Miniseries

Miniseries in China are arguably one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Actors and singers on a successful miniseries can easily be sprung into stardom. Even the less popular shows can draw well over a million viewers.

A Dream of Red Mansions, based on a classic Chinese novel set in 16th century, was a hugely popular television series in mid 2000s. The first popular miniseries was Plainclothes Police, a 12-part series that appeared in the mid 1980s. River Elegy, a 1988 miniseries is said to have been as influential as Roots was in America.

Chinese miniseries tend to be long. Yangzheng Dynasty, a popular docu-drama shown in the late 1990s about a cruel but reform-minded Qing dynasty emperor, had 44 parts. Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, shown on the weekends in the early 2000s, had 46 parts. Other popular miniseries have included the 28-part Kelan P.I., the 35-party X-Files-like Strange Man, Strange Case and 20-part medical drama Loving Care. Advertisers like long miniseries because they often pay per miniseries rather than per episode. If a ministries runs a long time, more people see their ads.

The popular Communist-party-endorsed miniseries Awaken From a Dream in Five Willow Village was about a beautiful peasant girl who married a rich man but doesn't know that he is having an affair with her best friend. As the story develops the best friend gets pregnant, the husband goes bankrupt and the peasant girl finds happiness raising geese, falling in love with a good peasant man who has adored her secretly for years.

One of the most popular miniseries writers is Hai Yan, a former police officer who draws on his experience to produce police dramas such as Jade Goddess of Mercy, a police story that centers around a policewoman who finds out her lover is a drug dealer.