Marketing representative Tracy Zhao was once an avid patron of pirated shows - but after Beijing authorities forced her favourite website to shut down, she's learned to live without her guilty pleasure.
'It's harder to find the links because VeryCD, the website I used to go to, removed all the download links earlier this year,' said Zhao, who works for a technology firm in the capital.
The site stopped offering free films, TV series and music in January following pressure from authorities - one of many small victories in China's war on piracy, a pertinent issue as the nation approaches the 10th anniversary of its joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
But while the country has made leaps in protecting and respecting intellectual property rights (IPR) after opening its doors to foreign media, analysts say the government still has to loosen trade barriers and crack down harder on illegal practices.
China, once an isolated state, joined the WTO in November 2001, effectively linking the mainland's 1.3 billion-strong market to the rest of the world. Since then, it has seen a boom in cultural entertainment - films, TV shows, music, concerts and sporting events.
This works in tandem with the government's soft-power campaign to boost China's global influence through the media under the 12th five-year plan.
'With the help of digital technology, the mainland's release of many foreign cultural products, including Hollywood films and TV series such as The Big Bang Theory, has been basically occurring at the same pace as in the outside world,' said Professor Song Jianwu, dean of the journalism and communication department at the China University of Political Science and Law.