'The First Jasmine' Tops June's Chinese Drama Chart, Outstreaming Netflix's 'Ashes to Crown'

June's battle for online viewership among Chinese-language dramas has produced a clear winner — and it isn't one of the titles currently streaming on Netflix. 《莫離》（The First Jasmine）, a costume drama starring Bai Lu and Cheng Lei that has no international Netflix release, pulled in roughly 640 million streams to finish first for the month, edging out 《翹楚》（Ashes to Crown）at 628 million and leaving the Netflix-carried youth drama 《熾夏》（Never-Ending Summer）outside the top ten entirely with about 113 million streams. The rankings, based on domestic online playback figures, offer a snapshot of which genres — and which storytelling instincts — are actually pulling audiences in mainland China's crowded drama market right now.

Three genres dominated June's chart: costume political intrigue, contemporary romance, and Republican-era mystery. What stands out is less the genre split than the pacing. The two dramas that finished on top, The First Jasmine and Ashes to Crown, took almost opposite approaches to storytelling speed — one deliberately slow, the other compressed and fast — and both worked. That contrast, more than any single breakout performance, is the throughline of this month's list.

《迷牆》（Wonder Wall）, led by Guo Jingfei and Ren Suxi, closed out the top ten with 217 million streams. The story follows Yu Ming and Wen Yitong, two people stuck in stalled careers and strained marriages, whose lives are upended when they stumble onto a hidden stash of cash. Rather than playing the premise for pure escapism, the series pivots into an examination of domestic conflict, parenting, and psychological strain. That tonal shift split viewers: some praised the show for going deeper than a typical windfall fantasy, while others felt the subplots piled up at the expense of both its comic edge and its social commentary, leaving the drama with a middling reception overall.

《耀眼》（Dazzling）, starring Guan Xiaotong and Li Yunrui, took the No. 9 spot with 221 million streams. The series follows Qing Ye, who returns to her hometown of Zazating after a family setback and forms a tentative bond with the guarded but steady Xing Wu. Youth romance dramas often lean hard into sugary tropes, but Dazzling takes a lighter, unhurried approach to its central relationship. Audiences responded to that restraint, with many describing the show as refreshingly understated and calling out the slow-building chemistry between its two leads as the season's most quietly effective pairing.

Yang Yang and Zhang Ruonan's 《雨霖鈴》（Zhan Zhao Adventures）landed at No. 8 with 256 million streams. Built around the detective Zhan Zhao investigating a cold case tied to a friend's death, the drama folds in figures like Huo Linglong and Bai Yutang while balancing swordplay against a procedural mystery structure. Viewers zeroed in on the action choreography, with Yang Yang's fight sequences singled out as fluid and true to classic wuxia style, while a separate segment of the audience latched onto the show's more romantic, old-fashioned sense of adventure.

《靈魂擺渡·十年》（The Ferry Man 10th Anniversary）, the latest installment in a long-running franchise starring Yu Yi and Liu Zhiyang, tied for No. 7 with 256 million streams. The sequel returns to the series' signature setting — a convenience store bridging the human and spirit worlds — and brings back longtime characters Xia Dongqing and Ya alongside a new figure, the "Night Watcher." For a fan base that has waited roughly a decade for this reunion, the draw wasn't a fresh story so much as seeing the original cast back together; reviews of the new plot itself were mixed, but the franchise's core appeal — character continuity and long-term audience loyalty — held up.

Tan Jianci and Wang Churan's 《愛情有煙火》（Love Has Fireworks）took No. 6 with 307 million streams, built on a familiar setup: a laid-off investment banker and a recently unemployed, recently single roommate who bicker their way into a relationship. Viewers were upfront about the formula being well-worn, but many said the execution — natural pacing and believable friction between the leads — kept the show from feeling stale. It landed as a low-stakes, easy watch rather than a genre standout, which for a chunk of the audience was exactly the point.

