Battling expectations

"I have interviewed four or five luxury retail sales clerks. The job enables them to meet people from different backgrounds who have interesting stories," says Zhang. "I was given a lot of sales tips, which helped me to add reality to my script. For instance, sales clerks rarely drink water at work, as they worry that going to the toilet may ruin a chance to meet an important client."

For director Zhang Xiaobo, who has cooperated with the scriptwriter previously for TV shows, reality is important to draw audiences to a city-set series.

"Most of my previous TV dramas unfold through male perspectives. I feel a challenge to helm Nothing But Thirty, which has helped me to explore the feminism theme for the first time in my work," says the director, a veteran behind hits like Novoland: Eagle Flag and To Be A Better Man.

Zhang Xiaobo recalls the new series was mainly shot in Shanghai between July and December, with the crew also traveling to Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu province for some scenes that feature the characters going on a hot-spring tour.

"We shot scenes in more than 380 locations, including streets, cafes, hotels and restaurants," says Zhang Xiaobo, adding that making a TV drama is exhausting.

"But the most meaningful thing about television is that it helps viewers experience other people's lives and learn about a different world."

Also streamed on YouTube and Viki, as well as several television channels in North America and Malaysia, the drama is popular among overseas Chinese.

"Through the drama we are aiming to tell people that the average life span is longer nowadays, and 30 is still a young age for someone to take off," Zhang Yingji says.

Contact the writer at xufan@chinadaily.com.cn