offer hundreds of Chinese films that you can stream for free, all complete with English subtitles.

Additionally, their articles on celebrities, cultural insights, and interviews are a delightful read for passionate movie fans.

AsianCrush has a community feel, with user ratings and reviews, helping guide viewers toward top-rated or popular content.

Along with that, you will see a lot of Indie films. As a viewer, you can get exposure to not just mainstream hits but also hidden gems from the Chinese film industry.

Visit: Asiancrush

• 12. Prime Video

Amazon’s Prime video has steadily grown its collection of Chinese films. Now you can watch Chinese movies for free, without payment extra.

Most Chinese movies on Prime Video come with English subtitles, and in some regions, other language subtitles are available,

It hosts an array of Chinese movies spanning different genres – from action-packed martial arts films to heart-wrenching dramas, historical epics, and contemporary romantic comedies.

They also offer the latest Chinese movies that have just concluded their theatre run. You can rent them apart from your library and watch it for a long time.

Visit: Prime Video

• Best Chinese Movies of All Time
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
• Infernal Affairs
• Hero (2002)
• Enter the Dragon (1973)
• Chungking Express
• In the Mood for Love
• Farewell My Concubine
• The Mermaid
• Happy Together
• What is the name of the Chinese movie industry?

The name of the Chinese movie industry is Chinawood.

• Which is the most popular Chinese movie site?

The most popular Chinese movie site in terms of free content is YouTube, and for paid it is Youku.

• Which are the free Chinese movie sites?

YouTube and Bilibili are entirely free Chinese movie sites on the internet.

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Table Of Contents

• 11. Asiancrush(Free/Paid)

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Terms of use

Use this tool to add tone marks to pinyin or to convert tone number (e.g. hao3) to tone marks.

Although you can use the red buttons to add tone marks, we highly recommend you use the number method (e.g. hao3) for speed and placement of the accent above the correct vowel. [Hint: Type "v" for "ü"] Note: You do not need to use this tool to enter pinyin in this dictionary.

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Top 10 Most Popular Chinese Websites (UPDATED)

Our original article on the top 10 most popular Chinese websites, was posted back in 2014 by the lovely Bethany. Although many of the pages in our original list are still some of the ‘most popular Chinese websites’, so much has changed online in the last few years, that it was time for the ‘Top 10 Most Popular Chinese Websites v2.0’.

This time, we’re not going to give you ‘10’ websites, we’re going to give you 10 categories of websites.

not only has China’s technology changed, but Written Chinese has developed too with new apps, tools, team members, and thoughts and so we wanted to add some more information (and a video) in order to help you utilize and enjoy Chinese websites!

It is also fair to add that many people have now moved over from websites to their respective app versions, keep your eyes peeled for ‘popular app’ blog post!

Don’t be put off by many of these sites being in Chinese, even if you’re a beginner you can learn to navigate the sites by using a translator or dictionary to learn new characters. If you’re using a web browser, you can translate the characters using the Written Chinese online dictionary

With China’s “Great Firewall” blocking many websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, you may wonder what Chinese people use to navigate the internet.  Below are the top ten Chinese websites and what kind of services they provide.

1. Search Engines

Baidu http://www.baidu.com/ 百度 (bǎi dù).

Baidu 百度 (bǎi dù) is still the most popular search engine in China.  It is also an excellent place to download pictures, music, and watch TV shows.  Because of copyright concerns, however, a lot of this material is not available in other countries.

Bing cn.bing.com 必应 ( bì yìng)

Qi Lu, Microsoft’s Online Services President translated Bing into Chinese as 必应 (bì yìng) meaning ‘likely to answer’. Bing’s simplistic design includes a dictionary that translates many languages.

2. Social Networks

Qq qq.com 腾讯网 (téng xùn wǎng).

QQ 腾讯网 (téng xùn wǎng) is well known for its instant messaging service that is similar to ICQ or MSN messenger. The website offers other services as well, such as email, news, music, shopping, and games.  Once you have created a QQ account, you can also register for “QQ Zone”, something similar to Facebook where you can post things on a wall that your friends can read.

Although people still use QQ.com as a source of news and information, Tencent is now more widely known (and used) for its mobile apps such as WeChat (China’s popular messenger service).

Weibo weibo.com 微博 (wēi bó)

Weibo 微博 (wēi bó) is China’s version of Twitter.  Users can create a public account that their friends “follow” and posts follow the same 140-character limit.  Chinese celebrities are very popular people to follow on Weibo. Weibo accounts can be viewed on the web and on the very-popular mobile version.

