I hope your holidays are going great! As the end of the year approaches, let me share, similarly to last year, what I consider to be some of the best movies and TV shows that came out this year, along with a few additional tips that can support your Chinese learning as you step into 2026.

Movies and TV Shows

Let’s start with movies. Before I share my favorites from this year, just a quick note: once again, I didn’t watch that many shows or movies this year, so I can’t really say how these films compare to everything else that was released. Because of that, I’ll first share Asian Movie Pulse’s The 20 Best Chinese Language Movies list, where you’ll find many more great recommendations beyond the ones I mention here.

As I was going through the movies I watched this year, I realized that my favorite Chinese-language movie of 2025 is actually the one I watched just a few weeks ago: the Taiwanese film Left-Handed Girl《左撇子女孩》, which also ranks #1 on Asian Movie Pulse’s list. Thinking back on it, it’s a quite simple movie, and one could say that not much actually happens. But for some reason, it’s the only movie from this year that I would watch again. Another movie I quite enjoyed was Jackie Chan’s latest action film The Shadow’s Edge《影子边缘》.

Now let’s talk about some movies I missed this year but still plan to watch in the coming months, and possibly make Quizlet vocabulary flashcards for. Jia Zhangke (贾樟柯)’s latest movie Caught by the Tides《风流一代》 came out in January 2025 and became one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, with a Metacritic score of 87. Bi Gan (毕赣)’s Resurrection《狂野时代》 was released more recently and is already making big waves on the festival circuit, currently standing at 86 on Metacritic. I still haven’t watched Bi Gan’s previous critically acclaimed movie Long Day’s Journey Into Night《地球最后的夜晚》, so I guess I’ll have to watch both in 2026. Blue Sun Palace《蓝色太阳宫》 is another standout this year, telling the story of Chinese immigrants in New York, but unfortunately I couldn’t find it anywhere to watch yet, so keep an eye out for this one in 2026.

I asked you earlier this year about your favorite Chinese movies, and one of the most frequently mentioned titles in your replies was the animation Ne Zha《哪吒之魔童降世》. Its sequel, Ne Zha 2《哪吒之魔童闹海》, came out this year and became the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time. But this wasn’t the only Chinese animated movie dominating theaters this year. Nobody《浪浪山小妖怪》 also performed extremely well, becoming the highest-grossing Chinese 2D animated film in history and receiving very positive audience reception in China.

In Taiwan, the biggest local blockbuster of the year was a thriller set on a high-speed train, 96 Minutes《96分钟》, which is again something I couldn’t find anywhere to watch yet. However, my favorite Chinese-language TV show this year also came from Taiwan. The second season of The World Between Us《我们与恶的距离 II》 was released with a completely new cast and story. Even if it didn’t fully live up to the first season, it was still the best Chinese-language TV show I watched this year. Another Taiwanese series I’m looking forward to watching in 2026 is Forget You Not《忘了我记得》, directed by Rene Liu (刘若英). She also directed one of my favorite Chinese romantic dramas, Us and Them《后来的我们》, and this is her first writing and directing project since then.

The most successful video game developed by a Chinese studio this year was Where Winds Meet《燕云十六声》, an open-world action RPG. It wasn’t as well-received as last year’s Black Myth: Wukong《黑神话：悟空》, but there are still many players who enjoyed it a lot. If you’re looking for a new game you can play fully in Chinese, this one might be worth your time.

Language Learning Notes and What’s Coming Next

Let me also recommend a book about language learning in general that had its revised edition released at the end of 2024: Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner. Originally published in 2014, this new edition has been heavily updated and offers many practical language-learning tips that can also be applied to Chinese. I wrote several newsletters this year about this book and how to apply its ideas to Chinese learning, and you can find all of them on my Beehiiv website. You can start here.

In other news, 2025 passed as yet another year without official new HSK 3.0 coursebooks. However, it looks like some schools will begin pilot testing the new HSK 3.0 curriculum from next month, and we’ve also seen the first previews of the newly planned HSK 3.0 books.

Finally, there’s something I didn’t manage to release this year but is now almost ready. In a few weeks, I’ll start accepting registrations for my first Chinese Language Program, with a possible launch date at the end of January. This program is aimed at beginner Chinese learners, as well as those who want to brush up on their basics. It’s a 20-day program spread over four weeks, including course videos, Anki flashcards, and daily speaking exercises that you can complete with me on WhatsApp. We’ll cover pinyin, tones, pronunciation, 300 to 400 core words, and lots of practical sentences to help you start communicating in Chinese. It’s an intensive course, with videos in Chinese, and you can choose between English, Chinese, or pinyin subtitles. A core element of the course is real speaking practice. Each day, you’ll use the language you learned to talk to me directly on WhatsApp as part of your daily practice. If four weeks feels a bit short to finish the program, don’t worry. I plan to offer three months of private WhatsApp support to anyone who signs up before the official launch. Registration for the first run will be limited to 20 students.

I wish you a very happy New Year and lots of progress with your Chinese in 2026!

新年快乐！

Sandy