Hit series stirs nostalgia of early '90s

The early 1990s marks the country's taking off in developing a market economy thanks to reform and opening-up. Recently, Our Times -- a hit online series -- has revisited this special chapter in China's modern history, stirring nostalgia online among the generations that lived it.

Marking the first time stars Wu Lei and Hou Minghao have worked together, the series has run on streaming giant Tencent Video since Sept 14, garnering applause online.

Adapted from writer Wang Qiang's novel of the same title, the series spans the early 1990s and 2018 to chronicle the ups and downs of two IT researchers.

Both graduated from a prestigious university's computer science department, and the two protagonists unintentionally tap into the computer-retail business, rising as commerce legends in line with the country's unprecedented expansion in the internet industry.

According to the producers, the crew dove into archival materials to find photos of buildings and routine items widely used in the early 1990s in order to create a realistic mise en scene.

Striking a chord among many audience members, the series has obtained over 250 million clicks on topics with its hashtags on Sina Weibo, one of the country's most popular social platforms.