TV drama dubbed for Arab audiences

Shanhaiqing, a Chinese TV series about poverty alleviation, broadcast on television in Egypt in Arabic. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

YINCHUAN — Shanhaiqing, a popular Chinese TV drama series narrating the country's poverty alleviation efforts, has been translated and dubbed for Arab audiences.

Also known by its English title Minning Town, the series follows the lives of villagers in the 1990s in Xihaigu, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, as they are relocated from deep mountains to a more habitable area near the Yellow River. There, they build new homes in a town called Minning from scratch with assistance from Fujian, a relatively wealthy coastal province in eastern China.

Dozens of people from China and Arab countries participated in the translation and dubbing work. The team spent more than four months simplifying the lines and polishing the script.

The TV drama is based on a real-life story and the characters speak in northwestern dialects, rather than in standard Mandarin, which lends credibility to the adaptation.

"In order to give Arab audiences a better viewing experience, we chose popular dialects from Arab countries for the translation and dubbing," said Ma Xuejun, head of the translation team.

At least three dubbers were asked to do the recording for each main on-screen character, and the one who best matched the tone of the character's voice and performance was selected.

Samer Safaf, dubber for the lead character Ma Defu, was deeply touched by the village cadre's perseverance and courage. Despite misunderstandings and resistance, Ma Defu continued to persuade other villagers to relocate to Minning and build a new home in the Gobi Desert.

As a graduate of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Syria, Safaf felt that Ma Defu demonstrated a sense of hope.

"Maybe this is what the TV series wants to show us. With such hope, China has gradually become an economic giant from scratch," the 32-year-old said.

El Batoul Nejjaoui, a Moroccan woman working for the subtitle translation group, has worked in Yinchuan, the regional capital of Ningxia, for more than four years. She visited Minning, now a prosperous town of 66,000 residents, for the first time after watching the TV series.

"A sea change has taken place there. Gone are the days when villagers struggled in poverty," she said.

Ma Xuejun expressed hope that Arab audiences will welcome the drama. "Ending poverty is a global challenge. The series presents how China got rid of poverty in reality," Ma said.

China and Arab countries have a long history of friendly exchange based on cooperation and mutual benefit. In recent years, people-to-people exchanges in education, culture and health have flourished between both sides.

The Arabic version of Minning Town has begun airing in Sudan and Egypt and will be broadcast in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries, according to the team.

Xinhua