Three years ago,剧本 when the first season of The Heart was released, it was hailed as a domestic medical drama that achieved a breakthrough in the genre. With its realistic portrayal of heart disease cases and surgeries, as well as its humane exploration of doctor-patient relationships, the series — starring Mark Chao, Mao Xiaotong and Jin Shijia — earned high acclaim from both audiences and industry insiders.
The drama opens with an immediate sense of tension. Zhou Xiaofeng, played by Mark Chao, a cardiac specialist at Dongli Hospital, has just completed a two-year medical aid mission in Guizhou. Traveling back with him in the same vehicle are a group of patients whose treatment was funded by a local charity project.
Among them, a pregnant woman named He Xuemei stands out — she is 23 weeks into her pregnancy with twins, but one of the fetuses has been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. Zhou recommends fetal reduction from a medical standpoint, but He, driven by maternal instinct, insists on trying to save both children.
Zhou seeks help from his mother — the renowned internal medicine authority, Professor Fang Zhuqing, played by Joan Chen — to personally perform the surgery. However, the outcome takes an unexpected and heartbreaking turn.
Just as He's story comes to a close, the fate of Lu Dadong, a delivery rider, soon takes center stage. Frequently feeling difficult in breathing, Lu is diagnosed with hereditary hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — a life-threatening condition that could strike at any moment.
Doctors warn him that during an attack, he may lose consciousness, and critical decisions would have to be made by his immediate family. Under these circumstances, his girlfriend Liang Mei — despite the fact that Lu is unable to afford a bride price or hold a wedding — nonetheless decides to register their marriage, determined to ensure that her loved one can undergo the surgery he so urgently needs.
对导演黎志而言，虽然是再次执导这个熟悉的题材，但因为自身际遇的变化，他有了新的感悟。
For director Li Zhi, returning to this familiar subject brought new insights — shaped in part by his own personal experiences.
"Everyone has been to the hospital at some point, either as a patient or accompanying a family member. I believe medical stories resonate with all of us," he recalled in an interview with China Daily.
After filming the first season, Li was briefly hospitalized due to health issues. This experience gave him a deeper understanding of what it feels like to be a patient and how to interact with medical staff. Every time his attending physician came for rounds, Li said he would type out his questions in advance on his phone's memo pad.
"My attending physician speaks very quickly because she has to see many patients and handle a lot of tasks every day. I had to fully engage my brain to keep up with her — but her thinking was very clear, and she was familiar with my condition, which made me feel secure and at ease."
Interestingly, while reading the script, he found a connection with Lu's case. "I didn't want to tell my family about my hospitalization. It's similar to what we depict in the series with Lu and Liang. Surgery requires signing an informed consent form, and by regulation, a direct family member needs to know. But I didn't want to worry my parents, so I worked with my attending physician and her intern to find a solution," Li recalled.
Screenwriter Zhou Yifei, known for her thorough research, visited over a dozen hospitals for the new season — from Beijing and Shanghai to Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, from top-tier hospitals in first-tier cities to county-level hospitals.
She became a regular presence in cardiology wards, cardiac surgery units, and ICUs, often shadowing doctors during their shifts and staying for more than a month at a time. A team of more than 200 medical experts served as advisors throughout the production of The Heart 2, ensuring that every medical detail remained true to life and professionally accurate.
图源：微博截图
编剧周艺飞告诉《中国日报》记者，张调娥和龙娇娇的故事灵感，来自于当时她在一家偏远地区医院的采访。
Zhou told China Daily that the inspiration for the characters Zhang Tiao'e and Long Jiaojiao came from her interviews at a hospital in a remote area.
"Patients' names are written on IV bags, and I noticed that in one department, several patients were named Zhaodi (literally 'call for a brother'). Later, I found two or three patients named Tiao'e. The locals told me that in the local dialect, Tiao'e carries a similar meaning to Zhaodi — essentially, 'bring in a son'," she recalled. What surprised her even more was that this naming practice — reflecting a preference for sons — spanned female patients from the 1950s generation all the way to the 1990s.
