Views of the grassland

[Photo provided to China Daily]

TV series set to be aired from August will shed light on the many changes in the lives of people in Inner Mongolia, Yang Yang reports.

"Maybe I'm no better than other directors in many ways, but I was born and raised in a herders' family, and as a herder, I know how to deal with animals in the Mongolian grasslands, and that is very important in this series," says Bayaneruul, director of In the Steppes, a 20-episode TV drama in Mongolian, which goes on air in August.

The drama, which tells the story of the changes in the lives of herders in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region over the last 70 years, will be broadcast to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the autonomous region.

Bayaneruul, 55, is an award-winning actor and director. His performance was well received in the movie The Sorrow of Brook Steppe in 1996. He is especially popular for his anti-hero roles in costume, martial arts dramas such as Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and Return of the Condor Heroes.

His directorial ventures Sichenghangru (2009) and Norjmaa (2014) won awards at home and abroad.

The production crew and cast of In the Steppes are mainly composed of people of Mongol ethnicity. All the actors and actresses grew up in the steppes and know how to raise sheep, horses, camels, goats and cattle.

"We treat animals as family members," Bayaneruul says. "We will be mocked if we are not professional enough."

Bayaneruul will focus on the changes in the past four decades starting from the time of China's reform and opening-up in the late 1970s.