Some Westerners enjoy watching Chinese imperial palace dramas, while others find the stories bewildering. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Shaula Evans, a Canadian writer and editor who now lives in the US, is watching a Chinese palace drama, Empresses in the Palace, also called The Legend of Zhen Huan, for the first time since it was put on the Netflix, a US-based subscription service for TV shows and movies.

"I love it," Evans said. "It is a fascinating exploration of the power dynamics and status games of court politics. It is wonderful to see so many well-written and well-acted roles." 

As one of the most popular palace dramas launched in China in 2011, the show was made available abroad with English subtitles, as a six-episode adaptation of its original 76 episodes. And it wasn't the only one - My Fair Princess (1998) and The Deer and the Cauldron (2006) have also been broadcast overseas.

As of March 23, Empresses in the Palace has been rated 3.7 stars out of 5 stars on Netflix by 5,578 viewers.

Evans said that although some of the cultural nuances of the show are lost on him, such as the symbolism behind the performed songs and poetry, he still found it easy to relate to and to appreciate.

"Court politics are the same anywhere in the world where people need to curry favor from a powerful leader," he said. "This story could just as well take place among women in the royal courts of the Middle Ages in Europe or among men in the contemporary boardrooms of Wall Street."

Evans has seen several European palace and historical TV dramas and movies. "One of the most interesting differences is that, in contrast to the way that the majority of European historical dramas are male-dominated, this show has a female protagonist leading mostly female ensemble cast," he said.

While viewers like Evans feel they can relate to the show, others have more negative opinions of it.

Jonathan Papish, a 31-year-old film industry analyst, told Metropolitan he doubts these kinds of shows will find mass appeal with Western audiences, mostly due to cultural barriers. "The relationships and motivations of Chinese emperors, concubines, eunuchs and others are complex and hard to understand for most foreign viewers," Papish said.

In the comments section, many complained about the storyline being perplexing and the English subtitles being confusing. One of them reads, "Can't believe they edited a 76-episode drama into six episodes. The story doesn't even make sense now."

Nika Boyce, 48, an American artist who has just completed the series, said that the show was enjoyable and "epic" to her, but Americans who are willing to watch a Chinese drama with subtitles are likely to be a small group.

"Americans generally do not like subtitles," Boyce said. She said that another reason why she thinks Chinese palace drams can hardly become mainstream in America is that Americans know nothing about China other than the food and that China's economy is flourishing. 

Experts also hold optimistic, but cautious attitudes toward whether Chinese palace dramas could find mass appeal with Western audiences.

Chang Jiang, an assistant professor with Renmin University of China who specializes in movie and TV communication, said the overseas market where Chinese TV series are well accepted is currently limited to several countries that have close cultural connections with China such as Vietnam.

Chang said the key to succeeding in the Western market depends on whether the dramas use the story-telling devices and visuals that Westerners like and are familiar with, which is exactly the reason why the producers have chosen to promote Empresses in the Palace in the West.

"Revolts against power and conflicts between interests and moral standards explored in Chinese palace dramas are in line with the narrative style of European and American popular TV dramas," Jiang said.