"If there was one little accident, the explosive might go off. For the young man who was given the task of disposing of it, I believe his biggest challenge was to conquer the huge fear. He was very brave and worthy of respect," recalls Zhang during an interview with China Daily.
Once the driver reached the field, a controlled explosion took place but the blast went off before the driver could reach safety. Consequently, he suffered some injuries. He received a second-class merit for his brave deed. Zhang's production focuses on these types of stories.
Between May and August last year, the veteran director, also an award-winning scriptwriter, stayed most of the time with explosive ordnance disposal veterans of the People's Liberation Army in Guangxi and Yunnan province.
After interviewing more than 20 soldiers and officers, including those who participated in China's third large-scale land mine sweeping operation at the China-Vietnam border in 2016, Zhang got enough firsthand information to write the tale of Pai Bao Jing Ying (EOD Elites), one of six stand-alone stories in the anthology TV series New Generation.
Consisting of 48 episodes, the TV series also recounts the stories of a community technician, an aircraft engineer, a college graduate who volunteers to work in a far-flung village, a rural doctor and a civilian rescuer.
Statistics from the television data tracer Kuyun show that the TV series has reached around 15 percent of the television audience in first-tier cities, propelling it to soar as the most watched TV drama in the same broadcasting slot in these areas.
