Across China: Popular Chinese anti-poverty TV drama translated for Arab audiences

"Shanhaiqing," also known by its English title "Minning Town," follows villagers in the 1990s in Xihaigu, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, as they are relocated from deep mountains to a habitable region near the Yellow River. They build their new homes in Minning from scratch with assistance from east China's Fujian, a relatively wealthy coastal province.

Dozens of people from China and Arab countries participated in the translation and dubbing work. The team spent more than four months simplifying the lines and polishing the playscript.

The TV drama is based on a real-life story. The characters speak not in standard Mandarin, but in northwestern dialects, which lends credibility to the dramatic adaptation.

"In order to give local audiences a better viewing experience, we chose the popular dialects from the Arab countries for our translation and dubbing," said Ma Xuejun, head of the translation team.

At least three dubbers were asked to do the recording for each main on-screen character, and the one who could best match the tone of the character's voice and performance was finally selected.

Samer Safaf, dubber for the lead character Ma Defu, was deeply touched by the village cadre's perseverance and courage. Despite some misunderstandings and resistance, Ma Defu kept persuading other villagers to relocate to Minning Town and rebuild a new home in the Gobi desert.

Samer, who graduated from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Syria, felt Ma Defu demonstrated a sense of hope. "Maybe this is what the TV series wants to show us. With such hope, China has gradually become an economic giant from scratch," the 32-year-old said.

El Batoul Nejjaoui, a Moroccan girl working for the subtitle translation group, has worked in Yinchuan, the regional capital of Ningxia, for more than four years. She visited Minning, now a prosperous town of 66,000 residents, for the first time after watching the TV series.

"A sea change has taken place there. Gone are the days when villagers struggled in poverty," she said.

"Ending poverty is a global challenge. The series presents how China got rid of poverty in reality," said Ma Xuejun, hoping the TV drama will be welcomed by Arab audiences.

China and Arab countries have a long history of friendly exchanges featuring cooperation and mutual benefit. In recent years, the two sides have witnessed flourishing people-to-people exchanges in education, culture and health.

The Arab version of "Minning Town" has begun airing in Sudan and Egypt and will be broadcast in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries, according to the translation team.