Donghua (动画, dònghuà) is the Mandarin word for animation, and outside China it has come to mean one thing: animated series and films made in China. It is to China what anime is to Japan — the same medium, from a different industry, with its own genres, platforms and habits.
If you have not watched any, you have still probably heard of one. Ne Zha 2, a Chinese animated film released in 2025, became the highest-grossing animated film ever at the global box office, according to Guinness World Records (opens in new tab), at nearly $2 billion as of mid-2025. The films are the headline. The series are where fans actually spend their time, and that is where the trouble starts: a single donghua can run for years and several seasons, often across more than one streaming service. The C-Drama & Donghua Tracker is a spreadsheet built for exactly that problem — it counts the hours left in everything you’re watching. But first, the concept.
What does donghua mean?
Donghua literally means “moving pictures”: 动 (dòng) is “move,” and 画 (huà) is “picture” or “painting.” In China the word covers all animation, whatever its origin, so a Chinese viewer calls a Disney film donghua too.
In English it is used more narrowly. When an English-speaking fan says “donghua,” they mean animation produced in China, usually a series streamed on a Chinese platform and often adapted from a Chinese web novel. That narrow meaning is the one this guide uses.
Donghua vs. anime: what is the difference?
Donghua and anime differ mainly in where they come from, not in how they look. Both include hand-drawn 2D and computer-animated 3D, and some donghua deliberately borrow the anime look. The real differences are origin, source material, genre and where you watch.
| Feature | Donghua | Anime |
|---|---|---|
| Made in | China | Japan |
| Usual source material | Chinese web novels, games and mythology | Manga, light novels and games |
| Signature genres | Cultivation fantasy (xianxia, xuanhuan), wuxia martial arts | Very broad: shonen action, slice of life, romance, isekai |
| Common look | Both 2D and 3D; 3D is common, especially in long cultivation series | Mostly 2D |
| Where it streams first | Chinese platforms such as Bilibili, Tencent Video, iQIYI and Youku | Japanese broadcasters, then international services |
The short version: anime that is made in China isn’t anime, it’s donghua. Calling it “Chinese anime” is common and understandable, and you will see it on streaming menus. But the separate word exists for a reason. The stories come from a different literary tradition, and that tradition shapes everything from the genres to how long a series runs.
A short history of Chinese animation
Chinese animation is older than most viewers assume. The Wan brothers made Princess Iron Fan, the first Chinese animated feature film (opens in new tab), which premiered in Shanghai in November 1941 — inspired, as Sixth Tone recounts, by Disney’s Snow White. Its story came from the classic novel Journey to the West, which is still a favorite source for donghua today.
The donghua most fans watch now come from a much newer engine: streaming. Platforms such as Bilibili and Tencent Video commission original series, and many of them adapt popular Chinese web novels that already have large readerships. That is why so many donghua run long. A web novel can run to thousands of chapters, and an adaptation that wants to cover it keeps adding seasons.
The films are the other half, and they are the part that crossed over. Ne Zha 2 took its global record in 2025, six years after the first Ne Zha film.
The donghua genres you will meet
Most donghua sit in a handful of genres, and four of them have Chinese names you will see on every streaming menu:
- Xianxia — cultivation fantasy. Characters train to become immortals, and power is measured in realms they climb.
- Wuxia — martial-arts heroes who are extraordinary but mortal, living by a code in the world of the sects.
- Xuanhuan — fantasy that mixes cultivation with invented worlds, magic systems and other mythologies.
- Danmei adaptations — series adapted from Chinese romance novels between two men, often with the romance toned down on screen.
Outside those, donghua also does modern mysteries, comedies and sports or esports stories, and those are often the easiest door in for a new viewer.
The line between wuxia and xianxia is the one people most often get wrong. We cover it in what wuxia is and how it differs from xianxia, so this guide will not repeat it.