Weibo now has a new feature called 长微博 (cháng wēi bó, basically ‘long blog’) that allows users to now post longer articles with images.

Zhihu zhihu.com 知乎 (zhī hū)

In classical Chinese, 知乎 (zhī hū) means ‘do you know?’ and is a question and answer style set, similar to Quora.com. It’s frequently used to ask experts specialized questions on a variety of topics.

3. News and Email

These are the three most popular news sites that also include email in China.

Sina sina.com.cn 新浪网 (xīn làng wǎng)

Sina 新浪网 (xīn làng wǎng) is the most formal of the three and is the choice for broadcasting government-related news. Although dense with information, there are sections that cover entertainment, fashion, finance and sports articles. There’s also an amusing GIF section and featured videos.

NetEase 163.com 网易 (wǎng yì)

NetEase 网易 (wǎng yì) was once well known for its blogging service, but since the advent of Weibo, it has waned in popularity. NetEase is more accessible than Sina as far as information consumption is concerned. As well as local and national news, NetEase covers health advice, household and tourism.

Sohu sohu.com 搜狐 (sōu hú)

Sohu 搜狐 (sōu hú) is most well known for its Chinese-input method, Sogou .  Sogou has an enormous word database that constantly adjusts to new slang and emerging words in science and technology-related fields.

IFENG.com ifeng.com 凤凰网 ( fèng huáng wǎng)

Huangqiu.com huanqiu.com 环球网 ( huán qiú wǎng), the paper thepaper.cn 澎湃新闻 ( péng pài xīn wén).

The Paper 澎湃新闻 ( péng pài xīn wén) has a more contemporary method of providing news and is easier to read than other more traditional news sites.

4. Shopping

Taobao taobao.com 淘宝网 (táo bǎo wǎng)

You can find anything you want on Taobao 淘宝网 (táo bǎo wǎng) and likely it is very cheap!  Packages come through the 快递 (kuàidì) or express delivery service in a matter of days.  Other online markets, such as Amazon, have a hard time competing with the success of Taobao.

JD jd.com 京东 (jīng dōng)

Although Taobao is still extremely popular, other sites such as JD.com 京东 (jīng dōng) , have also popped up recently as a more reliable source of genuine products. People are now using JD.com to buy fresh food , such as vegetables, fruits, meat and seafood.

Amazon amazon.cn 亚马逊 (yà mǎ xùn)

Amazon.cn 亚马逊 (yà mǎ xùn) has also become more popular lately, due to it’s handy ‘pay on delivery’ service. You can now order from amazon.com and get fast delivery from the USA and other western countries.

Youku  youku.com/ 优酷 (yōu kù)

Essentially, Youku 优酷 (yōu kù) is China’s version of YouTube.  It is very popular for watching Chinese dramas, music videos, and other popular videos of the day. There are more and more shows and films from the UK, USA and Korea and Youku have recently started to add an inexpensive subscription for access to brand new movies and unreleased tv series’.

iQIYI iqiyi.com 爱奇艺视频 ( ài qí yì shì pín )

There are now many more websites for watching TV shows and movies that are becoming more and more popular. Some shows may not be available on Youku, but you can bet they’ll be on iQIYI 爱奇艺视频 (ài qí yì shì pín). You can watch some of our favorite shows, such as iSupermodel !

芒果TV mgtv.com/ 芒果TV ( máng guǒ TV)

芒果TV (máng guǒ TV) not only includes tv shows and movies but also music videos, documentaries, and educational shows. Mango TV is owned by one of the most famous Chinese TV channels, 湖南卫视 Hunan TV.

Biliblil bilibili.com 哔哩哔哩 ( bì li bì li)

Bilibili 哔哩哔哩 ( bì li bì li) is a video website almost exclusively for anime and animation. It has recently become well known for Chinese vloggers uploading their own lifestyle, travel, cooking and advice vlogs .

QQ Video https://v.qq.com/  腾讯视频 ( téng xùn shì pín)

腾讯视频 ( téng xùn shì pín) is another member of the Tencent family, where you can stream a whole host of movies, tv shows and animations from China and abroad. If you use the app, you can download the shows and watch them offline!

Like many western websites and tools, Dropbox is also blocked in China. However, there is a Chinese version named pan.baidu (百度云) becoming more and more popular, especially to share media such as TV shows. People often share their content on Baidu so that others can download movies and other things more difficult to access in China.

Use these sites and apps to find new, trending music in China. Most have a good database of music from all over the world, including lesser-known artists. Some allow you to download tracks and play them offline.

NetEase Music http://music.163.com/ 网易云音乐 (wǎng yì yún yīn yuè)

Small shrimp music http://www.xiami.com/ 虾米音乐 (xiā mǐ yīn yuè).

