Plug pulled on popular TV show

A popular TV series that focuses on rising property prices has been controversially taken off air.

Beijing Television stopped broadcasting Dwelling Narrowness (Wo Ju) from Nov 22, though other TV stations, such as Dragon TV based in Shanghai did not.

According to a report in the Oriental Morning Post, Jin Wenxiong, an official from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), said the government had not ordered the show to be stopped.

"I know the TV series raised lots of discussion online. But no detailed regulations have been issued by SARFT," Jin was quoted by the newspaper as saying. Meanwhile, Ma Ke, the producer of the show, said: "It is inconvenient to give any information and comments about the show".

"All the sensitive topics presented in the show are real and understandable," says a fan of the show Zhao Ye, a 52-year-old Shenyang native. According to youku.com, a popular video sharing website in China, the daily number of clicks for the TV series reached 15 million - and the number keeps on rising.

Adapted from best-selling writer Liu Liu's novel of the same name, the TV series started airing in July and has had sky-high ratings.

Before watching the show, Zhao Ye read the novel and says the writer, who also scripted the show, makes sharp observations about issues close to readers' lives.

Fans say the television series captures the frustrations and unhappiness they face trying to buy a home.

Li Shibo, a 28-year-old office worker and a fan of the show, says he loves Dwelling Narrowness because of its plots - cruel, gloomy but true to life.

"Audiences love the series, even though it is controversial, either because of the style of the scripts or the sensitive topic of rocketing property prices, corruption and mistresses," says the Beijing native.

He also points out soaring property prices have given rise to other social problems in fast-changing China, especially the gap between the rich and the poor. The high housing prices have even triggered the discussion of moral standards, as one of the series' characters, the younger sister Haizao, has an affair with a corrupt official who can buy a house easily.

"I have heard and witnessed many similar stories in real life," Li says, "such as young engaged couples who are forced to separate because they don't have money to buy a home; couples fighting over the house because they don't have enough money; and young women leaving their poor boyfriends for rich married men."

Several years ago, mainland Internet users adopted the term "mortgage slave" to describe young couples who are forced to spend most of their income on paying off their hefty mortgage. Now, within a short time, most young people in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou cannot even afford to become mortgage slaves.

"Dwelling Narrowness caters to different social strata of house buyers and reflects the reality," says Shao Qi, a professor from the Television and Film Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. "Audiences share the same anxieties, dilemmas and thoughts about the moral issues involved."