The Glory of Youth (号手就位)

The Glory of Youth (号手就位) is a 2021 Chinese military television drama and the first series themed on the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force, China's strategic missile force. It follows four university graduates who enlist in the Rocket Force and, under veteran soldiers, mature into "ace launch operators" (王牌号手). The 49-episode series premiered on April 13, 2021 on Zhejiang Satellite TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV, with simultaneous streaming on Youku.^{1 • 2 • 3}

Production

Official backing and secrecy. The series was produced under the guidance of the Rocket Force's political work department, and its premiere was framed as a gift for the centenary of the Communist Party of China. At the launch event, the department's propaganda bureau director Wang Yongxiao described the Rocket Force as the core of China's strategic deterrence and a cornerstone of national security.^{3 • 6} The force's strict secrecy rules created difficulties from the start: every set, piece of equipment, security regulation, and command procedure in the script had to be reviewed and revised in detail, and director Zhang Hanbing said coordinating these requirements was a major part of the work.⁷

The script took three years to develop, and the creative team spent a year and a half living alongside troops so the story grew out of real garrison life. The lead actors, including Li Yifeng, Chen Xingxu, Zhang Xinyu, and Xiao Yang, underwent a period of military training with a unit to adopt soldiers' bearing.³

Sets. The production spent tens of millions of yuan over four months building two simulated missile standby shelters (待机库) at Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis, one of 5,000 square meters and one of 6,000 square meters, with lighting alone loaded from two trucks. Because real shelters are classified, no one on the crew had seen one, and the sets were built from soldiers' descriptions.³

The series was announced at a launch ceremony in Qingdao in October 2019, when nine cast members were confirmed, and a press event followed in November 2019 at which chief director Li Lu described the goal as "reshaping the contemporary Chinese idea of the idol" by focusing on Rocket Force soldiers.^{8 • 5}

Adaptation choices

The drama is adapted from Feng Jie's novel Graduated, Off to the Army (published in an edition titled Banlan: Graduated, Off to the Army), whose first half depicts the protagonists' university life and whose second half follows them into the army. The adaptation cut the campus material heavily and concentrated on the characters' growth in the barracks, framing the question of why military service is a worthwhile choice for today's university graduates.⁹ The broadcast version opens in the barracks and presents the university period through flashbacks, a reordering that critics said improved narrative pace but weakened continuity.¹⁰

Reception

Ratings and official support. The premiere topped national television ratings on its first day, and within two episodes both satellite channels had broken 2 in ratings, a combined figure above 4 percent. The series was placed on the National Radio and Television Administration's exhibition list of dramas celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China, and more than ten official media accounts, including the Ministry of National Defense's release account and PLA Daily, promoted it on the opening day.¹¹

Critical response. Commentary praised the series for opening up a previously unseen service branch, showing precision satellite positioning, guided strike capability, and the underground tunnel complexes of a modern missile force, and for its displays of equipment rarely seen in Chinese drama.^{9 • 12} Reviewers also noted its youthful, idol-drama narrative style, built on casting popular young actors, as a deliberate strategy to bring the military closer to young audiences, and welcomed details such as the presence of a military psychologist as a sign of a modern, comprehensive support system.⁹

Reception was nonetheless divided. Some viewers ranked it among the better military dramas since Soldiers Sortie, while critics called the plot formulaic, pointing to familiar tropes: a recruit with an outsized halo who questions regulations and wins the brigade commander's favor, and a wise, understanding senior officer.^{13 • 14} Early audience data also split by platform: live broadcast rankings on the two satellite channels were modest, while the series placed third on Maoyan's all-network heat ranking behind The Long Ballad and Xiao舍得.¹⁰

Context in military drama

The series belongs to the mainstream military-drama tradition that since 2000 has centered on military modernization and soldier growth, following works such as Breaking Out of the Encirclement (2000), DA Division (2003), and Soldiers Sortie. It aired in 2021 alongside other military dramas marking the Party centenary, including Special Warfare Glory and Ace Troops.¹⁵ Commentators placed its significance in filling two gaps at once, the Rocket Force as a subject and university graduates' enlistment as a storyline, and in reflecting the strategic missile force's transition from a "corps" to an independent "service" after the Rocket Force's renaming.^{3 • 4}

References

1. 羊城晚报：中国首部火箭军题材电视剧《号手就位》4月13日首播
2. 中国电视剧制作产业协会：剧目锦集《号手就位》
3. 澎湃新闻：影视｜《号手就位》揭开大国长剑神秘面纱
4. 中国作家网（文艺报，丁小炜）：吹响青年学子参军入伍保家卫国的集结号——评电视剧《号手就位》
5. 中国新闻网：总导演李路谈《号手就位》：重塑中国当代偶像观
6. 羊城晚报云浮版：娱乐新闻
7. 澎湃新闻（湃客·骨朵网络影视）："东风快递"揭开神秘面纱
8. 中国新闻网：电视剧《号手就位》开机 九位主演曝光
9. 中国文艺评论网（文汇报，陶冶）：《号手就位》：偶像化的叙事策略如何丰富了军旅剧
10. 凤凰网：无人在意？《号手就位》开播了
11. 百度百科TA说：首播收视破2，超10家官媒下场宣传
12. 搜狐：刚开播就是收视冠军，这部军旅剧有点意思
13. 新浪网：《号手就位》靠颜值出圈的两大旅长
14. 新浪网：李易峰新剧《号手就位》热血开播，题材不错，但剧情却很老套
15. 文汇报：2021年军旅剧综述

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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