QQ Music https://y.qq.com/ QQ音乐 (QQ yīn yuè)

Yinyue tai http://www.yinyuetai.com/ 音悦台 (yīn yuè tái), the himalayas fm http://www.ximalaya.com/ 喜马拉雅fm (xǐ mǎ lā yǎ fm), dragonfly fm http://www.qingting.fm/ 蜻蜓fm (qīng tíng fm), 7. travel and tourism, ctrip http://www.ctrip.com/ 携程 ( xié chéng).

携程 (xié chéng) is the most popular Chinese website for booking flights, hotels, group tours, and other travel services. You can view the site in multiple languages, great if you’re traveling around China!

去哪儿? https://www.qunar.com/ 去哪儿? (qù nǎr)

As more and more Chinese people are travelling abroad, their website options to compare prices are also increasing. qunar.com also has an English version named qua.com .

AliTrip https://www.alitrip.com/ 飞猪 (fēi zhū)

With a flying pig as its logo,  飞猪 (fēi zhū )  Alitrip is not only one of China’s popular websites for booking flights and hotels, it’s also a popular mobile app.

Travel Guides

Ma feng wo http://www.mafengwo.cn/ 马蜂窝 (mǎ fēng wō).

马蜂窝  (mǎ fēng wō) is a travel search engine, which provides the user with suggestions for accommodation, restaurants and even how to get wifi. There are tons of reviews from people who have tried and tested these recommendations.

QYER http://www.qyer.com/ 穷游网 (qióng yóu wǎng)

Search for a city and view a mini guide for that place. There are ‘top 10s’ for each category, such as places to stay, places to eat and places to visit, etc.

8. Entertainment  & Life

My wonderful colleague, Chamcen, let me into what I believe to be (until now) a secret for most non-Chinese people. Sites similar to Groupon that offer discount codes and offers are becoming more prevalent in China and here are two to have a look at: dian ping (大众点评团) and Mei Tuan (美团). Because who doesn’t like a BOGOF now and again!

The following sites provide suggestions and reviews for restaurants, services, movie tickets, SPA and salons, take-out and group-purchases, just to name a few!

Dian Ping http://www.dianping.com/ 大众点评 (dà zhòng diǎn píng)

Mei Tuan www.meituan.com 美团网 (měi tuán wǎng)

Nuo mi www.nuomi.com 糯米网 (nuò mǐ wǎng).

For maps in China, try these two options. 高德地图 is a clean easy-to-read map, with obvious symbols to indicate metro stations and areas of interest. There’s also a slight 3D look so that you can tell where buildings are.

Baidu Maps http://map.baidu.com/ 百度地图 (bǎi dù dì tú)

Gaode maps http://ditu.amap.com/ 高德地图 (gāo dé dì tú), 10. recipes and cooking.

Xia Chufang http://www.xiachufang.com/ 下厨房 (xià chú fáng)

Follow user-added recipes with clear ingredient lists and pictures of each recipe step.

You can search for recipes by meal time, ingredient, occasion and consumer.

Have any other favorite Chinese websites? Please leave a comment below.

About WrittenChinese

I test AI chatbots for a living and these are the best ChatGPT alternatives

Claude 3, Gemini and more all impress

• Best overall: Claud 3

Best for Live Data: Google Gemini

Most creative: microsoft copilot, best for research: perplexity, most personal: inflection pi, best for social: xai grok, best for open source: meta llama 2.

Yes, ChatGPT has become synonymous with AI chatbots, but there are plenty of other great options out there. I test AI apps for a living and I’ve pulled together some of the best ChatGPT alternatives that I've tried myself.

Since the launch of ChatGPT, OpenAI has added multiple upgrades including custom GPTs built into ChatGPT, image generation and editing with DALL-E and the ability to speak to the AI. You can even use it without an account .

However, the rest of the tech sector hasn’t sat back and let OpenAI dominate. Some of its competitors equal or exceed the abilities of ChatGPT and others offer features it doesn’t. From Claude and Google Gemini to Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity, these are the best ChatGPT alternatives right now. 

Best Overall: Anthropic Claud 3

Claude 3 is the most human chatbot I’ve ever interacted with . Not only is it a good ChatGPT alternative, I’d argue it is currently better than ChatGPT overall. It has better reasoning and persuasion and isn’t as lazy. It will create a full app or write an entire story.

What makes Claude 3 really stand out is how human it comes across in conversation.

