Chinese short drama: how duanju work
A Chinese short drama, or duanju, the Chinese word for short drama, is a scripted series told in very short vertical episodes made for phones, each ending on a cliffhanger that pulls the viewer into the next one. The stories run on fast power shifts: revenge, hidden identities, contract marriages and a rebirth that gives the hero a second chance at the past. The same format now runs in apps such as ReelShort and DramaBox, and AI tools are starting to write, cast and film it.
What duanju are
Duanju are short dramas: serialized stories with the same characters from one episode to the next, filmed in a tall 9:16 frame and cut into episodes short enough to watch in a queue or on a bus. A story is long in total and short in each piece. Subscription Insider (July 20, 2026) notes that a complete story in the format may run across dozens of installments.
This guide describes the format and leaves out market figures for China. The numbers in circulation differ from source to source, and we only print figures we can source.
The shape of an episode
Every episode does one job: it opens on a problem, turns once, and ends on a question. There is no recap and no slow scene. The first line usually carries the stake, a firing, a betrayal, a marriage, an heir, and the last line is a reveal or a threat.
The scale of the drama is big and the cast is small. Most scenes have two or three people, one room and one object that matters: a contract, a ring, a key. That is what lets a story move this fast in a vertical frame.
How the format is sold
Short dramas are sold one episode at a time. Writing about the apps that carry the format, eMarketer describes freemium models that mix paid episode unlocks with advertising, and Subscription Insider describes viewers who watch several episodes at no cost, then buy coins to unlock the next one, watch ads, or pay for a subscription.
The writing follows the money. If viewers pay at the unlock, the story has to peak right before it, which is why the first episodes move so quickly and why every episode, not only the last one, ends on a cliffhanger.
The tropes duanju made famous
A few story engines carry most of the format, and they travel well:
- Rebirth revenge: the hero wakes up years in the past, before the betrayal, and plays it differently.
- Hidden identity: the maid, the driver or the new hire is secretly the heir, and the people who mocked them find out one episode at a time.
- Contract marriage: two people marry on paper for a deadline and a reason, with a rule against feelings.
- Billionaire revenge: humiliated on day one, holding the money by the finale.
- Cinderella: someone overlooked crosses a gap in money or status.
How the format went global
Outside China, much of the viewing happens in dedicated apps. eMarketer names ReelShort, owned by Crazy Maple Studio, and DramaBox. Traditional media has taken notice: Subscription Insider reports, citing Business Insider, that Peacock licensed 10 microdramas from ReelShort as a short-term test, and that Telemundo reworked its series Armas de Mujer into 123 two-minute episodes for ReelShort.
The tropes cross languages easily. On our own series page, Seoul Contract is a contract marriage romance in Korean, Berlin Nights a slow-burn romance in German and The Body Double a hidden identity drama in English.
Where AI comes in
A short drama is made like a small film: a script, a cast, locations, a shoot and an edit. AI can now do each of those steps, and several makers build for exactly this format. OpenArt says its AI drama generator is for short-drama studios, creators and writers (https://openart.ai/features/ai-drama-generator), and Topview describes Drama Studio as built for short drama creators, writers, MCNs and content teams (https://www.topview.ai/drama-studio).
agent-media does it from a conversation in Claude. It interviews you, writes a story bible and a season grid, casts two leads and up to six friends or rivals, builds up to eight locations, and films each episode once you approve its script and price. The cast stays the same in every episode, which is what a long serialized story needs most.
Make one in the same style
Pick a duanju trope and give it one line. The interview fills in the hero, the setting and the twist before anything is paid for. Series can be made in English, Korean, German or Spanish, with English captions on the non-English shows.
Episodes come back in 9:16, 15 to 60 seconds long. Episode 1 of your own show is $1 and a micro drama of ten 30-second episodes at 480p is $49 one-time.
“Using agent-media, make me a 10-episode rebirth revenge drama about a woman who wakes up one year before her husband's betrayal. Interview me first.”
- Tell Studio your idea
- Approve your cast and script
- Film Episode 1 for $1
The connect steps for Claude open right after checkout.
Many shows? Monthly plans: $49/mo for 300 seconds · $149/mo for 1,200 seconds
A hidden identity episode, the duanju way
The Body Double, episode 1. Mara is paid to play the heiress Elena for one week, and Elena's fiancé Nico notices she just said thank you, something Elena never does. Twenty-one seconds, one secret, one question.
- NICO
Elena never says thank you.
- MARA
Maybe you finally earned one.
- NICO
And she never stands like staff.
- MARA
Maybe you should look at me.
- NICO
Then tell me who I’m marrying.
Questions
What is a Chinese short drama?
A series of very short vertical episodes, known in China as duanju, made for phones, sold by the episode and built to end every episode on a cliffhanger.
What does duanju mean?
Short drama. It is the Chinese name for the format that apps outside China also call micro dramas or vertical dramas.
Why are Chinese short dramas so dramatic?
Each episode has a minute or less to make you want the next one, so the stories use tropes that turn in one line: revenge, a hidden heir, a contract marriage, a rebirth.
Can I make a short drama in Chinese with agent-media?
Not today. Series are made in English, Korean, German or Spanish. The tropes work in any of them.
Pick a trope. Write one line.
Episode 1 of your own show costs $1. Micro drama, 10 episodes: $49 one-time.