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Prime time TV serial dramas (or “soaps”) on Chinese Central Television Channel 1, are the focus of a great number of people. What plays usually stems from an effort to get the whole nation’s attention by choosing a subject matter pertinent to the vast majority of people.

The Chinese dianshi lianxuju (电视连续剧) denotes the kind of long and drawn-out programs that are called soap operas in the UK and TV serials in the US. They all have one thing in common: they’re shown during prime time and often for five days a week.

What’s interesting about Chinese TV serials, though, is that topics often center on topics that are instantly recognized as being close to the viewer － at least, if not a topic that is directly in front of them and one they’re living, but a topic that is covered in the news media. An example of this: the most recent TV serial is about the “sky train,” a train that travels from Beijing to the heart of Tibet: Lhasa.

The construction of the Qingzang railway has always been a contentious issue, but with Xueyu Tianlu (雪域天路, showing now on CCTV1, 8pm) the mission has been glorified on the screens for the masses. The story follows the construction of the railway, which was in two stages. The first was building tracks from Xining to Golmud, both in Qinghai province, close to Tibet. This section was completed in 1984, but the rest of the line, which would take passengers to Lhasa, was halted due to problems with building on permafrost. The full railway was finished in 2005.

The drama itself is a trajectory through these events, following the lives of three families. Someone from each of these generations works on the railway during various stages of its completion. Some of the main actors － such as Qi Dao (奇道) and Yin Zhusheng (尹铸胜) － actually play three different characters (but in the same family). For example, Yin firstly plays Xie Yuchen (谢雨辰), then Xie Shanfeng (谢山峰) and finally Xie Kunlun (谢昆仑), who are all related , and have all contributed to the construction of the railway, as either engineers or workers.

Although this kind of serial dramas may not always be popular with audiences, some calling it out of date on the Baidu Post Bar devoted to Xueyu Tianlu, the choice for the topic reflects CCTV1′s taste for more sanitary versions of stories in order to encourage support for government initiatives, such as the railway. In other dramas, CCTV1 wants appease people in and from the countryside who may feel that income disparities are hurting their interests.

For instance, the drama that preceeded Xueyu Tianlu was Big Brother’s Happiness (老大的幸福). The main character, the big brother or  lao da, is played by famous comedian and actor Fan Wei (范伟), whose other roles include John Rabe’s assistant in Lu Chuan’s City of Life and Death (南京！南京！).  Big Brother’s Happiness, unlike the Qingzang railway, traces the lives of a man from Northeast China, whose four younger brothers and sisters have ‘left the nest’ and flown off to work in the big city; Beijing.

Almost all of the dramas want to, in some way, reflect the working and mental lives of over half of China’s overall population, who come from the countryside. Many of them are migrating for work: it’s estimated that China is close to having 40 million migrant workers. Others who haven’t migrated stay at home and farm. Other CCTV1 prime time TV dramas have dealt with this, in Village Lovestory (乡村爱情故事), which is already in its third season.

In Big Brother’s Happiness, the eldest brother Fu Jixiang (傅吉祥), played by Fan Wei, works as a masseuse at a relaxation center. As an expert training other employees, Fu Jixiang met Mei Hao (梅好), a migrant worker from Anhui province, and a single mother looking after her autistic son. Fu Jixiang starts to help Mei Hao with her son, as she has a rough time finding proper treatment, and takes them to Beijing when he finally relocates under pressure from his successful and rich siblings, who insist that he carve out a better life for himself.

As the city in real-life changes, however, depictions of people from the countryside living in the city change with it. A Beijing News report from March 18 claimed that some viewers were unhappy about the ending of Big Brother’s Happiness, because Mei Hao, the central figure’s love interest, ends up marrying into a rich family who she works for in the capacity of ayi, or housekeeper.

With TV dramas focusing on the “negative aspects” of modern society, such as the gap between workers who want a better life for themselves and others who are on the opposite end: earning money easily, buying houses and cars, popular opinion hotly debate these issues. An obvious example of this is the hit TV series <i>Narrow Dwellings</i> (蜗居), which wasn’t shown on CCTV1 but was one of the most popular TV series in 2009, which condensed city living to a few important issues: rising housing prices and how to afford to become part of the house-owning class (eventually becoming a “slave” to money); what people do for money (becoming a mistress to an official) and comfortable living; people migrating and leaving their roots behind and look for something new in the city.

In all, when CCTV1’s prime time dramas come on air, it’s obvious to viewers that the broadcaster is attempting to focus on issues that affect the population. This ranges from political projects such as the Qingzang railway, to tales about relocation and trying to modernize and participate in China’s boom. Whether this is effective is besides the point, because the number of viewers who like this sort of thing are stable – peasants, farmers, people in their middle age, and old ex-revolutionaries, for whom a project like the building of the Qingzang railway can conjure up images of how they themselves helped to build the country. For others, scripting modern contradictions and painful experiences is another way of capturing viewers’ attention, as well as ensuring that ratings are high.