Where Are the Fathers?

The first two episodes were filmed at Lingshui Village, a rural suburb of Beijing. After arriving at the village, the children drew lots to get a house for his or her family to stay in. The houses varied in their condition, some were old and shabby while others were relatively modern.

Kimi ended up drawing the "spider" house, which nobody wanted as it appeared rickety and had a big dead spider on the bed. Lin did not complain and told his son Kimi that the room was not that bad, and the spider was actually a toy that had been prepared for him. Kimi believed in his father and went on to have fun playing with the dead bug.

Compared with Lin, Tian's conversation with his daughter Cindy during that journey was less successful. Cindy didn't like the house that she and her dad got. She cried on and on, begging to go back home. Tian became stern and impatient, and could not find an effective way to calm her down.

While on the show, Guo taught his son Shitou to be brave and responsible. In Lingshui, Shitou and Kimi were assigned to look for a pot that had been hidden in the village according to clues. Kimi was reluctant to go, so Guo told his son to go by himself. Shitou ran through the village and eventually found the pot.

One evening, the children were asked to sing a song that their fathers were supposed to teach them during the day, Shitou refused to sing and ran away from the crowd. Guo pulled his son aside, telling him that it was ok for him to say he did not like to sing the song, but not acceptable for him to shun others.

Zhang treated his son Tiantian like a friend. Zhang often solicited his son's opinions. After entering their house in Lingshui, he asked his son, "Let's see whether we can find something interesting in the yard, is that alright?" Then at lunch, he asked his son, "Shall I make a sandwich with this for you?" and "Can you take a few bites?" Tiantian also trusted his father and was proud of him.

Wang seemed to be a careless father. While having lunch in Lingshui, his daughter told him that there was no chair to sit on for lunch and he replied that she could eat while standing. A moment later, he spontaneously sat down on the bed and began eating, unaware that he could also let his daughter sit on the bed. In later episodes, Wang appeared clumsy when preparing meals for his daughter and combing her hair. Luckily, his daughter was not picky and enjoyed being with her father no matter what he did for her.

The show's popularity was so immense that it spawned a movie spin-off and a book with the same name. The movie was premiered on January 31, just in time for the Chinese Lunar New Year. It was a massive success. As of February 11, it had grossed more than 600 million yuan ($99 million) in box office sales, and had the highest grossing first week of a 2D Chinese movie in the holidays.

Absentees

Traditionally, a Chinese father's primary duty is to make money and support his family financially, while raising children is a mother's responsibility. In today's fast-paced and modern society, many Chinese fathers have little time to spend with their children.

According to a survey conducted by a kindergarten in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, only about 30 percent of fathers played an active role in educating their children, such as reading stories to them. The survey also showed that when children encountered difficulties, 69 percent would seek help from their mothers, whereas only 30 percent would turn to their fathers for advice.

The show Where Are We Going, Dad? has gained its popularity not only from its touching scenes but also because it addresses the question of how to be a good father, said writer Bi Shumin.

Sun Yunxiao, Deputy Director of the Beijing-based China Youth and Children Research Center, said, "The show has attracted so much attention because the absence of fathers in children's lives is a very real and chronic problem in China. For children, the absence of their fathers can make them feel less secure, and they could become more fragile and easily frustrated."

According to Sun, had the title of the show been changed to Where Are We Going, Mom?, it would not be so appealing.

Sun Hongyan, a division director at the China Youth and Children Research Center, said that researches show that young children who often play with their fathers tend to be both more curious and more proactive, and also have better gross motor skills, which involve larger limb movements such as running and jumping, as well as better fine motor skills, which involve the use of the hands to do more delicate tasks such as writing.

"These positive effects come as a result of fathers being more likely to engage their children in more adventurous and physical activities, whereas mothers usually like quiet and gentle games," Sun Hongyan said.

Fathers also act as important role models for their children. Sons that lack opportunities to learn from their fathers often tend to be more feminine, while daughters can learn to be more open and independent by spending time with their fathers, Song Hongyan added. She said that fathers cannot only influence their children's personality, but also their intellectual capacity.

A study on high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the United States that was conducted by the China Youth and Children Research Center in cooperation with foreign research institutes revealed that high school students in China would rather talk about their troubles with their peers online rather than with their fathers. The study showed that high school students in the other three countries put their fathers before online companions.

Because they have such natural advantage when it comes to shaping their children's personality and behavior, Chinese fathers should invest more of their time and love in their children and strive to be role models for them, Sun Yunxiao commented.