# The 20 Greatest Chinese Films of All Time

> Palme d'Or winners, wuxia spectacle and quiet family portraits spanning seven decades of filmmaking. Which will win?

*By YPB Team · Published September 9, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-20-greatest-chinese-films-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Farewell My Concubine** — score 1000/1000
   Chen Kaige's 1993 epic of two Peking opera performers across decades of upheaval, a Palme d'Or winner.
2. **In the Mood for Love** — score 898/1000
   Wong Kar-wai's 2000 romance of restrained longing between two Hong Kong neighbours.
3. **Red Sorghum** — score 856/1000
   Zhang Yimou's 1987 directorial debut that announced China's Fifth Generation to the world.
4. **Yi Yi** — score 592/1000
   Edward Yang's 2000 portrait of a Taipei family that won him Best Director at Cannes.
5. **A Brighter Summer Day** — score 592/1000
   Edward Yang's sprawling 1991 epic of teenage gangs in 1960s Taipei.
6. **Spring in a Small Town** — score 592/1000
   Fei Mu's 1948 chamber drama, widely voted the greatest Chinese-language film ever made.
7. **Raise the Red Lantern** — score 513/1000
   Zhang Yimou's 1991 drama of rivalry among the wives of a wealthy 1920s household.
8. **Chungking Express** — score 513/1000
   Wong Kar-wai's 1994 kinetic diptych of lovelorn Hong Kong policemen.
9. **To Live** — score 513/1000
   Zhang Yimou's 1994 chronicle of one family enduring decades of Chinese history.
10. **Devils on the Doorstep** — score 420/1000
   Jiang Wen's 2000 black-and-white wartime black comedy that won the Cannes Grand Prix.
11. **Ne Zha** — score 420/1000
   The 2019 animated blockbuster that became one of China's highest-grossing films.
12. **A City of Sadness** — score 420/1000
   Hou Hsiao-hsien's 1989 family saga and Golden Lion winner set in postwar Taiwan.
13. **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon** — score 308/1000
   Ang Lee's 2000 wuxia epic that won four Academy Awards and captivated global audiences.
14. **A Touch of Zen** — score 308/1000
   King Hu's 1971 wuxia landmark whose bamboo forest duel influenced generations of filmmakers.
15. **Infernal Affairs** — score 308/1000
   The 2002 Hong Kong thriller of a mole and an undercover cop that inspired The Departed.
16. **Yellow Earth** — score 308/1000
   Chen Kaige's 1984 debut, shot by Zhang Yimou, that launched the Fifth Generation movement.
17. **Hero** — score 171/1000
   Zhang Yimou's 2002 colour-drenched martial arts epic about an assassination plot.
18. **Ju Dou** — score 171/1000
   Zhang Yimou's 1990 tragedy of forbidden love in a rural dye mill, an Oscar nominee.
19. **Still Life** — score 171/1000
   Jia Zhangke's 2006 Golden Lion winner set amid the flooding of the Three Gorges.
20. **Kung Fu Hustle** — score 171/1000
   Stephen Chow's 2004 martial arts comedy blending slapstick with dazzling fight choreography.

Tags: movies, asia, classics, china