Popular drama recalls China's bygone neighborhoods

In the summer of 2023, screenwriter Qian Jingjing received a novel about two families living next door to each other, and was quickly drawn in by its nostalgic resonance with her own childhood.

The novel Jin Lin (Neighbors), by online writer Han Shisan, chronicles the lives and bonds of two families in a town in northeastern China, tracing social changes and their impact on ordinary people from the 1980s to the 2000s.

For Qian, the era, despite its relatively modest material conditions, is filled with sweet and intimate memories. At a time when high-rise apartment buildings were still relatively uncommon, many urban families lived in one-story houses, often separated from their neighbors by little more than a wall. As a result, relationships between neighbors tended to be close and warm.

When one family made dumplings, a plate would be carried next door. Children had few after-school classes and spent their afternoons playing together. When a household bought a television set, even a small black-and-white one, it would quickly become the neighborhood's unofficial gathering place, with neighbors carrying little stools over at night to watch, Qian recalled during a telephone interview with China Daily.

These everyday details, along with memories shared by another member of the drama's creative team, helped inspire In My Prime, the 26-episode television adaptation of Han's novel.

One member of the team, who was born in Henan province in the late 1980s, told Qian a story about her mother. Although the family had bought a washing machine, she still preferred to wash clothes by hand because she believed it saved water. For thrifty and diligent homemakers, this was a common practice at the time.

"We directly used what the mother said as lines for the character in the script. It's realistic and resonates with people," Qian says.

Starring Guan Xiaotong and Wang Ziqi, the period drama has been airing on China Media Group's flagship channel CCTV-1 and iQIYI since Sept 3. It has drawn 284 million online views, according to industry tracker Maoyan Pro.

The story centers on the families of Cao Dongfang and Qi Aihua, two colleagues who are as close as brothers at a State-owned coal mine. It begins with a tragedy: their wives go into labor at the same time, but one dies in childbirth after giving birth to a daughter. Out of compassion, the other mother volunteers to take care of all four children from the two families, with each newborn being the second child in their respective household.

Among them is Qi Shi, a girl with albinism, which causes her to have distinctive white skin and hair. Facing discrimination, she desperately wants to attend school like other children. She even believes her elder brother's folk remedy that drinking soy sauce will darken her hair, and at one point she tries using coal briquettes to dye it.

Her intelligence and passion for learning eventually win over a local school principal, who admits her despite the obstacles. At school, Qi Shi becomes an academic rival — and quiet ally — to Cao Xin, the boy born on the same day and living next door. As the children grow up, their lives unfold alongside the sweeping social changes. Facing setbacks and life's ups and downs, they gradually pursue their own paths: Cao Xin is admitted to a prestigious university and later joins a major company, while Qi Shi establishes her own fashion brand to become a successful businesswoman.

For Wang, who was born in 1996 and plays Cao Xin, the role has offered a chance to understand his parents' generation while returning to an environment that once felt familiar: a middle school campus.

Coincidentally, Guan, who plays Qi Shi, was Wang's classmate at the Performance Institute of Beijing Film Academy, where they studied together starting in 2016. Although they had not seen each other for a long time, the two quickly regained the familiarity needed to portray classmates and neighbors.

The appeal of the drama's period setting also extends beyond its fictional world. When the early episodes aired, Qian happened to be on vacation in Canada, where she noticed that Chinese audiences overseas were also drawn to the series.

In recent years, period dramas have offered audiences detailed re-creations of everyday life in the decades when the country began to introduce reform and opening-up — an era Qian remembers as full of opportunities and closer interpersonal relationships.

She recalls, for example, how people who bought televisions had to solve reception problems themselves. They would buy or make an antenna, tie it to a long wooden pole or metal frame, raise it onto the roof and connect it to the television with a wire. Because the antenna's direction and angle affected reception, someone would often climb onto the roof while others watched inside, shouting instructions back and forth until the picture became clear.

"Back then, there was no air conditioning in summer, so everyone ate outdoors. Everyone knew what each household was eating. If a family installed a telephone, neighbors would run over to borrow it, and because phone charges were expensive at the time, the neighbors would even offer to pay," she says.

Such memories, Qian believes, can also help Chinese dramas connect with audiences beyond China. Asked how Chinese dramas can reach a wider overseas audience, she says they should not simply present China as a cultural curiosity filled with exotic customs and old-fashioned scenery. "A good Chinese drama should convey universal human emotions," she says.

That belief also shaped her portrayal of Qi Shi. To better understand the character, Qian conducted extensive research, following many bloggers with albinism on social media and watching their daily vlogs to learn about the challenges they face in education, employment, marriage and raising children.

During her research, she noticed that attitudes toward people with albinism have changed. In the past, many tended to "hide themselves away", sometimes by wearing wigs. In recent years, however, as society has become more inclusive and aesthetic standards more diverse, more people have become willing to share their lives openly. Some children with distinctive appearances have even become models.

"This is a sign of changing times, and it also signals social progress," Qian says, noting that over the past two or three decades, Chinese society has become increasingly capable of helping people with special conditions accept their own differences and those of others.

"When facing hardship — when misunderstood and discriminated against — people show an inspiring spirit in their fight for an equal life. That is what I truly want to express and convey," she says.