Meet Yourself

At the courtyard Hongdou meets Xie Zhiyao (谢之遥), played by Li Xian (李现). He gave up a well-paid job in the city to come home and build a local tourism business. He sees how seriously she takes service and asks her to put her hotel experience to work for the village, and the two gradually come closer through the work.

Around them are the other guests, each with a private trouble. Guangming Daily's review mentions a livestreamer hounded by online abuse, and villagers dealing with a divorce, a strained father-son relationship and young people leaving for the cities. The review noted that the series does not present village life as simply idyllic; it shows the difficulties alongside the scenery.

The story is set in Dali. People's Daily Overseas Edition described Dali as the main filming location and the place where the story is set, and said the drama worked local scenery, food and traditional crafts into its plot. Ding Zigang (丁梓光) directed. China Daily reported that Huace (华策) produced it together with the Yunnan provincial publicity department.

The series had a visible effect on travel. People's Daily Overseas Edition reported, citing a travel platform, that in the week after the January 3 premiere, searches for Dali rose by nearly three times. Dali drew a rush of Lunar New Year visitors. At a May 2024 seminar reported by China Daily, the producers said the series had won Best Drama at the 18th Seoul International Drama Awards.

Critics were warm but measured. Guangming Daily's reviewer, Wang Yichuan, a Beijing Normal University professor, said the series spoke to viewers' anxiety after the pandemic years while adding that the characters' inner drives could have been written with more depth.