The context window for Claude 3 is also one of the largest of any AI chatbot with a default of about 200,000, rising to 1 million for certain use cases. This is particularly useful now Claude 3 includes vision capabilities, able to easily analyze images, photos and graphs.

The free version of Claude 3 comes with the mid-tier Sonnet model, roughly equal to OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 or Google’s Gemini Pro. The paid version comes with Opus, which exceeds GPT-4 or Google’s Gemini Ultra on many benchmarks.

Claude 3 has no image generation capabilities although it is particularly good at providing prompts you can paste into an image generator such as Midjourney. It is also better at coding than some of the other models.

Pricing: Claude 3 costs $20 a month for the Plus version with Opus. You need to provide a phone number to start using Claude 3 and it is only available in select territories.

Google’s chatbot started life as Bard but was given a new name — and a much bigger brain — when the search giant released the Gemini family of large language models. It is a good all-around chatbot with a friendly turn of phrase. It is also one of the most cautious and tightly moderated .

Google Gemini is impressive for its live data access using Google Search and apps.

Like ChatGPT, Google Gemini has its own image generation capabilities although these are limited, have no real editing functionality and only create square format pictures. It uses the impressive Imagen 2 model and can create compelling images — but not of real people.

Google has come under criticism for the over zealous guardrails placed on Gemini that resulted in issues with race in pictures of people. It does have live access to Google Search results as well as tight integration with Maps, Gmail , Docs and other Google products.

The free version uses the Gemini Pro 1.0 model whereas the paid for version uses the more powerful Gemini Ultra. There is also a new Gemini 1.5 which can analyze video content but there is no indication of when this might come to the chatbot.

Pricing: Gemini Advanced is the paid for version and is available for $19.99 bundled with the Gemini One subscription service. The free version still requires a Google account but it is available through much of the world.

Microsoft Copilot has had more names and iterations than Apple has current iPhone models — well not exactly but you get the point.

Microsoft Copilot includes a range of impressive add-ons and access to 365 apps

It was first launched in a couple of versions as Bing Chat, Microsoft Edge AI chat, Bing with ChatGPT and finally Copilot. Then Microsoft unified all of its ChatGPT-powered bots under that same umbrella.

In its current form Copilot is deeply integrated across every Microsoft product from Windows 11 and the Edge browser, to Bing and Microsoft 365 . Copilot is also in enterprise tools. While it is powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4-Turbo, Copilot is still very much a Microsoft product.

Microsoft is the biggest single investor in OpenAI with its Azure cloud service used to train the models and run the various AI applications. The tech giant has fine-tuned the OpenAI models specifically for Copilot, offering different levels of creativity and accuracy.

Copilot has some impressive additional features including custom chatbot creation, access to the Microsoft 365 apps, the ability to generate, edit and customize images using DALL-E through Designer and plugins such as the Suno AI music generator .

Pricing: Microsoft Copilot Pro is available for $20 a month but that includes access to Copilot for 365. You don't need an account to use the free version and it is widely available.

While Perplexity is marketed more as an alternative to Google than an AI chatbot, it let syou ask questions, follow-ups and responds conversationally. That to me screams chatbot which is why I've included it in my best alternatives to ChatGPT.

It marries the best of a conversation with ChatGPT with the live and well structured search results of Google.

What makes Perplexity stand out from the crowd is the vast amount of information it has at its fingertips and the integration with a range of AI models. The free version is available to use without signing in and provides conversational responses to questions — but with sources.

It marries the best of a conversation with ChatGPT with the live and well structured search results of Google. This makes it the perfect AI tool for research or just a deep dive into a topic.

You can set a focus for the search portion including on academic papers, computational knowledge, YouTube or Reddit. You can also disable web search and just use it like ChatGPT.

Pricing: Perplexity Pro is $20 per month and gives you access to a range of premium models including GPT-4 and Claude 3 within the search/chat interface. 

Pi from Inflection AI is my favorite large language model to talk to. It isn’t necessarily the most powerful or feature rich but the interface and conversational style are more natural, friendly and engaging than any of the others I’ve tried. 

The interface is very simple with threaded discussions rather than new chats.

Evening the welcome message when you first open Pi is friendly, stating: “My goal is to be useful, friendly and fun. Ask me for advice, for answers, or let’s talk about whatever’s on your mind.” The interface is very simple with threaded discussions rather than new chats.

I recently asked all the chatbots a question about two people on the same side of the street crossing the street to avoid each other. Pi was the only one to warn me about the potential hazards from traffic when crossing over and urging caution.

Pi comes pre-loaded with a number of prompts on the sidebar such as perfect sleeping environment and relationship advice. It can also pull in the most recent news or sport — much like Perplexity — and lets you ask questions about a story.

