师傅(2011)

Old Tie is a Chinese drama series set in the late 1970s and early 1980s, following a skilled senior welder who mentors three apprentices at a factory during China's economic transformation. As the country undergoes sweeping industrial change, Old Tie guides his young protégés through their personal struggles and professional development on the factory floor. The series captures the tension between tradition and modernization, exploring how the apprentices navigate ambition, loyalty, and identity amid rapid social upheaval. Through their relationships with their mentor and each other, the characters confront the challenges of coming of age in a pivotal moment of Chinese history. Old Tie examines what it means to pass down knowledge and values when the world around you is fundamentally shifting.