(Photo: CCTV)

An epic series about the reconstruction of Shanghai after its liberation in 1949 has begun airing on China Central Television.

The series, ‘Dawn of the Orient’, is a collaboration between CCTV and Shanghai Media Group’s SMG Pictures. It is also being shown on the streaming service iQiyi.

Starring Zhang Jiayi, Liu Tao and Qiao Zhenyu, the series centres on efforts to reconstruct Shanghai and revive its economy in the first year after the city’s liberation in May 1949.

Based on true historical records, the series portrays city leaders’ faith, wisdom and solidarity to fight bandits, a typhoon and enemy agents and solve various political, economic and social problems of the time.

Shot with 4K cameras, the series has 161 main actors and more than 14,000 extras. The director, Gao Xixi, said different generations of actors had been carefully selected for the series.