''Back to Field'' () is a Chinese

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

Hunan TV Hunan Television or Hunan TV () is a state-owned provincial satellite TV station launched on September 29, 1970. It is currently China's second-most-watched television channel, second to China Central Television's CCTV-1, although Hunan TV has oc ...

. The show documents the simplistic lifestyle of living away from the bustling city centers.

Format

Each season takes place in a different rural part of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The cast members are only provided with the basic life necessities and have to take care of everything else such as cooking their own meals and building their own furniture. To "buy" different cooking ingredients and other tools, they have to complete certain tasks assigned by the production crew, such as planting and harvesting crops. Different guests join the cast in each episode and help out with the daily chores. The goal of the program is to bring the audience along on a slower pace of life and to illustrate the joys of a simple lifestyle.

Members

Cast

Animals

Episodes

Season 1

Season 1 was filmed in Huayuan Village, Xinchengzi Town,

Miyun District Miyun District () is situated in northeast Beijing. It has an area of and a population of 527,683 (2020 Census). Its government seat is located in Gulou Subdistrict, Beijing, Gulou Subdistrict. History Miyun was one of the places where Warlo ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, with

He Jiong He Jiong ( zh, c=何炅, p=Hé Jiǒng, born 28 April 1974) is a Chinese television host, singer, actor, director and a former Arabic lecturer at Beijing Foreign Studies University. He is best known for co-hosting the Hunan TV variety show '' Ha ...

Huang Lei Huang Lei (born December 6, 1971) is a Chinese actor, director, singer and screenwriter. He was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi, and now lives in Beijing. Huang ranked 58th on ''Forbes'' Forbes China Celebrity 100, China Celebrity 100 list in 2015, 2 ...

, and

Henry Lau Henry Lau (; ; born October 11, 1989), known mononymously as Henry, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer based in South Korea and China. He debuted in 2008 as a member of Super Junior-M and launched his ...

as the main hosts. This show was initially called ''一仆二主'' or ''One Servant, Two Masters'' and the original broadcasting platform for the show was

Dragon Television Shanghai Dragon Television or Dragon TV (), commonly nicknamed the Tomato Channel () based on its logo, is a provincial satellite TV station. It launched in October 1998 as "Shanghai Television" but changed its name to Dragon Television on Octobe ...

. However, due to unsatisfactory results of the program's investment promotion,

Dragon TV Shanghai Dragon Television or Dragon TV (), commonly nicknamed the Tomato Channel () based on its logo, is a provincial satellite TV station. It launched in October 1998 as " Shanghai Television" but changed its name to Dragon Television on Octob ...

planned to intervene in the program's production process, resulting in a disagreement between the producer, Hexin Media, and

finally gave up the broadcasting rights of the program and the producer suspended the recording of the program after the sixth episode. Subsequently, with the strong support of

obtained the rights to broadcast the program. The pilot aired on 8 January 2017, and the season premiered on 15 January and concluded on 16 April.

Season 2

Actor Peng Yuchang joins the permanent cast in season 2. Filming began on 13 March 2018, in Heling Village, Jiuxian Subdistrict, Tonglu County,

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

. The pilot was broadcast on 13 April 2018, and the season premiered on 20 April 2018, and concluded on 6 July 2018.

Season 3

Actress

Zhang Zifeng Zhang Zifeng (born 27 August 2001), also known as Wendy Zhang, is a Chinese actress. Regarded as one of the New Four Dan actresses of the post-95s Generation, she is widely considered one of the best young actors in China today. Zhang first ga ...

joins the permanent cast in season 3, while

announced on his personal

Weibo Weibo (), or Sina Weibo (), is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily ac ...

that he will be withdrawing from the show and pivoting his focus towards music. In addition to exploring the simplicity and tranquility of the countryside lifestyle, the theme of the show, season 3 added a separate plot line revolving around the research on rural conditions. The project is jointly completed by the program team and experts and scholars from

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

Renmin University of China The Renmin University of China (RUC) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. The ...

, and

Beijing Normal University Beijing Normal University (BNU) () is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education of China, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the B ...

. The three dimensions of "current situation and advantages," "problems and dilemmas," and "countermeasures and suggestions" was taken as the overarching framework. Filming began on 19 March 2019, in Wengcao Village, Morong Town,

Guzhang County Guzhang County ( zh, t=古丈縣 , s=古丈县 , p=Gǔzhàng Xiàn) is a county of Hunan Province, China. The county is the 2nd least populous administrative unit of the counties or county-level cities (after Shaoshan City) in the province, it ...

Hunan Province Hunan is an inland province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, and Guizhou and Chon ...

. The pilot aired on 19 April 2019, and the season premiered on 26 April 2019, and concluded on 19 July 2019.

Season 4

The permanent cast of season 4 remains the same as season 3. Filming began on 26 March 2020, in Manyuan Village, Manleine Village Committee, Menghan Town, Jinghong City,

Xishuangbanna Xishuangbanna, sometimes shortened to Banna, is one of the eight autonomous prefectures of Yunnan Province. The autonomous prefecture for Dai people is in the extreme south of Yunnan province, China, bordering both Myanmar and Laos. Xishuangbanna ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

. The pilot aired on 1 May 2020, and the season premiered on 8 May 2020, and concluded on 24 July 2020.

Season 5

Lay Zhang Zhang Yixing (born Zhang Jiashuai ; ), known professionally as Lay Zhang or simply Lay, is a Chinese singer and actor. After participating in the Chinese talent show ''Star Academy'' in 2005, he became a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy ...

was added to the permanent cast for season 5. Filming began on 18 March 2021 in Bailinzhou Village, Taohuayuan Town,

Taoyuan County Taoyuan County () is under the administration of Changde, Hunan, Hunan Province, China. The Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze, flows through Taoyuan. It covers an area of 4441 square kilometers, of which is arable land. It is from Zhangji ...

Changde Changde (; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 常德區 ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. Changde, known as "Wuling" in ancient times, is located on the west side of Do ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

. The season premiered on 23 April.

Season 6

The permanent cast of season 6 remains the same as season 5. Filming began on 7 March 2022 in Shayutang Village, Haiwei Town, Changjiang,

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

. The season premiered on 29 April 2022.

Awards

References

{{Reflist Chinese game shows Chinese reality television series Hunan Television original programming 2017 Chinese television series debuts