I am at a loss for a decent Chinese BL series. I understand  why some people recommend Addicted, but I found it to be too edgy and bleak. Most Chinese BL series have elements of mental health issues, include references to rape or abuse and seem gritty. Call me pollyanna but I want a light-hearted, romantic BL series. Does one exist that is Chinese?

Depends.  Do you want BL from China or BL in Mandarin Chinese?  Taiwan has some great lighthearted BL dramas.  Try these:

You can also look at the other dramas in the History series, but I personally feel they're not as good.  History 2: Right or Wrong has a teacher-student relationship, and while it's not as awful as Addicted, the teacher does threaten the student's grades, which felt pretty gross.  The History 1 series aren't as high quality in story telling.  History 3 is a tragedy, do not recommend.

You can also look at some of the other dramas on this list, but I haven't watched all of them, so the list isn't an endorsement.

Xi Jinping is homophobic and has recently tightened the censorship guidelines around gay content, so don't expect to see BL from mainland China any time soon.

 Alex:

Depends.  Do you want BL from China or BL in Mandarin Chinese?  Taiwan has some great lighthearted BL dramas.  Try these:

You can also look at the other dramas in the History series, but I personally feel they're not as good.  History 2: Right or Wrong has a teacher-student relationship, and while it's not as awful as Addicted, the teacher does threaten the student's grades, which felt pretty gross.  The History 1 series aren't as high quality in story telling.  History 3 is a tragedy, do not recommend.

You can also look at some of the other dramas on this list, but I haven't watched all of them, so the list isn't an endorsement.

Thank you. I am also trying to separate Taiwan BL (which tend to be fairly good) from Chinese. I have never heard of We Are Gently. Thank you for the recommendation.

 Jieun:

You may enjoy this one -  Color Rush (https://mydramalist.com/680735-color-rush) and Color Rush 2 (https://mydramalist.com/706273-color-rush-season-2).

Thank you for responding  but Color Rush is Korean :) 

 Alex:

Xi Jinping is homophobic and has recently tightened the censorship guidelines around gay content, so don't expect to see BL from mainland China any time soon.

I think you are spot on Alex. Politics influences everything unfortunately.

 Kinvara66:

I think you are spot on Alex. Politics influences everything unfortunately.

I like chinese BL also so everything what i watched from that is here: https://mydramalist.com/list/1VK6rxmL

 Alex:
Taiwan has some great lighthearted BL dramas

Also Be Loved in House: I Do.

 Saygo :
Advance Bravely 

+1. Technically it's censored but the romantic / homoerotic subtext is so blatant it's basically just text. I've seen several M/F romance dramas with less skinship / intimacy. 

these are all from taiwan, except the last one.

because of you

dark blue moonlight (i didnt rlly like this)

Dear Ex (loved this)

HIStory

Pair of Love (very old)

We best love

Your name engraved herein

for love, we can

China:

From now to the past

The ambiguous focus (toxic!)

the untamed

 Apollymi:

I like chinese BL also so everything what i watched from that is here: https://mydramalist.com/list/1VK6rxmL

Thank you for sharing!