How ‘Pursuit of Jade’ signals China’s growing popularity in the west
The C-drama is part of the growing social media trend of "Chinamaxxing," or imitating China-related lifestyles, wellness habits, and more
Xiwei Tian and Linghe Zhang in "Pursuit of Jade."
Still frame from "Pursuit of Jade"
Words by Kayti Burt
When Pursuit of Jade dropped its final episode on Netflix earlier this spring, the Chinese historical fantasy drama about a romance between a pig butcher and a fallen noble finished its 40-episode run as the first C-drama to rank on the streamer’s Global Top 10 list for non-English series. Its metrics on Netflix are particularly impressive given that the U.S.-based streamer, which is not available in China, is only one of the platforms on which the series streamed. In other words, the Netflix numbers don’t just represent a fraction of the drama’s popularity, but a fraction of its popularity outside of mainland China. More than a month after the drama’s final episode dropped, Pursuit of Jade is still garnering more Google search requests than some of Netflix’s most watched series this past week, including Devil May Cry and Man on Fire.
Of course this isn’t the first time a C-drama has become popular outside of China, including in the west. During the pandemic, The Untamed, an idol wuxia drama based on a popular boy love webnovel called The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, was one of Tumblr’s most active fandoms. Since then, series like Hidden Love, Love Between Fairy and Devil, Eternal Love, Fly Towards You, and First Frost have made a social media-visible splash. More recently, Chinese-made microdramas have broken into social media feeds. In a recent report, the Wall Street Journal noted episodes of this 90-second, vertical format have been watched by one in 10 American adults.
However, compared to a TV industry like South Korea’s, for example, the Chinese TV industry has not broken through in the west (yet). (Meanwhile, western TikTok users are claiming Pursuit of Jade is changing their brain chemistry and pulling in viewers who have never before watched an Asian drama with its “adorable and funny” vibes.) This isn’t because China doesn’t make good TV. China has been churning out bangers for years. It has more to do with the increasingly tense relationship between the United States and China.
Historically, Chinese television hasn’t been that popular in the United States. The U.S. market—which has its own strong, domestic TV industry that exports to the rest of the world—has been resistant to foreign-language media. This has begun to change in recent years, especially as U.S.-based streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ invest in foreign production as a way to grow subscriber bases in international markets.
However, China has not been a part of that push, as China is resistant to American influence and interference in their economy. None of the major U.S. streamers are available in the country. Compare this relationship to the one the United States has with South Korea, which has a U.S. military protectorate. It’s also worth noting that, unlike South Korea, China has a massive domestic population and market, which makes the industry less reliant on exporting its media.
So what is shifting to allow a drama like Pursuit of Jade to break through? As you might have guessed, a lot. As Netflix looks to expand in Asian markets where C-dramas are already popular, it is investing more money in international distribution rights for series like Pursuit of Jade. Meanwhile, the international arms of Chinese streamers like iQiyi, Youku, or Tencent Video (called WeTV internationally) are making headway. For example, iQiyi’s international version saw a 114.5 percent increase in views from 2024-25.
@awholelotofadventure Thank you @sherry for confirming 🤭🫶🏻 congee has been my fav for a while!!! Please everyone get on this side of tiktok!! #chinese #chinesetok #foodtok #congee #chinesefood ♬ original sound - alex
But it’s more than accessibility. China is having a moment on American social media that suggests a broader shift in how people, especially younger folks, in the United States perceive China and Chinese culture. “Chinamaxxing” is the term for the trend of imitating China-related lifestyles, wellness habits, and online curiosity that reached viral status on social media platforms in 2025 and has continued this year. On TikTok and Instagram, non-Chinese users are in a self-described “Chinese era” of their lives, drinking hot water, wearing house slippers, eating congee, and scouring e-commerce sites for Adidas’ Chinese New Year Jacket.
Soft power is the term used to describe when countries use persuasion rather than military or economic force (aka hard power) to influence other countries and cultures, and it’s considered a vital part of modern foreign policy and strategy. Sustained economic power comes from the international perception of a country that goes beyond a single film, TV drama, or social media reel. It’s one part of how the United States has been able to hold onto world power for so long. Our command hasn’t been just military or economic in nature, but also cultural. “Absent military action, Taylor Swift is more important than Tomahawk missiles,” former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Richard Stengel recently wrote in The Guardian.
While the United States’ soft power has been on the decline in the past few years (nations engaged in military conflict, aka an exercise in hard power, tend to take a soft power hit), the perception of China around the world has improved slightly. In 2025, Pew published a study finding that a median of 49 percent of adults around the world have a favorable view of the United States compared to 37 percent who have a favorable view of China. When asked which country is the greatest threat to their own, people in most European and Latin American countries surveyed tended to name the United States over China. In Canada, the share of people who view the United States favorably has decreased by 20 percentage points from 2024, while the share of those who view China favorably has increased by 13 percentage points.
In 2025’s Global Soft Power Index, China ranked second (behind only the United States) for the first time ever. Attributes that saw a particular uptick in ranking included: “generous,” “friendly,” “good relations with other countries,” “easy to communicate with,” and “fun.” While some of this shift comes from spheres of influence outside of media, pop culture has historically been a massively influential tool when it comes to soft power. From Pursuit of Jade to the two-week tour American YouTuber IShowSpeed took of China last year, the west’s perception of China is changing in fascinating, complex ways.
Published on May 18, 2026
Words by Kayti Burt
Kayti Burt (she/her) is a pop culture journalist based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her areas of expertise include Korean entertainment and fan culture. She is a member of the Television Critics Association and the Freelance Solidarity Project. Find her on BlueSky @kaytiburt.bsky.social.