--- title: How 'The Early Spring' Ends—And Sets the Stage for More Chinese Dramas on Netflix description: The romantic drama was on the streamer's global top 10 for weeks canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/09/08/breaking-down-the-ending-of-netflix-s-chinese-drama-the-early-spring/ author: Kayti Burt article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-09-14T17:36:01.736Z article:modified_time: 2026-09-14T17:36:01.978Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: How 'The Early Spring' Ends—And Sets the Stage for More Chinese Dramas on Netflix og:description: The romantic drama was on the streamer's global top 10 for weeks og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/09/08/breaking-down-the-ending-of-netflix-s-chinese-drama-the-early-spring/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f1becc8d9762ae/6aa82eb197f3cbe95898931b/early-spring-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: early-spring-1.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How 'The Early Spring' Ends—And Sets the Stage for More Chinese Dramas on Netflix twitter:description: The romantic drama was on the streamer's global top 10 for weeks twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f1becc8d9762ae/6aa82eb197f3cbe95898931b/early-spring-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How _The Early Spring_ Ends—And Sets the Stage for More Chinese Dramas on Netflix > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Kayti Burt](https://time.com/author/kayti-burt/) ## Kayti Burt Burt is a contributor for TIME. Sep 14, 2026 5:36 PM UTC  Shang Zhitao (Sun Qian) and Luan Nian (Jing Boran) in The Early Spring Shang Zhitao (Sun Qian) and Luan Nian (Jing Boran) in The Early Spring Courtesy of Netflix by [Kayti Burt](https://time.com/author/kayti-burt/) ## Kayti Burt Burt is a contributor for TIME. Sep 14, 2026 5:36 PM UTC A happy ending for Shang Zhitao (Sun Qian) and Luan Nian (Jing Boran) on Netflix’s Chinese workplace romance _The Early Spring_ was incredibly hard-won. At the start of the 24-episode series based on a web novel by Gu Niang Bie Ku, recent college graduate Zhitao is hired by Beijing advertising agency Lime—against bigwig Nian’s wishes. The initial power imbalance between ordinary office worker Zhitao and her boss Nian is significant, and there is a company policy against romantic entanglements between co-workers. Still, they quickly fall into bed together. Over the next six years, the two are on-again, off-again as a prideful, emotionally repressed Nian struggles to say nice things to Zhitao and Zhitao struggles to balance her love for Nian with her commitment to her career. ## **Why does Shang Zhitao leave Beijing?**  Nian and Zhitao Courtesy of Netflix For Zhitao, Beijing isn’t just a place—it is a symbol of her career ambitions, and the kind of life she aspires to. While _The Early Spring_’s central focus is romance, the C-drama also delves into other aspects of Zhitao’s character and journey. A major throughline of the show is Zhitao’s efforts to make Beijing a home, and to succeed not just at a company or in a bustling metropolis, but in one of the most prestigious companies in one of China’s most global cities. So, when Zhitao chooses to leave Beijing in Episode 21, “A Grand Retreat,” she isn’t just retreating from Nian, she is retreating from the lifestyle that Beijing demands for success. It’s not just one event that informs Zhitao’s decision to leave Beijing. When she tells Nian that she wants to get married and he tells her he doesn’t really think about it, Zhitao begins to reconsider their relationship. Then, one of Zhitao’s best friends dies by suicide. Finally, she gets passed over for a promotion in favor of a less experienced, nepo-baby co-worker. When she seeks comfort from Nian, he offers none. It’s the final straw for Zhitao, who begins to feel like all the time and energy she has committed to their relationship might not have been worth it. ## **_The Early Spring_** **’s happy ending**  Luke and Nian Courtesy of Netflix Heading into the final installments of the drama, Zhitao has finally called it quits on her toxic dynamic with Nian, moving home to Harbin and starting her own advertising agency in the snowy, northeastern city where she grew up. A few years pass before a bereft Nian attempts to reconcile. Zhitao’s company has partnered with Lime for a local project, and Nian uses it as an excuse to see Zhitao again. Zhitao is understandably reluctant to let Nian back into her life, but Nian uses the excuse of their dog, a Samoyed named Luke, to spend time with his ex-girlfriend. Over the following months, Nian elbows his way into Zhitao’s life and attempts to show her that he has changed. He apologizes for his past behavior, and mostly listens to her when she asks for space. Eventually, Zhitao’s love for Nian wins out and she lets him back into her heart and her life. Nian makes it clear to Zhitao’s parents that he intends to marry their daughter, and then proposes to Zhitao by decorating an art gallery with photos from their time together. He calls it Flora’s Museum of Time and Eternity, using the English name Zhitao used when she worked at Lime. Lian gifts Zhitao a necklace with the “L” key from the typewriter Zhitao knocked over in his office during their first in-person meeting. He invites Zhitao’s closest friends and family, and asks the woman he has loved for almost a decade to marry him. She says yes, finally believing that the two can have a relationship as equals. In the final scenes of the show, we see Zhitao and Nian splitting their time between Harbin and Beijing, happy together. ## **Will there be a second season of** **_The Early Spring_** **?