Strength of characters

So, she fictionalizes several major male characters, including a capable sales manager and a nosy secretary, and also adds content to enrich the personalities of the male characters who are originally featured in The Golden Years.

Additionally, she interviewed architects and real estate industry insiders to learn details about their professions and careers, helping her to more accurately create scenes at construction sites and in the office. Likening her brain to a cabinet with many drawers, Qin says that she has become used to observing people while she's out, sorting their distinctive characteristics into the various "drawers".

"The biggest joy of working as a scriptwriter is that I can 'become' any of my characters, breathing life into them and experiencing their joys and sorrows," says Qin.

For some critics and television show researchers, the popularity of My Best Friend's Story exemplifies the growing demand from the domestic audience for TV dramas and films with strong, independent female characters.

Wang Yichuan, a literature professor at Beijing Normal University, says that China's four-decade-long reform and opening-up has raised the status and education level of women.

"There are wonderful women in all walks of life in our society, providing inspiration for TV series and films. All these works reflect the public's recognition of women's contribution and dedication," says Wang, citing such hit television dramas as Nothing but Thirty, Dear Missy and Twenty Your Life On.

Lu Rong, a TV research professor with the Communication University of China, says China's female-led TV series have already shaped a huge audience base, but suggests that creators take greater care to observe real life in order to make the stories more realistic.