Actor Wang Qianyuan. [Photo provided to China Daily]

From playing a struggling father in The Piano in a Factory to being a ruthless bandit in Saving Mr Wu, Wang Qianyuan is a versatile actor. And, now, with a hit TV series about China's first generation of Communist police, the veteran actor has impressed again.

In the 31-episode production The Battle at the Dawn, Wang plays a police chief, based on Chen Long, the first Communist public security bureau chief in Harbin, in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

After World War II, the People's Liberation Army took over the administration of Harbin from the departing Soviet forces in 1946, three years before the founding of New China.

The first public security bureau under the Communists was then established in the city. Chen, a former commander in the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army led by the Communist Party, was appointed as the chief.

Speaking about the production, Chen Zhimin, the vice-minister of China's Ministry of Public Security, which is one of the producers, says the series sheds light on a lesser known aspect of the country's history.