Within five days of its release, total views across all platforms surpassed 200 million, it climbed onto Weibo's trending topics list, and it was specifically recommended at a press conference held by the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office. During the National Day holiday, the cross-strait themed micro short drama series "Wait for Me, Home" — specifically its first installment "Crossing the Sea," co-produced by a relevant department of Xinhua News Agency and the People's Government of Zhouzhuang Town in Kunshan — became the newest top-tier hit in the short drama scene.
On September 25, the micro short drama "Crossing the Sea" officially premiered. As the opening chapter of the "Wait for Me, Home" series, "Crossing the Sea" stars Wang Daotie and Cheng Guang in lead roles, with special appearances by first-class actors Xu Wenguang, Zhang Kaili, and Zhao Shuzhen. It was jointly created by teams from both sides of the strait, based on true stories from Taiwan, and released around the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion period, telling the moving story of protagonist Wen Xiuming voluntarily escorting the ashes of three veterans back to the mainland. In the drama, Wen Xiuming carries a red canvas backpack and crosses the sea for the first time to bring the ashes of three veterans home, weaving the homeland sentiment of "fallen leaves returning to their roots" into a tightly paced plot, touching hearts with delicate and sincere storytelling. Netizens have called it a "soul's journey home" across the strait. The entire series is grounded in authentic emotion and realistic context, balancing human warmth, historical depth, and patriotic sentiment within the short drama format.
On September 30, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office held its regular press conference, during which spokesperson Zhang Han specifically recommended the drama when answering a reporter's question. Related topics soon climbed onto Weibo's trending topics list, with media outlets at all levels and internet influencers sharing, commenting, and liking it. The topic "Taiwan Affairs Office follows cross-strait themed micro short drama Crossing the Sea" made it onto Weibo's trending topics list. Photo courtesy of Zhouzhuang Town.
Since its release, the drama's popularity has continued to rise with constant praise. As of 12:00 on October 2, its peak popularity on Hongguo reached 42.61 million, with reservations surpassing 513,000. On Douyin, the drama topic exceeded 170 million, and related topics across all platforms surpassed 300 million. Topics such as "Taiwan Affairs Office follows cross-strait themed micro short drama Crossing the Sea" climbed onto Weibo's trending topics list, while "Jiangsu micro short drama steps onto Golden Eagle stage" once surged to sixth place on Weibo's trending topics list.
During this holiday that connected the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, a short drama gave the word "home" a more tangible meaning and allowed the emotional resonance of shared roots across the strait to be heard by more people. In the future, Suzhou will continue to promote the creation of high-quality mainstream works, using lightweight and youthful expressions such as micro short dramas and films to tell stories of home and country.