Apparently this was shot on location in the far Northwest, in 90 days, last autumn while the pandemic was still going strong. We already know how much magic a terrific cast can infuse a crappy script with power (I'm looking at you, Guardian), but when the script is as brilliant as the actors, you get sheer magic.

The production company is known for some outstanding shows, Nirvana in Fire being one. They seem drawn to stories of heroism in increasingly realistic settings, a combination I find bewitching. The story concerns a dirt-poor village being resettled in the Gobi desert, which is in the process of being converted to arable land.

For me, the best part of Like a Flowing River, which I also loved, was the story of a small town as they went from virtual medieval backwardness, imposed by the Cultural Revolution, into the modernity of the eighties. In a way it seems to have been practice for this series, which nominally centers around the Ma family, but everyone is important. We get the lives of teens, and middle-aged people, and elderly. Men and women.

It's clear that this series was produced for the upcoming political celebration, with its uplifting message extolling hard work and integrity, but the substrate is a reminder of the inimical aftereffects of corrupt government officials. It is all demonstrated through small, entirely human stories, filled with tragic and triumph, love and sacrifice, joy and celebration, with a steadying thread of irony.

If I had any complaints it would be the very tightness of the story, that leaves certain emotional changes to the imagination. There is a lot of story conveyed in 23 episodes, over twenty years of time. I think--I wish--that it had been 25, or even 30 episodes. But we have what we have, containing many exquisite moments of perfect characterization begging rewatch. I can't say enough about every single performance, even people with no more than half a dozen lines (like a certain person's disabled husband). Sandwiched between two really lovely pieces of music.