This observation prompted Zhou to reflect more deeply. "Zhang has little education and limited opportunities to leave. Perhaps we shouldn't condemn her for preferring a son — we need to see the survival struggles behind her choice. She might not actually want a son, she just wants a better life for herself. I feel deep understanding and sympathy for women like her," she said.
Beyond her focus on the fate of female patients, Zhou also discovered a professional group that surprised her during her interviews — medical device sales representatives. She spoke specifically about the new character Ouyang Da. While conducting interviews for the first season, she noticed that medical device sales representatives were a common sight in hospitals.
"After looking into it further, I found this profession quite fascinating. I interviewed an agent who had worked in the medical device industry for decades. Because he had been in the cardiology device field for so long, he was extremely knowledgeable about technological developments.
Although he wasn't qualified to operate on the surgical table, he understood the entire procedure and diagnostic process very well, and could even guide young doctors in some areas. Quality medical devices and well-trained professionals are a great help in clinical practice, and doctors respect them," Zhou said.
It was through the character Ouyang that Zhou began to pay closer attention to the development of China's medical device industry — and this, she said, is the reality she hopes audiences will see through the drama.
Each episode of The Heart 2 is filled with twists and turns. Behind every surgery lies not only skill and medical ethics, but also the rapid advancement of medical technology and research. Beyond the screen, Zhou said she hopes audiences can also see China's progress in the research and development of medical devices.
"In the past, we used to joke: 'Western medicine, Chinese scalpels' — meaning that Chinese surgeons, through years of handling a vast number of cases, had developed exceptional surgical skills and the ability to manage complex complications. But now, our country's medical device technology is advancing rapidly, and basic scientific research is also gaining strength.
Over the past three or four years — especially since the first season of The Heart — I've been amazed by the speed at which domestically produced artificial hearts are developing. In many ways, they now rival or even surpass foreign products," Zhou said, her voice filled with pride.
Ultimately, technological progress serves one purpose: to give more ordinary people — like patients depicted in the drama — a chance at life. And perhaps that, beyond the gripping plotlines, is the quiet reassurance that The Heart 2 most wants to offer its audience.
Three years ago,剧本 when the first season of The Heart was released, it was hailed as a domestic medical drama that achieved a breakthrough in the genre. With its realistic portrayal of heart disease cases and surgeries, as well as its humane exploration of doctor-patient relationships, the series — starring Mark Chao, Mao Xiaotong and Jin Shijia — earned high acclaim from both audiences and industry insiders.
The drama opens with an immediate sense of tension. Zhou Xiaofeng, played by Mark Chao, a cardiac specialist at Dongli Hospital, has just completed a two-year medical aid mission in Guizhou. Traveling back with him in the same vehicle are a group of patients whose treatment was funded by a local charity project.
Among them, a pregnant woman named He Xuemei stands out — she is 23 weeks into her pregnancy with twins, but one of the fetuses has been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. Zhou recommends fetal reduction from a medical standpoint, but He, driven by maternal instinct, insists on trying to save both children.
Zhou seeks help from his mother — the renowned internal medicine authority, Professor Fang Zhuqing, played by Joan Chen — to personally perform the surgery. However, the outcome takes an unexpected and heartbreaking turn.
Just as He's story comes to a close, the fate of Lu Dadong, a delivery rider, soon takes center stage. Frequently feeling difficult in breathing, Lu is diagnosed with hereditary hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — a life-threatening condition that could strike at any moment.
Doctors warn him that during an attack, he may lose consciousness, and critical decisions would have to be made by his immediate family. Under these circumstances, his girlfriend Liang Mei — despite the fact that Lu is unable to afford a bride price or hold a wedding — nonetheless decides to register their marriage, determined to ensure that her loved one can undergo the surgery he so urgently needs.
对导演黎志而言，虽然是再次执导这个熟悉的题材，但因为自身际遇的变化，他有了新的感悟。
For director Li Zhi, returning to this familiar subject brought new insights — shaped in part by his own personal experiences.
"Everyone has been to the hospital at some point, either as a patient or accompanying a family member. I believe medical stories resonate with all of us," he recalled in an interview with China Daily.
