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Small Town Remedy: What Chinese Viewers Are Saying

Small Town Remedy sends Xiao Zhan's doctor home to a snowbound town in Northeast China, and Chinese viewers can't agree on it: some praise surgery scenes shot like a documentary and the local humour, others call the medicine careless. Here are the comments they liked most in the first days.

Small Town Remedy: What Chinese Viewers Are Saying
Still: iQIYI / Ningmeng Pictures via Douban

Small Town Remedy premiered on October 21 on CCTV and iQIYI, a 29-episode drama with Xiao Zhan as Liu Zhengliang, a gifted doctor whose career collapses and who has to start again from nothing at Xiaoximen hospital in his hometown, a small town in Northeast China. Two days in, Chinese viewers are split along clear lines: whether the operating-room scenes are the most convincing a Chinese drama has shown or a string of medical errors, whether the Northeastern humour lands, and what to make of Liu Zhengliang's coldness. One small scene also struck a nerve: near the end of episode 4, while a girl hurt in a car accident is being resuscitated, a nurse comes out to ask her family whether staff may cut off her clothes. Many viewers found the question absurd, until people who work in hospitals explained why it gets asked.

We picked some of the most-liked comments from Douban reviews, Weibo and Douban groups. Each card shows the original Chinese with our translation underneath; names and avatars are hidden, and like counts are as of October 23.

The craniotomy scene with Dr. Liu had me so tense! It's the first time I've seen surgery shown this directly in a Chinese TV drama! Dr. Liu is calm and steady — handsome and professional, just as expected! / This medical drama won me over with its professionalism. The surgery scenes are genuinely bold — not the kind that flash past the camera and fudge it; the intubation, the scrubbing in, the emergency room in chaos, all those details ring true. No wonder doctors have come out to praise it…Save
The craniotomy scene with Dr. Liu had me so tense! It's the first time I've seen surgery shown this directly in a Chinese TV drama! Dr. Liu is calm and steady — handsome and professional, just as expected! / This medical drama won me over with its professionalism. The surgery scenes are genuinely bold — not the kind that flash past the camera and fudge it; the intubation, the scrubbing in, the emergency room in chaos, all those details ring true. No wonder doctors have come out to praise it…
I've watched a few episodes. The premise isn't ambitious and many of the conflicts feel forced. One more thing: what a workplace drama must fear most is getting the professional knowledge wrong, because it misleads viewers and reflects badly on the profession. To me, police officers, doctors and teachers are the three archetypal professions; if you want to film them, do your homework properly and have experts work with the writers to avoid errors of principle. Clearly… this drama didn't. / Metronidazole for rhinitis? I laughed so hard.Save
I've watched a few episodes. The premise isn't ambitious and many of the conflicts feel forced. One more thing: what a workplace drama must fear most is getting the professional knowledge wrong, because it misleads viewers and reflects badly on the profession. To me, police officers, doctors and teachers are the three archetypal professions; if you want to film them, do your homework properly and have experts work with the writers to avoid errors of principle. Clearly… this drama didn't. / Metronidazole for rhinitis? I laughed so hard.
Behind every absurd rule there's something even more absurd that once happened. / When I first started at the hospital I didn't get why cutting someone's clothes needed a family member's signature. My teacher told me: "You can't afford to pay for them." / It's a real news story. The 3,000 yuan was split across the whole department.Save
Behind every absurd rule there's something even more absurd that once happened. / When I first started at the hospital I didn't get why cutting someone's clothes needed a family member's signature. My teacher told me: "You can't afford to pay for them." / It's a real news story. The 3,000 yuan was split across the whole department.
You can tell from the small expressions that Liu Zhengliang does care — he's just using coldness to protect himself. Mostly, what happened with his dad when he was little must have hurt him too much. / Yes. Liu Zhengliang went through two enormous losses: his father leaving, and being abandoned by his mother — because to the small boy he was, that is what it looked like. Years of living alone meant he could only rely on himself to grow up, and his love for his mother wouldn't let him blame her, so all he could do was blame himself more, and blame the illness.Save
You can tell from the small expressions that Liu Zhengliang does care — he's just using coldness to protect himself. Mostly, what happened with his dad when he was little must have hurt him too much. / Yes. Liu Zhengliang went through two enormous losses: his father leaving, and being abandoned by his mother — because to the small boy he was, that is what it looked like. Years of living alone meant he could only rely on himself to grow up, and his love for his mother wouldn't let him blame her, so all he could do was blame himself more, and blame the illness.
Dean Long, the old smooth-talker, has finally met his match in Liu Zhengliang. The way these two deal with each other is far more fun than I expected. / Small Town Remedy has me dying — when Liu Zhengliang got caught out at the barbecue with the female lead, I cringed for Dr. Liu 🤣 / Took a "call" from his alarm clock and just left, hahahahaSave
Dean Long, the old smooth-talker, has finally met his match in Liu Zhengliang. The way these two deal with each other is far more fun than I expected. / Small Town Remedy has me dying — when Liu Zhengliang got caught out at the barbecue with the female lead, I cringed for Dr. Liu 🤣 / Took a "call" from his alarm clock and just left, hahahaha

Source: Douban, Weibo and Douban groups, public comments as of October 23, 2026.

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