This is a slice of life in a Chinese suburban police station, with trainees who need to be enlightened, and public as well. Some things here are a bit old-fashioned, like everyone taking part in the cleaning of the premises, but people have been used to it from when they were school kids, in many mostly rural places, so it is not unlikely. The station functions as a complete work unit "danwei" which offers shelter and meals and more to the workers. It works together with the local community centers and governing bodies, to ensure peace and safety, i.e. "serving the people".

But like in every country, police is both looked up to and feared, sometimes hated, so they are now also under the scrutiny of the smartphone wielding public who will take pictures to be exposed in social media, despite it being forbidden. Many things here are rather realistic, and could be somewhat comparable to police work anywhere, but it is just a drama, not a documentary , so there is some humor too.

The earliest type of movie from China in that vein that I saw, was Ning Ying's 1995 民警故事 (On The Beat) where "Under the tutelage of a tough colleague, a rookie cop yearns for excitement on the streets of Beijing." A very good but dark movie too. At the time, pet dogs were banned because of risk of rabies, and petty criminals and pickpockets like Jia Zhangke's 1997 小武 (Xiao Wu) were the main fare of urban police work, outside the flashy kung fu fight epics like Hong Kong movies 1985 Police Story, or closer to our times Andy Lau's 2002 action thriller 無間道 (Infernal Affairs).

In this “Ordinary Greatness” drama, aspiring policeman Li Dawei (played by ML Zhang Ruoyun) must have been influenced by such thrillers to choose that line of work, where much of the work could now just be the boring community watching and resolving conflicts, preferably before they flare up, like the complaint about the noisy neighbors (something that is near universal).

Young female aspirant Xia Jie (played by Bai Lu) has been overprotected by her still PTSD suffering mom, since her father died a hero, knifed in action. She hoped to find a way to get independent after Police academy. But she was also being put aside from dangerous missions like arresting murderers, where her mentor, deputy chief Cheng Hao (played by Wang Tong Hui) continued the overprotection.

Rookie Zhao JiWei (played by Cao Lu) was chafing at the boredom of checking monitoring footage. Following his cheerful master Zhang Jijie (played by Li Xiao Chuan) did not bring much more than helping kids and pets, and interacting with residents of a new community of former rural villagers who had trouble adjusting to life in the city with its bans on using electric wires hanging from windows or setting up stalls to sell produce on the streets.

Polar opposite was Yang Shu (played by Xu KaiCheng) who was the odd one out of the four new recruits , with his Master's degree in law, from prestigious university Beida. He thought he was going to fit in when he saved a life together with his mentor Cao JianJun (played by Zhao Yang) but was disappointed when Chief Wang ShouYin (played by Wang JingChun) upbraided them for recklessly endangering their own lives.

Putting safety first is indeed a requisite : ordinary police are not armed forces in China. Except for special missions and special forces, which you'd rarely see on the streets, they are more like British "bobbies" who used to only wield a stick. Their principal "arm" used to be a talkie walkie, now it's a phone, and they wear a recording device if they are on medium risk missions. In fact, apart from traffic regulating police, and alcohol tests at certain well known road junctions, you don’t see many policemen patrolling in China. Maybe they are understaffed (because not the best income and prestige, so not a very attractive profession) like it’s hinted at, in the beginning of this drama ?

The drama does not showcase many flashy crime investigations, because that is not the domain of grassroots police like the ones staffing Balihe station, but that of criminal police under another station, with which they have occasional cooperation. The main fare is solving disputes and petty thefts, with the help of the public, in accordance to the policy of “Fengqiao experience for the New Era” (新时代”枫桥经验”)" i.e. "mobilizing the public – including through new digital tools. The Fengqiao experience is a system going back to 1960s Mao era "social and political governance that essentially directed the masses themselves at the local level to carry out the on-site “rectification” of so-called “reactionary elements” and ‘class enemies” in society, largely forgotten after 1980. It is named after Fengqiao Township (枫桥镇), which is today a part of the city of Zhuji in Zhejiang province. Although it seems unsuited to a contemporary China ostensibly ruled by law under the Constitution, the “Fengqiao experience” has made a prominent return under Xi Jinping in 2013, entering official language about rule of law and public security.

The use of such slogans as guidelines for work is showcased in the periodical meetings in the police station, with Chief Wang or Instructor Ye Wei (played by Qi Xiang aka Qi Huan). She is particularly subjected to stress, having to juggle her job and her duties as mom of an unruly kid with school summons to go discuss with the teachers, and elders with flagging health who sometimes need hospital care simultaneously. But she can count on the group's resilience and readiness to stand in for her in case of need.

The drama also focuses on the personal problems of the people working in the police Policemen need to take care of their children and of their elderly and ailing relatives too, and also pay special attention to former member’s families, like Xia Jie’s..

The four young recruits soon become friends and share an apartment found by Li Dawei’s mom, close to the station, despite Zhao JiWei’s stinginess, due to his poor rural upbringing. But this apartment also proves useful as a haven for troubled Jia, the daughter of Dawei’s mentor policeman Chen.

Li Dawei’s mom, an exceptionally cheerful and practical woman, with a healthy relation with her son, is not very rich, having had to bring up her son alone, because his father absconded for ten years; so his sudden reappearance cause Dawei to be extremely angry, until he finds out the real reason and accepts his father. Later, he shows his perseverance and astuteness in helping to solve two difficult cases, one about an internet scam targeting naïve persons to defraud them of their possessions, and another about a serial killer.

Controlling emotions is a necessity for policemen who are subjected to witnessing distressing situations and need to stay calm even when they are targeted by unreasonable citizens

Xia Jie is growing from a naïve and righteous person to a more careful officer, protecting her mom despite annoying interferences with her work, also by a crazy woman doctor who is suffocating her daughter a bit like Xia Jie was. She chafes at the idea of being relegated to Household Registration duty until she finds out that this sort of work is also quite interesting and can bring help to people.

We don’t get to know tall and handsome Yang Shu’s family : he stays discreet, but his mentor Cao JianJun has a troubled family, with a haughty and materialistic mother-in-law who keeps grating at his insignificance; this will eventually cause Cao JianJun to shine and to fall, after having reconciled with the young man whom he at first was jealous of. But he always strove to be a hero and will not disappoint.

Some episodes felt like a kaleidoscope and might get a bit tiresome for those tempted to binge watch the drama, It is better to watch this drama without too much haste. The story as a slice of life is interesting as it showcases the ebb and flow of work in the police station. My attention flagged a little in episode 23 after two days of almost nonstop watching. But episode 24 woke me up with the serious problems cropping up, and cheerful Chief Wang, the universal troubleshooter, losing his smile. And I stayed till the end, admiring the excellent acting and the variety of trouble they addressed, some serious ones too, that could be of concern for anyone anywhere, in our changing cities and internet age, while taking some notes about particular things of special interest.

Generally, the actors do an excellent job at showing their individuality, so we quickly get drawn into their family and work preoccupation : each one is different, and we soon feel drawn into this extended family of sorts that make the Balihe police station a “home” for the policemen. But even if Dawei seems more than just friendly with Xia Jie in the later episodes, they have no time for romance. The focus is on duty, and loyalty to the people they are serving, and the end of the drama shows satisfactorily the honors gained by each in the station.