After filming the first season, Li was briefly hospitalized due to health issues. This experience gave him a deeper understanding of what it feels like to be a patient and how to interact with medical staff. Every time his attending physician came for rounds, Li said he would type out his questions in advance on his phone's memo pad.
"My attending physician speaks very quickly because she has to see many patients and handle a lot of tasks every day. I had to fully engage my brain to keep up with her — but her thinking was very clear, and she was familiar with my condition, which made me feel secure and at ease."
Interestingly, while reading the script, he found a connection with Lu's case. "I didn't want to tell my family about my hospitalization. It's similar to what we depict in the series with Lu and Liang. Surgery requires signing an informed consent form, and by regulation, a direct family member needs to know. But I didn't want to worry my parents, so I worked with my attending physician and her intern to find a solution," Li recalled.
Screenwriter Zhou Yifei, known for her thorough research, visited over a dozen hospitals for the new season — from Beijing and Shanghai to Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, from top-tier hospitals in first-tier cities to county-level hospitals.
She became a regular presence in cardiology wards, cardiac surgery units, and ICUs, often shadowing doctors during their shifts and staying for more than a month at a time. A team of more than 200 medical experts served as advisors throughout the production of The Heart 2, ensuring that every medical detail remained true to life and professionally accurate.
图源：微博截图
编剧周艺飞告诉《中国日报》记者，张调娥和龙娇娇的故事灵感，来自于当时她在一家偏远地区医院的采访。
Zhou told China Daily that the inspiration for the characters Zhang Tiao'e and Long Jiaojiao came from her interviews at a hospital in a remote area.
"Patients' names are written on IV bags, and I noticed that in one department, several patients were named Zhaodi (literally 'call for a brother'). Later, I found two or three patients named Tiao'e. The locals told me that in the local dialect, Tiao'e carries a similar meaning to Zhaodi — essentially, 'bring in a son'," she recalled. What surprised her even more was that this naming practice — reflecting a preference for sons — spanned female patients from the 1950s generation all the way to the 1990s.
This observation prompted Zhou to reflect more deeply. "Zhang has little education and limited opportunities to leave. Perhaps we shouldn't condemn her for preferring a son — we need to see the survival struggles behind her choice. She might not actually want a son, she just wants a better life for herself. I feel deep understanding and sympathy for women like her," she said.
Beyond her focus on the fate of female patients, Zhou also discovered a professional group that surprised her during her interviews — medical device sales representatives. She spoke specifically about the new character Ouyang Da. While conducting interviews for the first season, she noticed that medical device sales representatives were a common sight in hospitals.
"After looking into it further, I found this profession quite fascinating. I interviewed an agent who had worked in the medical device industry for decades. Because he had been in the cardiology device field for so long, he was extremely knowledgeable about technological developments.
Although he wasn't qualified to operate on the surgical table, he understood the entire procedure and diagnostic process very well, and could even guide young doctors in some areas. Quality medical devices and well-trained professionals are a great help in clinical practice, and doctors respect them," Zhou said.
It was through the character Ouyang that Zhou began to pay closer attention to the development of China's medical device industry — and this, she said, is the reality she hopes audiences will see through the drama.
Each episode of The Heart 2 is filled with twists and turns. Behind every surgery lies not only skill and medical ethics, but also the rapid advancement of medical technology and research. Beyond the screen, Zhou said she hopes audiences can also see China's progress in the research and development of medical devices.
"In the past, we used to joke: 'Western medicine, Chinese scalpels' — meaning that Chinese surgeons, through years of handling a vast number of cases, had developed exceptional surgical skills and the ability to manage complex complications. But now, our country's medical device technology is advancing rapidly, and basic scientific research is also gaining strength.
Over the past three or four years — especially since the first season of The Heart — I've been amazed by the speed at which domestically produced artificial hearts are developing. In many ways, they now rival or even surpass foreign products," Zhou said, her voice filled with pride.
Ultimately, technological progress serves one purpose: to give more ordinary people — like patients depicted in the drama — a chance at life. And perhaps that, beyond the gripping plotlines, is the quiet reassurance that The Heart 2 most wants to offer its audience.