**  The lovers at the center of The Early Spring Courtesy of Netflix _The Early Spring_ has done incredibly well on Youku and Netflix, where the C-drama has steadily been in the Global Top Ten list. East Asian dramas don’t tend to have second seasons, but _The Early Spring_ could easily be extended with the adaptation of the second book in the web novel series. Titled _Miss Talkative_, the sequel novel follows the unlikely romance between Zhitao’s work bestie Lumi and her stoic, more traditional co-worker Will. A developing relationship between the two is hinted at in _The Early Spring_ TV series, but the plot line is left unresolved. ## **Netflix’s increasing commitment to Chinese dramas**  A scene from the new show's finale Courtesy of Netflix Though Netflix has become known as a home for Korean dramas, with the U.S. streamer investing billions of dollars into the East Asian country’s TV and film industries, the same has not been true for Chinese dramas. China is not interested in giving any U.S. company too much power in its economy, which has kept the streamer from setting up shop in the country. In 2016, Netflix released a letter to shareholders alongside a quarterly earnings report stating: “The regulatory environment for foreign digital content services in China has become challenging. We now plan to license content to existing online service providers in China rather than operate our own service in China in the near term.” That same year, the Chinese government [implemented a de facto ban on South Korean entertainment in China](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-10/china-ban-south-korean-pop-culture-could-lift-amid-warmer-ties/106205780) following the announcement that the U.S. would be installing an anti-missile system in South Korea. Netflix is still not legally available in China. In the decade since, Netflix’s catalogue and business model have become increasingly international. As Netflix focuses on expansion into international markets, C-dramas have become an increasingly valuable asset. While C-dramas [have a growing audience in the U.S.](https://joysauce.com/how-pursuit-of-jade-signals-chinas-growing-popularity-in-the-west/), they are even more popular in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. “Audiences in Asia have long loved this category, but we're making them accessible to an even bigger global viewership,” Maya Huang, Head of Chinese-Language Content at Netflix, tells TIME. Netflix has been growing their Mainland China offerings since 2024\. Recent hits have included historical fantasy romance _Pursuit of Jade_ and costume drama _Ashes to Crown_, adding to the organic popularity of earlier series like _The Untamed_, a historical fantasy romance based on a [BL](https://time.com/6208817/thailand-bl-dramas-popularity/) web novel that blew up in popularity during the pandemic. As Netflix looks towards the future, C-dramas are part of their plan, with “a team dedicated to finding the most authentic and best-in-class Chinese language stories” including ones—like _The Early Spring_—that are simulcast with a Chinese streamer. “With Netflix's reach, dubs and subtitles, and our ability to release titles simultaneously worldwide, we're seeing audiences discover these stories in the U.S., South America, Europe and the Middle East,” says Huang. “We want to give these fans more of what they love—so there's plenty more to come from our Chinese language slate.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/08/breaking-down-the-ending-of-netflix-s-chinese-drama-the-early-spring/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/08/breaking-down-the-ending-of-netflix-s-chinese-drama-the-early-spring/"},"headline":"How The Early Spring Ends—And Sets the Stage for More Chinese Dramas on Netflix","datePublished":"2026-09-14T17:36:01.736Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T17:36:01.978Z","description":"The romantic drama was on the streamer's global top 10 for weeks","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/08/breaking-down-the-ending-of-netflix-s-chinese-drama-the-early-spring/","keywords":["Television","freelance","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f1becc8d9762ae/6aa82eb197f3cbe95898931b/early-spring-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kayti Burt","jobTitle":"Burt is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/kayti-burt/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f1becc8d9762ae/6aa82eb197f3cbe95898931b/early-spring-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"early-spring-1.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Courtesy of Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/08/breaking-down-the-ending-of-netflix-s-chinese-drama-the-early-spring/","name":"How The Early Spring Ends—And Sets the Stage for More Chinese Dramas on Netflix"}}]}] ```