Refinement of Faith, an epic TV series marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China, concluded its first run on July 12, reaching nearly 160 million people across the country, producers said during a recent seminar held in Beijing.

Unfolding with a stage drama-style conversation between Mao Zedong and Cai Hesen, two revolutionary leaders, the TV series creatively blends music masterpieces and historic incidents to take a long look at the 100-year history of the Party.

Featuring around 700 characters, the TV series was shot on over 1,100 sets in the provinces of Zhejiang and Hunan, as well as the Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions, for 100 days earlier this year.

The crew tailored more than 12,000 costumes and made over 38,000 props, with around 20,000 extras being used for large-scale scenes.

As of Monday, the drama has topped the new TV charts and garnered critical acclaim, as exemplified by 9.2 points out of ten on Zhihu, China's largest Q&A platform.

Fan Yongge, deputy director of the film and television literature committee of the Chinese Writers Association, said the TV series uses eight musical classics, such as The Internationale and Chorus of Yellow River, to flesh out the CPC's century-long history, chronicling revolutionary conflicts, the construction spree in New China and the building of China into a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

"The TV series has expanded and explored new artistic forms to retell China's modern history, providing the public a textbook-like work with high quality of aesthetics and historical reality," Fan said.