The White Olive Tree, a popular Chinese series centered on a wartime romance, captivated over 5 million viewers in its debut week across 10 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.

Produced by Chengdu Culture & Tourism Development Group Ltd, the drama, which started to stream on iQiyi earlier this month, opens with a gripping scene: A female journalist accidentally steps on a landmine during a reporting mission in a war-torn foreign country. Fortunately, the protagonist, portrayed by actress Liang Jie, is rescued by a Chinese explosives expert, played by actor Chen Zheyuan, who is volunteering on the battlefield. As they face a series of trials and challenges together, the two gradually develop deep feelings for each other.

The drama, consisting of 38 episodes, has also been released with subtitles, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Arabic and Japanese. Additionally, it has two foreign dubbed versions, namely Thai and Vietnamese.

Propelled by its online popularity, as evidenced by amassing over 10 billion clicks on major social platforms like Sina Weibo and Douyin, the filming locations in multiple cities in Southwest China's Sichuan province, including Chengdu, Leshan, and Zigong, have become popular tourist destinations.

The main filming set, Red House Film Base in Leshan city, which was previously used by a hydropower construction company and redesigned to represent the wartime "foreign country" in the romance series, has emerged as a new tourist attraction, experiencing a 206.98 percent year-on-year increase in tourist visits during the Spring Festival holiday.

On TikTok's Thai and English platforms, the show has garnered over 200 million views on related topics, while its related videos on Facebook and Instagram have amassed over 16 million clicks, according to the producers.

Zhao Bin, the show's chief producer and chairman of Chengdu Tianfu Kuanzhai Culture Communication Ltd, mentioned their efforts in adapting a Chinese narrative to gain recognition abroad and resonate with global audiences.

Source: China Daily