MANILA — Finished watching Never-Ending Summer and already wondering what to watch next?
The 2026 Chinese romance has struck a chord with viewers by combining first love, friendship, growing pains, separation and second chances—but its appeal goes beyond a typical romance storyline. The drama follows characters as they grow apart, change and eventually confront the people they used to be.
That makes finding a replacement tricky.
Fortunately, there are plenty of C-dramas that explore similar emotional territory, from innocent school romances and childhood friendships to painful reunions and mature second chances.
Here are 10 C-dramas to watch if Never-Ending Summer left you wanting more.
1. When I Fly Towards You (2023)
Best for: Pure first-love nostalgia.
Su Zaizai, played by Zhang Miaoyi, meets the reserved Zhang Lurang, played by Zhou Yiran, after becoming his classmate in high school.
Rather than relying on constant dramatic twists, the romance grows through everyday moments—school, exams, friendships, family problems and the small interactions that gradually bring two young people closer.
Like Never-Ending Summer, the drama understands that youthful romance isn’t only about the central couple.
It’s also about the friends, families and ordinary moments surrounding them—and the realization that those moments won’t last forever.
Why watch it: If what you loved most was the innocence of young love, start here.
2. Exclusive Fairytale (2023)
Best for: Childhood friends who slowly realize they’re something more.
Ling Chao, played by Jun, and Xiao Tu, played by Zhang Miaoyi, have known each other since childhood.
They grow up next door to one another, constantly bickering while Ling Chao secretly develops feelings for Xiao Tu.
The series is considerably lighter and more playful than Never-Ending Summer, but the emotional connection is similar: their romance is built on years of shared history.
They’re not strangers falling in love.
They’re two people discovering that the relationship they’ve always had might have been something more all along.
3. Lovely Us (2020)
Best for: Viewers who want friendship as much as romance.
Set in 2007, Lovely Us follows five childhood friends growing up together in a small Chinese neighborhood.
As school, family circumstances and adulthood begin changing their lives, the group slowly discovers that growing up can make even the strongest friendships complicated.
Romance is part of the story, but it’s not the entire story.
That’s exactly why it works for Never-Ending Summer fans.
Why watch it: If your favorite part of Never-Ending Summer is watching a group of young people grow and change together, this should be high on your list.
4. A River Runs Through It (2021)
Best for: A full coming-of-age journey.
The drama follows Lu Shiyi, Xia Xiaoju and Cheng Lang as their friendships and relationships develop through their school and university years.
The characters make mistakes, misunderstand one another, fall in and out of love, and gradually discover that their ambitions aren’t necessarily the same as the dreams they had when they were younger.
Its biggest strength is that the characters are allowed to actually grow up.
The story isn’t simply about whether two people eventually become a couple.
It’s about who they become before they get there.
5. Our Secret (2021)
Best for: Slow-burn school romance.
Ding Xian, played by Xu Mengjie, and Zhou Siyue, played by Chen Zheyuan, begin as classmates whose relationship is shaped by academic competition and mutual irritation.
But spending more time together gradually changes everything.
Their relationship develops through studying, teasing, helping each other and becoming increasingly important parts of one another’s lives.
There are no fireworks every five minutes.
Instead, the romance grows quietly.
Why watch it: Perfect if you prefer relationships that develop naturally rather than through exaggerated drama.
6. Shining for One Thing (2022)
Best for: First-love nostalgia with a time-travel twist.
Lin Beixing is approaching 30 when her life seems to have fallen apart.
Then an old phone and mysterious text messages somehow send her back to her high-school years.
There, she encounters Zhang Wansen, played by Qu Chuxiao, whose life is connected to a tragedy she never fully understood.
The time travel gives the series its supernatural hook, but the emotional core is much more grounded.
It asks a painful question:
If you could return to the moment when everything still seemed possible, what would you change?
7. Lighter & Princess (2022)
Best for: First love, separation and a second chance.
Zhu Yun, played by Zhang Jingyi, meets the brilliant but rebellious Li Xun, played by Chen Feiyu, at university.
Their relationship develops while they work on ambitious technology projects, but circumstances eventually drive them apart.
When they meet again years later, they’re no longer the same people.
That’s where the story gets interesting.
The reunion isn’t simply about restarting an old romance.
It’s about whether two people can still understand each other after life has changed them.
8. You Are My Glory (2021)
Best for: Watching first love grow into mature romance.
Qiao Jingjing, played by Dilraba Dilmurat, reconnects with former classmate Yu Tu, played by Yang Yang.
Their lives have taken completely different directions—she has become a successful actress, while he is pursuing a career as an aerospace engineer.
Their unexpected reconnection begins through gaming and gradually develops into a mature relationship built around mutual respect.
Compared with Never-Ending Summer, it’s more adult and polished, but the emotional theme remains familiar:
Sometimes the person from your past comes back when you’re finally ready to see them differently.
9. Meet Yourself (2023)
Best for: A slower, more mature emotional reset.
This one isn’t a traditional youth romance.
After suffering a devastating loss, Xu Hongdou, played by Liu Yifei, leaves Beijing and retreats to a small village in Yunnan.
There she meets Xie Zhiyao, played by Li Xian, a former investment professional who has returned home and is working to develop the local community.
The romance develops slowly.
But the bigger story is about rebuilding a life after something breaks.
That makes it a fascinating companion to Never-Ending Summer.
Instead of asking what happens when you’re young and in love, it asks:
What happens after life changes you?
10. Will Love in Spring (2024)
Best for: Mature romance, complicated pasts and second chances.
Chen Maidong, played by Li Xian, and Zhuang Jie, played by Zhou Yutong, reconnect after knowing each other when they were younger.
But neither returns to the relationship as the same person.
Zhuang Jie has built a successful career away from her hometown, while Chen Maidong has returned and works as a mortician.
Their romance becomes less about returning to the past and more about discovering whether the people they’ve become can actually fit together.
It’s more mature and melancholy than many youth C-dramas—but that emotional complexity makes it an especially strong choice for viewers who connected with the passage-of-time themes in Never-Ending Summer.
Why these dramas work after Never-Ending Summer
What connects these 10 series isn’t simply that they’re Chinese romances.
It’s the emotional DNA they share.
They explore:
- 💕 First love
- 👫 Childhood friendships
- 🎓 School and university life
- ⏳ Growing up and changing
- 💔 Separation
- 🔄 Reunions
- ❤️ Second chances
- 🌱 Finding yourself before finding love
And that’s what makes Never-Ending Summer different from a straightforward romance.
The 2026 series follows Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao, whose relationship begins when Zhou Wan seeks Lu’s help while trying to save her seriously ill grandmother. Their relationship eventually develops into romance, but misunderstandings separate them. Ten years later, they meet again in the workplace, where their unresolved feelings resurface.
The series currently has 29 episodes and stars Bao Shangen and Daniel Zhou in the leading roles.
That combination of youth, heartbreak and reunion is precisely why viewers looking for something similar have so many options.
So, which one should you watch first?
If you want pure youthful romance, choose When I Fly Towards You.
If you want childhood friends-to-lovers, try Exclusive Fairytale.
If you want friendship and growing up, go with Lovely Us.
If you want time travel and emotional heartbreak, choose Shining for One Thing.
And if you’re ready for something more mature and bittersweet, Will Love in Spring may be the perfect next watch.
Because sometimes the hardest part of finishing a great C-drama isn’t saying goodbye to the characters—it’s finding another story that makes you feel the same way.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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