《家業》（The Heir）, starring Yang Zi and Han Dongjun, placed fifth with 478 million streams. Set in the Ming-dynasty ink trade of Huizhou, the drama opens with a tribute-ink scandal that ruins the Li family and follows youngest daughter Li Zhen as she defies convention to revive the family's craft. It's an unusual angle for a costume drama, blending business rivalry with artisanal tradition, and reviewers responded to the production's visual polish and ensemble performances in particular. Viewers also credited the show for resisting an easy-triumph arc for its lead, instead pacing her rise around the slow realities of craftsmanship and family decline.

Produced under director Zhang Yimou, 《主角》（The Protagonist）— starring Zhang Jiayi and Liu Haocun — finished at No. 4 with 487 million streams. Adapted from the novel of the same name, it follows Yi Qin'e's rise from a shepherd girl to a celebrated Qinqiang opera performer across fifty years of personal and political upheaval. Prestige dramas like this rarely top viewership charts, but they tend to build lasting goodwill when the craft holds up — and reviewers said it did, praising the show for letting its heroine's growth unfold gradually rather than leaning on shortcuts, with the veteran supporting cast and Zhang Jiayi's performance both drawing particular praise.

《南部檔案》（Archives: The Nanyang Mystery）, led by Zhang Xincheng and Ding Yuxi, broke into the top three with 584 million streams. Set in early Republican-era Southeast Asia, it follows two undercover agents investigating a string of bizarre deaths tied to warlord conspiracies, a fictional toxic plant known as "Dusk Grass," a passenger liner, and a secretive cult. That combination of thriller, fantasy and detective fiction sets it apart from typical Republican-era mysteries. Ding Yuxi's performance drew significant attention for making the show's deductive sequences feel credible, and the humid, unsettling atmosphere of its Southeast Asian setting was frequently cited as one of its strongest assets — along with a cult storyline that built suspense by withholding answers rather than rushing to reveal them.

《翹楚》（Ashes to Crown）, starring Chen Duling and Zhou Yiran, came in second with 628 million streams — a strong showing for a Netflix-distributed title, even if it fell short of the top spot domestically. The drama follows Chu Chao, a general's daughter who is given a second chance after a tragic first life and resolves not to let others control her fate again. Teaming up with Xie Yanlai, a marginalized son of the Xie family, she works through revenge, political maneuvering and questions of duty on her way to becoming a princess with real authority. Genre entries like this often stumble on pacing, but Ashes to Crown front-loaded its major turns and kept momentum through the season — a choice viewers rewarded, alongside praise for its editing rhythm and cinematography.

Topping the month is 《莫離》（The First Jasmine）, starring Bai Lu and Cheng Lei, with roughly 640 million streams. The drama follows Ye Li, eldest daughter of the Ye family, who marries into the outwardly disgraced household of Prince Ding, Mo Xiuyao — a man who conceals a disability as a defensive front. Their marriage starts as a transaction shaped by mutual suspicion, but as Ye Li quietly works to settle old scores within the court, the two move from wariness to trust and eventually align against shared enemies.

The "married first, fall in love later" trope is far from new, and viewers said as much — but many argued the execution set this version apart, with restrained emotional beats that let trust build gradually rather than rushing the romance. Audience commentary repeatedly framed the appeal as one of pacing: feelings developing episode by episode, mysteries unspooling one layer at a time, rather than the compressed timelines typical of the genre. Mo Xiuyao's arc — a man who spent years feigning helplessness before letting his guard down — was singled out as the emotional core that pushed The First Jasmine past its competition to the top of June's chart.

The Takeaway

Never-Ending Summer's absence from the top ten despite its Netflix platform and idol-drama buzz is a reminder that international distribution and domestic streaming dominance don't always move together. What actually drove June's rankings was pacing discipline — whether compressed, as in Ashes to Crown, or deliberately slow, as in The First Jasmine — paired with strong ensemble work, from the veteran cast of The Protagonist to the production polish of The Heir. For viewers deciding what to watch next, the month's real signal is that craft and rhythm, not marketing reach, are what's separating the winners from the rest of the field. （Related： Why 'Pursuit of Jade' Is Crushing the Competition: The 2026 C-Drama Streaming Landscape ｜ Latest ）

Original Article in Chinese