TV documentary showcases early history of PLA

Zhou Bingde, niece of the late premier Zhou Enlai, plays a narrator in the series. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Another event highlighted is the joining forces at Jinggang Mountain, which saw the forces led by Zhu and Chen Yi retreating from the Nanchang Uprising to join Mao's army that had retreated from another battle－known as Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan province－in the Jinggang Mountain that borders Jiangxi and Hunan provinces.

Huang Wei, director of the series, says the crew took more than eight months to produce the series, 55 minutes for each episode.

"The average age of our team is 26. But when we were doing research, we discovered that most of the soldiers were younger than 26," says Huang.

"It was impressive and moving. These warriors risked their lives, tolerating extremely harsh conditions to fight for the people. They made us see the power of faith," he adds.

Inspired by the stories, Huang says that seven members of the crew applied to join the Party after the filming.

The documentary uses the 22 relatives of the veterans as narrators as well as wartime letters, diaries and memoirs to relive history in an interesting way.

Huang, who has worked on documentaries about the PLA history with regard to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), the War of Liberation (1946-1949) and the Korean War (1950-1953), says the series also taught him about the early history of the armed forces.

Zhou Bingde, daughter of Zhou Enlai's younger brother, says the series will inspire the younger generations.

She recalls the words penned by Zhou Enlai in 1919, which show his wish to see China rise in the world.

"Now we are seeing his dream come true," she says.

Yao Youzhi, a scholar with the Academy of Military Sciences of the People's Liberation Army, says the series is narrated in an audience-friendly way.