2012
When I was in high school & addicted to Anime & Manga, I've stumbled on Taiwanese Hana Kimi by accident. I've really enjoyed it, but haven't research more about Asian drama until later. One of the reasons probably because after seeing American "drama", it given me a bad impression on anything related to it.
When I did researched about Asian drama after I've graduated HS, I was super surprised by the amount of them out there. I really got into Korean shows, especially with historical genre. It gave me a new look on their rich culture, history, cuisine, and people.
First Chinese series that I've watched was Palace: The Lock Heart Jade. I really like the time-travel theme. After that, I've watched Startling By Each Step, similar to Place drama. I've enjoyed them a lot, but I felt that Chinese acting were very much "excessive" almost in every aspect.
After a year or so, I found another time-travel show; The Myth, and I've stumbled on a website called Wuxia Edge. I've learned a bit more information. When I asked for help from the sites' owner, she gave me couple of recommendations like Chinese Paladin, and Legend of the Condor Heroes 2008, which to my surprised I really enjoyed watching. Thus I've learned to "give it a go, before giving the final judgement". Honestly once you get used to cheesy acting, you'll end up loving it.
2017
These days I haven't had the time to sit down and watch anything. It was convenient to just read web novels on my free time. Lately I've been reading Chiense webnovels, and after reading quite a few of them, I've started missing Chinese "excessive" acting and some of my favorite actors I've enjoyed watching in the past.
I figured I'll start with a bang and watch Nirvana in Fire.
Picking something that have a somber ambience, few of my favorite genres and actors I enjoy watching was the best choice.
Update: Now I don't feel like watching anything because Nirvana in Fire will just overshadow it, and I'm still digesting it. It was real good.