Where to start: six donghua for first-time viewers
The best first donghua is a short, finished series or a film, not a 200-episode cultivation epic. These six are widely recommended entry points, chosen to cover different genres.
| Title | Format | Why start here |
|---|---|---|
| Link Click | Series, 2D, modern mystery | Two friends who can step into photographs. Short seasons, tight plotting, and no genre vocabulary needed. |
| Scissor Seven | Series, 2D, action comedy | A hapless assassin who works as a hairdresser. Light, funny, and available on Netflix in many countries. |
| Heaven Official’s Blessing | Series, 2D, xianxia romance | Adapted from Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s novel. A short first season is an easy commitment. |
| Mo Dao Zu Shi | Series, 2D, xianxia mystery | From the same author, and the natural next step once you have finished Heaven Official’s Blessing. |
| Soul Land | Series, 3D, cultivation fantasy | The long-running cultivation epic, for when you are ready to commit to hundreds of episodes. |
| Ne Zha and Ne Zha 2 | Films, 3D, mythology | Self-contained, cinematic and the fastest way to see what the industry can do. |
Our pick for a first watch is Link Click. It is short, it needs no background, and it shows that donghua is not only cultivation fantasy. Go to Soul Land last, once you know you like the long-form rhythm.
If you already love K-dramas and want the same pull in animated form, our K-drama starter guide for beginners works the same way for Korean series.
Where to watch donghua legally in English
Most donghua are released first in China, with English subtitles arriving through a small number of official routes:
- The platforms’ own international apps and services, such as Bilibili’s international app and WeTV, Tencent’s international service.
- Official YouTube channels run by the studios and platforms, which post many series with English subtitles.
- General streaming services, such as Crunchyroll and Netflix, for a selected set of popular titles.
Availability varies by title and by country, and it changes. One series’s first season can be on one service and its second on another. Check the official route for each show rather than assuming the whole franchise lives in one place.
Why donghua is hard to keep track of
Donghua is hard to keep track of because of three habits of the medium:
- Seasons are split and renamed. A long series can come back under a new subtitle, so a sequel season is easy to miss or to mistake for a different show.
- Releases are weekly and runs are long. Cultivation series in particular can run for hundreds of episodes over several years.
- Platforms are scattered. One franchise can sit on two or three services, each of which only remembers your place in its own app.
The fix is the same one that works for any long-running media: one list, one row per series, with the episodes left and the hours they represent. Here is how the math plays out with illustrative numbers.
| Series (illustrative) | Episodes left | Minutes per episode | Hours left |
|---|---|---|---|
| A 2D mystery, season 2 | 6 | 22 | 2.2 |
| A xianxia romance, season 1 | 9 | 24 | 3.6 |
| A 3D cultivation epic | 140 | 18 | 42.0 |
Three shows in progress look about equal on a streaming menu. As a list, one of them is about 19 times bigger than the shortest. That changes what you watch tonight: finish the two short ones first, and treat the epic as the long-term companion it is.
The C-Drama & Donghua Tracker does this math for you. It ranks everything you’re watching by how close it is to done, logs critic scores beside your own, and includes a genre guide to the terms above. It is a file you own in Excel or Google Sheets, with no account and no subscription. If you only want the list, there is a free donghua and C-drama watchlist starter too.
For the same method applied to comics, see how to keep track of webtoons you’re reading.
Common questions about donghua
Is donghua the same as anime?
No. Both are animation, and the art styles can look alike, but donghua is made in China and anime in Japan. They draw on different source material, different genre traditions and different streaming platforms.
Do I need to speak Chinese to watch donghua?
No. Many popular series are released with official English subtitles, and a handful have English dubs. What you need is patience with platforms, because one show’s seasons can sit on different services.
Are donghua films and series the same thing?
No. The word covers both. The films that make headlines, like Ne Zha 2, are self-contained theatrical releases. Most of what fans actually watch week to week is series, often running across several seasons.
The takeaway
Donghua is Chinese animation: its own industry, built largely on web novels and cultivation fantasy, and now home to the highest-grossing animated film at the global box office. Start short with Link Click or a Ne Zha film, learn the four genre names, and keep one list of what you’re watching. The C-Drama & Donghua Tracker was built for exactly that, and it covers your C-dramas in the same file.
