Epic series chronicles first year after Shanghai's liberation

TV series Po Xiao Dong Fang (Dawn in the East), an epic that revisits the first year after Shanghai was liberated by the Communist Party of China in May 1949, is scheduled to begin running on CCTV-1 on Friday.

With a stellar cast, the series revisits one of the most significant chapters of New China's early history, chronicling how Shanghai transitioned from war-torn unrest to a stable city under the leadership of the CPC in its first year after liberation.

The drama stars actor Zhang Jiayi as Chen Yi, the first mayor of Shanghai after the city was liberated. Actor Li Zefeng plays the role of secretary of the major and actress Liu Tao an economist assigned to aid the city's postwar construction. Actresses Tong Lei and Zuo Xiaoqing play Zhuo Lin, wife of former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and Zhang Qian, wife of Chen, respectively.

Li Yang, the producer, said the creators had spent a long time learning the history of Shanghai from 1949 to 1950 by reading historian Liu Tong's award-winning book Zhan Shanghai (The Battle at Shanghai) as well as a lot of archival files.

Amid Shanghai's pandemic resurgence earlier this year, the TV series was filmed in a total of 94 days and finished shooting on July 1, recalled Li.

Describing it as a fresh theme that has been rarely featured on the small screen, director Gao Xixi said the TV series shows how CPC led locals to win an unusual "battle" in Shanghai through financial means, from cracking down profiteers to stabilizing rice and cotton prices.