# Dear Life (亲爱的生命)
**Dear Life** (亲爱的生命) is a 2022 Chinese urban medical-emotional television drama about two rival obstetrics residents at a Beijing hospital, produced by iQIYI with Hengdun Media and starring Song Qian ([Victoria Song](https://www.edgepedia.org/victoria-song)) and Wang Xiaochen. It premiered on 7 September 2022 on CCTV-8, with simultaneous streaming on iQIYI and [Tencent Video](https://www.edgepedia.org/tencent-video), and ran 36 episodes of about 45 minutes each.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Native title | 亲爱的生命; alternate title 女医生 (Woman Doctor)[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Genre | Urban, medical, emotional drama; Mandarin language, mainland China production[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Director / writers | Wang Ying and Wu Huihui (directors); Wang Tong (chief writer) and Pan Wei[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Lead cast | Song Qian, Wang Xiaochen, with Yin Fang, Myolie Wu (胡杏儿), and Wang Sen[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Broadcast | 7 September 2022, CCTV-8; streamed on iQIYI and Tencent Video; 36 episodes[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Ratings | Averaged 1.093% per episode over the run; ranked in the top 2 of single-channel prime-time drama ratings in each of its four broadcast weeks[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
| Production | Produced by CCTV and Beijing iQIYI Science & Technology Co., Ltd.; co-produced and executed by Beijing Hengdun Media Co., Ltd.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
The story follows Du Di (杜帝), played by Song Qian, and Wu Congrui (吴聪睿), played by Wang Xiaochen, two friends who are both obstetrics and gynecology residents at Shengji Hospital (盛济医院). Their friendship turns into competition when both run for the post of chief resident (住院总医师). Under the attending physician Lin Wei (林未) and chief physician Huang Yuling (黄韵玲), they treat a wide variety of patients and witness a broad range of life circumstances, cooperating in competition and competing in cooperation.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) The male lead, the doctor Liu Nianbai (刘念白), and attending physician Li Junxiao (李骏骁) form the secondary professional and romantic lines.[2](https://www.iq.com/album/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD-2022-dehsuarr8x?lang=zh_cn&user=lishan)
The series is built around obstetric cases and doctor-patient relationships, with women's stories as the supporting thread: the iQIYI synopsis describes it as depicting the physical and living conditions of Chinese women of different classes and ages, against the background of an obstetrics department.[3](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_hj99oeaeux.html)
## Production
The series was officially announced on 23 August 2021, when the cast and first stills were released; the airdate was confirmed on 5 September 2022.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) It was Song Qian's first role in an urban medical drama; during preparation she repeatedly attended medical training sessions to learn professional terminology and operating procedures for the role.[4](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma)
Professional accuracy received particular attention. The drama staged 35 major operations, and details down to test slips, ultrasound reports, the arrangement of surgical scenes, and the placement of medical instruments were checked by specialist staff and medical consultants. A Wenhui Daily review noted that this avoided the professional errors of earlier Chinese medical dramas, such as mistaking MRI films for brain CT scans, injecting patients with 9% saline, or touching sterile gowns without gloves, and that the costumes and sets were faithfully reproduced.[5](https://wenhui.whb.cn/third/zaker/202209/28/487833.html)
## Themes and reception
The series used its obstetric setting to carry women's social topics, including gender discrimination in the natal family, domestic violence, the dilemma women face between career and childbirth, online abuse, parent-child relationships, extramarital affairs, and postpartum depression, projecting these issues onto the stories of mothers and their families.[6](https://www.dianyingjie.com.cn/2022/1229/356357.shtml) The Beijing Daily review highlighted the range of pregnancy-related medical problems shown, from rural families demanding cesarean sections without asking why a fetus had died, to young parents preparing to abandon a fetus with a congenital genetic defect, to the extreme case of a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pregnant at the same time while the husband was terminally ill.[7](https://xinwen.bjd.com.cn/content/s6322935fe4b01fc573cde74a.html)
