Anniversary production

A 48-episode TV series on China's diplomatic relations with the outside world from 1948 to 1976 has proved a hit with Chinese audiences.

Diplomatic Situation, which premiered on Sept 19 ahead of National Day (Oct 1), is popular for its content, theme and vision, according to Nielsen Ratings and Kuyun Big Data.

People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, called it a "grand gift" for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China this year, along with the military parade and the film My People, My Country.

The first epic production to tell the country's diplomatic stories, the series presents the thoughts and endeavors of the first generation of state leaders, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and Deng Xiaoping in forging friendly relations with other countries and protecting China's own interests in the world.

Since the founding of the PRC in 1949, China has gone through a series of diplomatic events, including the establishment of China-Soviet Union friendship and the first Asian-African Conference.

Ma Jihong, scriptwriter of the series, says stories about diplomacy are "mysterious and attractive".

She says: "To make a TV series on this theme was challenging and required courage."

The production team built replica interiors of the White House, the Kremlin, the UN Palais des Nations and the planes and trains that were in service at that time.

The cast and crew also traveled to several cities including Beijing, Yantai in Shandong province and Dalian in Liaoning province, and to Russia, France, Switzerland and the United States for filming.

"We had more than 50,000 actors, including over 100 foreigners, 50,000 props and 1,000 sets," says Song Yeming, director of the drama.

The cast was key to the drama, Song adds.

The production team decided to strive for their first choices of actors and actresses from the very beginning, choosing Tang Guoqiang to play Mao and Sun Weimin to play Zhou.

"Tang showed a deep appreciation of the script, which gave us a lot of confidence," says Gao Jun, the general producer.

Zhao Yifang, president of the drama's production company Zhejiang Huace Film and TV Co, attributes the success of Diplomatic Situation to the dedication of the production team.

She says they set out with the aim of building it into a successful work in spite of the difficulties and the unknown consequences, and the team paid a lot of attention to and investment into the content and the production, in terms of sets, actors, special effects and background music.

She says besides history and diplomacy, the drama is also a tribute to the country.

"We will continue to shoot more mainstream TV and film products," Zhao said at a forum in Hangzhou on Nov 17.

Huace has been exploring effective ways to create productions that are enjoyed by the younger generation, Zhao added.

"We took young people's tastes and viewing appetite into consideration and tried our best to make the drama both attractive and historic."

Huace will explore more works like these to convey the spirit of the era to its audiences, she said.

Wu Mengjie, a young scriptwriter, was surprised that a lot of men born in the 1990s and 2000s showed great enthusiasm for the series.

"People who were born in the 1950s and 1960s, like my father, might have some knowledge about diplomatic matters and could recall these events as they watch the episodes, but I found young people also expressed a love for it on social media," she said at a workshop in Hangzhou on Sept 29.

"I myself also binge-watched the drama series," she added.

"Diplomatic Situation represents an ice-breaking journey through Chinese diplomacy and the highlights of Chinese diplomats' careers," says Ding Lili, a professor from Zhejiang University of Media and Communications.

Founded in 2005, Zhejiang Huace Film and TV Co has been dedicated to the production of TV dramas, films and TV shows over the past 14 years with an annual output of about 1,000 drama episodes, many films and over 10 TV shows.

Last year, the company set up a research center for TV series and films that "will uphold people-oriented concepts and prioritize social benefits instead of economic ones", which will account for almost 30 percent of the company's total future output.

Qin Jirong contributed to this story.