Yellow River's power of change

Some students at Jinan Vocational College-another stop in the episode-grabbed several top awards at nationwide competitions, applied for patents and even launched their own startup businesses at the school. Lyu says that he hopes the show will change the societal bias against vocational education.

Apart from serious themes, the show has maintained its successful formula of blending them with entertaining elements. For instance, in the Shouguang episode, stars take part in an activity which reflects the rural changes resulting from the reform and opening-up policy.

At Lanxiang Technician College, students use around a dozen giant earth movers, or excavators, to perform a welcoming "dance". The students in the cabs of the excavators maneuver the arm and lift the tank-like tracks of the vehicle-a procedure that requires delicacy of touch and enormous skill.

"The parking lot for the excavators is vast, with dust dancing in the air," recalls Zhu Yi, the show's deputy chief director, about how he and his team choreographed the performance, which provides an epic sense of machinery in motion.

He also explains that most games were designed to match the themes, such as an "auction" to bid for delicacies, which aims to remind the audience to cherish food.

Sun Yi, the deputy director in charge of the postproduction, reveals that, on set, 20 cameras roll simultaneously, capturing around 240 hours of footage for every 100-minute episode.

"The schedule is very tight. Most of the episodes just have two weeks to wrap up the postproduction procedure whereas, in the past, we would usually have at least three weeks," Sun reveals.

A veteran who has been working on the show for a long time, Sun is familiar with all the participating stars, and knows the best moments to use when she edits the footage of them. "In the new season, the audience will also see these stars grow up and understand how they have achieved breakthroughs," she adds.

More celebrities, such as former shot putter Gong Lijiao, a three-time Olympic medalist, and cross-talk performer Qin Xiaoxian, are set to join the show. The final episode is scheduled to run at the end of this month.