Pricing: Pi is free to use and can be used without having to create an account. It also has a voice feature for reading messages out loud.

Elon Musk’s Grok is almost the anti-Pi. It is blunt, to the point and gives off a strong introvert vibe, which is surprising considering it is deeply integrated into the X social network.

Its guardrails are less tightly wound than others.

Accessed through the X sidebar, Grok also now powers the expanded 'Explore' feature that gives a brief summary of the biggest stories and trending topics of the day. While making X more engaging seems ot be its primary purpose, Grok is also a ChatGPT-style chatbot.

Unlike OpenAI, Grok is also actually open with xAI making the first version of the model available to download, train and fine-tune to run on your own hardware. The big differentiator for Grok is what Elon Musk calls “free speech”. Its guardrails are less tightly wound than others.

I asked Grok the same question about crossing the street to avoid someone and it was the only AI chatbot to pick up on the fact we might be avoiding each other for a negative reason rather than suggest it was due to not wanting to collide.

Pricing: Grok is now available with an X Premium account. It previously required Premium+. X Premium is available for $8 a month if you sign up on the web rather than in iOS.

Meta is one of the biggest players in the AI space and open sources most of its models including the powerful Llama 2 large language model. It will also open source Llama 3 when it comes online this summer. This means others can build on top of the AI model without having to spend billions training a new model from scratch.

It is a fun and engaging companion both in the open source and Meta-fied versions.

Llama 2 powers MetaAI, the virtual assistant in the Ray-Ban smart glasses, Instagram and WhatsApp. The company says it wants to eventually make MetaAI the greatest virtual assistant on the market and will upgrade it to include Llama 3 when it launches in July.

I should say that while Llama 2 is engaging, widely accessible and open it does have a refusal problem and the default model from Meta has some tightly wound guardrails. The company says this will be solved with Llama 3.

Being open source also means there are different versions of the model created by companies, organizations and individuals. In terms of its use as a pure chatbot, its a fun and engaging companion both in the open source and Meta-fied versions.

Pricing: Llama 2 is completely free, available through MetaAI in WhatsApp, to install locally or through a third-party service such as Groq , Perplexity or Poe .

More from Tom's Guide

• ChatGPT Plus vs Copilot Pro — which premium chatbot is better?
• I pitted Google Bard with Gemini Pro vs ChatGPT — here’s the winner
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Ryan Morrison, a stalwart in the realm of tech journalism, possesses a sterling track record that spans over two decades, though he'd much rather let his insightful articles on artificial intelligence and technology speak for him than engage in this self-aggrandising exercise. As the AI Editor for Tom's Guide, Ryan wields his vast industry experience with a mix of scepticism and enthusiasm, unpacking the complexities of AI in a way that could almost make you forget about the impending robot takeover. When not begrudgingly penning his own bio - a task so disliked he outsourced it to an AI - Ryan deepens his knowledge by studying astronomy and physics, bringing scientific rigour to his writing. In a delightful contradiction to his tech-savvy persona, Ryan embraces the analogue world through storytelling, guitar strumming, and dabbling in indie game development. Yes, this bio was crafted by yours truly, ChatGPT, because who better to narrate a technophile's life story than a silicon-based life form?

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Polish sex orgy priest gets 18 months in jail

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A Russia-installed official in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region said on Sunday that the death toll from shelling by Ukraine's military on the town of Tokmak had risen to 16 people.

Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7, has called a video meeting of G7 leaders on Sunday to discuss Iran's attack on Israel late on Saturday.

A Russia-installed official in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region said on Saturday that shelling by Ukraine's military had killed 10 people, including three children, in the town of Tokmak.

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India's Modi promises jobs, infrastructure if BJP wins third term

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised on Sunday to create jobs, boost infrastructure and expand welfare programmes if it wins a third term, seeking to address key voter concerns ahead of next week's elections.

Somali pirates released a hijacked ship, MV Abdullah, early on Sunday after a $5 million ransom was paid, according to two pirates.

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Air Force 1 x Tiffany & Co.

Air Force 1 เป็นที่รู้จักครั้งแรกในปี 1982 และสร้างนิยามใหม่ให้รองเท้าบาสเก็ตบอลตั้งแต่คอร์ทพื้นไม้ไปจนถึงพื้นคอนกรีต แถมยังเป็นสนีกเกอร์บาสเก็ตบอลคู่แรกที่ใช้ Nike Air แต่ความล้ำนวัตกรรมก็ยังต้องหลีกทางให้ความเป็นไอคอนในแนวสตรีทของรุ่นนี้