"Narrow Dwellings" -- the tale of two sisters trying to get ahead in the unforgiving, fictional city of Jiangzhou, a thinly disguised Shanghai -- has become a national sensation since it first aired in July.

A stage adaptation of the show, which sees the younger woman become an official's mistress to help her sister buy a flat, was performed this month at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, after a successful run at a smaller venue in 2009.

The censors who tightly control China's airwaves approved the show, but as its plotlines unfolded, it appeared to hit a nerve in Beijing where the BTV Youth Channel dropped it after 10 episodes despite its growing popularity.

Li Jingsheng, director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's (SARFT) TV drama department, slammed the show -- which continues to air elsewhere in China -- as vulgar and obscene.

He complained that the drama was having a "vulgar and negative social impact by hyping porn jokes, corrupt officials and sex to woo viewers," the official People's Daily website reported.

The show, produced by the Shanghai Media Group and the influential Huayi Brothers, illustrates the tension between Beijing's censors and China's modernising media companies who need hit shows that reflect the concerns of a fast-changing society to attract advertisers.

Liu Yong, a senior executive for SMG's film and television drama unit, said his company had heard about the SARFT official's remarks, "but so far we did not receive any formal instruction" on how to handle the show, he told AFP.

"Narrow Dwellings" -- based on a novel of the same name by web-based author Liu Liu -- has become one of the hottest topics on Chinese websites, with a strong following among young women who identify with the Guo sisters.

"The series is about the pains of living in an alien city and the core values of love," said one fan, Zhang Ya, who was born in relatively underdeveloped eastern Jiangxi province and now works in Shanghai.

Guo Haiping and her husband rent a tatty, one-room apartment, living on instant noodles while scraping together the money to buy a small home.

Haizao, the younger sister, decides that becoming the mistress of a corrupt official is the fastest route to wealth and helping her sister. She breaks up with her boyfriend, suffers a miscarriage and becomes infertile.

"I have repaid sentimental obligations with my body! From now on, I will begin to be a professional mistress!" the character says in what bloggers describe as one of the show's classic lines.

Zhang, a 33-year-old saleswoman recalled how, like Haiping, she borrowed from relatives to make a hefty down payment on a tiny suburban apartment.

"Everyone can find traces of their own lives in the show," she told AFP, echoing the sentiments of many young Chinese struggling to stretch their savings to cover skyrocketing property prices.

The show has highlighted the struggle between material comforts and morality in the minds of Chinese youth.

In a survey conducted by the Internet portal Sina.com, a surprising 48 percent of nearly 12,600 respondents said they agreed with Haizao's decision to become a mistress to scale the economic ladder.

Only 22 percent said she should have stayed with her boyfriend. Most respondents explained their choice by agreeing with the statement: "Love with material benefits leads to happiness."

"It's the tip of the iceberg for the rampant materialism in modern China," said Li Datong, a former editor for a party newspaper and an outspoken critic of media censorship.

Any attempt to ban the drama would backfire, he added.

"The more you try to suffocate it, the more people will be interested," he said, noting the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's official Li had already faced the wrath of a group of fans who posted on the Internet photos of luxury properties he was said to own.

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