**Ratings performance.** The drama opened with a 0.87% rating, second among prime-time dramas nationally, and rose steadily; it finished with an average per-episode rating of 1.093%, and in each of its four weeks on CCTV-8 it placed in the top 2 of single-channel prime-time drama ratings.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink) • [8](https://cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/7931690445/1d8c3fdcd00101td6u)
**Critical response was divided.** Baidu Baike's cited commentary praised the character of Du Di as an "anti-trope heroine" with professional excellence, independence, and a pursuit of equality, embodying the striving spirit of a younger generation of women doctors, and singled out Song Qian's restrained performance in an operating-room scene.[4](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma) Critics elsewhere were less favorable. A review in the film-industry outlet Dianyingjie argued that the drama spent too much screen time on the doctors' personal lives, that the male lead Liu Nianbai appeared on a bar stage delivering stand-up comedy in at least half the episodes, and that scenes of doctors drinking heavily did not match the professional demands on surgeons; it also judged the portrayal of patients' difficulties and doctor-patient psychology insufficient.[6](https://www.dianyingjie.com.cn/2022/1229/356357.shtml) A Douban review similarly found the romance plots formulaic and the female-independence dialogue overwrought, rating the drama below the comparable CCTV-8 medical drama *Everything About Doctor Tang* (关于唐医生的一切).[9](https://movie.douban.com/review/14640244/)
## Place in Chinese medical drama
Dear Life aired in a crowded year: a People's Daily Overseas Edition survey counted five medical dramas broadcast in 2022, including *Doctor Thank You* (谢谢你医生) and *Everything About Doctor Tang*, and cited the genre's strong audience appeal.[10](https://paper.people.com.cn/hwbwap/html/2023-07/07/content_26003596.htm) A Wenhui Daily year-end review grouped Dear Life with *Cu Xing Zhe* (促醒者) as dramas that extended medical storytelling from dual female and dual male leads respectively, with greater attention to medical professionalism and the growth of doctors.[11](https://dzb.whb.cn/imgPath/2022-12-28/61228.pdf) The Dianyingjie survey placed Dear Life among the "exploratory" entries of the year, distinguishing it by its focus on obstetric cases and women's issues rather than the surgical spectacle common to the genre.[6](https://www.dianyingjie.com.cn/2022/1229/356357.shtml)
## References
1. [亲爱的生命, Baidu Baike](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=lemma_inlink)
2. [亲爱的生命 (2022), iQIYI International](https://www.iq.com/album/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD-2022-dehsuarr8x?lang=zh_cn&user=lishan)
3. [亲爱的生命·高光精华速看, iQIYI](https://www.iqiyi.com/a_hj99oeaeux.html)
4. [亲爱的生命 (幕后花絮、剧集评价), Baidu Baike](https://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%B2%E7%88%B1%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E5%91%BD/57095884?fromModule=tashuo-article_bottom-lemma)
5. [文艺评论丨从电视剧《亲爱的生命》说起：医疗剧的疑难杂症怎么治？, Wenhui Daily (2022-09-28)](https://wenhui.whb.cn/third/zaker/202209/28/487833.html)
6. [《促醒者》《谢谢你医生》等医疗题材剧涌现，为何医疗剧难出精品？, 电影界 (2022-12-29)](https://www.dianyingjie.com.cn/2022/1229/356357.shtml)
7. [《亲爱的生命》开播收视口碑持续上升，敢于直面现实才是好的医疗剧, 北京日报](https://xinwen.bjd.com.cn/content/s6322935fe4b01fc573cde74a.html)
8. [都市医疗情感剧《亲爱的生命》，开播三周年, 新浪财经](https://cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/7931690445/1d8c3fdcd00101td6u)
9. [同为医疗剧，《亲爱的生命》比《关于唐医生的一切》差在哪儿, Douban review (2022-09-10)](https://movie.douban.com/review/14640244/)
10. [“生活医疗剧”的新探索, 人民日报海外版 (2023-07-07)](https://paper.people.com.cn/hwbwap/html/2023-07/07/content_26003596.htm)
11. [文艺评论 | 回暖之后，国产医疗剧尚需破圈方法论, Wenhui Daily (2022-12-28)](https://dzb.whb.cn/imgPath/2022-12-28/61228.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Chinese modern and contemporary drama*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license