The Long Watch: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

A major leak case around the turn of the century strikes at the heart of cross-strait dynamics, masking a sharp battle between foreign operatives and our own forces along the covert front. In the late 1990s, an unlikely mentor-apprentice duo at Minzhou's State Security Bureau, with starkly different temperaments, are thrown together by fate to serve the same mission and faith. They manage to thwart multiple schemes, but their lives remain tangled with their enemy across a twenty-year span. As the new era reshapes the balance of power in national security, the hidden war continues without pause. Again and again tested by human nature, the three see their bonds and destinies silently transformed by the choices they make through time.

Series details

• Title: The Long Watch
• Format: Scripted
• Language: Chinese
• Genres: Drama
• Premiere date: 2026-09-06
• Final broadcast date listed: 2026-09-22
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: CCTV-8
• Web channel listed by TVmaze: Tencent QQ
• Network country: China
• Typical episode runtime: 46 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 81390

Cast and credited roles

• Wang Kai — Ma Qi
• Peng Yu Chang — Chun Xiao
• Ou Hao — Lin Kan Shan
• Zhou Yi Ran — Jin Lan
• Qiu Tian — Jin Li Na
• Zu Feng — Zhu Ying Jia

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2026-09-06; final listed air date 2026-09-22; episode order: 40.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Long Watch on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.