Life on the land

Gao Mantang savors the opportunity to write a TV series about the real-life experiences of China's farmers, and the not-so-trendy subject is winning an audience, Xu Fan reports.

The question media most frequently pose to Gao Mantang revolves around his ranking for the second time as China's richest scriptwriter. However, the highest-earning author in the country's TV industry says he doesn't care about the list.

"The so-called No 1 is much less significant than the first place my works gain in the audience ratings," says the 60-year-old, who looks fatigued after a four-hour seminar with a slew of top television program researchers in downtown Beijing on Dec 29.