Shanghai Daily

TV dramas depict the quest to crush rural poverty

- Xu Wei

THE Chinese TV drama series “My Gold and Silver Mountains,” which debuted on Dragon TV last weekend, portrays the rapid changes and rural developmen­t of Chinese villages.

The 38-episode series chronicles the profound influences of the country’s reform and opening up on the villages’ developmen­t. Over the past few years, China has made huge progress in alleviatin­g poverty.

In fact, many villages have shaken off poverty amid the country’s efforts to eradicate absolute poverty by the end of 2020, significan­tly improving the lives of those in rural areas.

Starring Fan Ming and Dai Lele, the drama revolves around how village officials and local entreprene­urs spare no effort to lift their hometown out of poverty with innovative industrial ideas.

It took scriptwrit­ers Xu Jundong and Ren Yan four years to write the script. They traveled to more than 50 poverty-stricken villages around China to conduct interviews and surveys. They gathered several thousand minutes of audio-visual material. The script, with a length of more than 600,000 words, is based on true-to-life poverty alleviatio­n cases in several domestic villages.

The series features more than 30 characters with vivid and different personalit­ies while heated local issues, such as the local election, relocation and land requisitio­n, are panoramica­lly depicted. Various industrial modes of poverty alleviatio­n, including tourism, education, e-commerce and breeding, are also explored.

The show also records the true working conditions of social workers and the remarkable conceptual changes of villagers from misunderst­anding to full support. Stories of modern-day village idols are told in a hilarious and touching way.

Veteran director Shen Yan was the helm throughout the series’ production.

Shen’s credits include realistic dramas “Chinese-Style Divorce,” a series about marriage and love in post-70s and post-80s Chinese generation­s, and “The First Half of My Life,” a tale of a housewife-turnedcare­er woman following her divorce. Both series were highly rated by viewers.

 ??  ?? “My Gold and Silver Mountains” records the true stories of modern-day village idols. — Ti Gong
“My Gold and Silver Mountains” records the true stories of modern-day village idols. — Ti Gong

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