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CMG stages annual Spring Festival Gala as China celebrates Year of Snake

China

CMG stages annual Spring Festival Gala as China celebrates Year of Snake
China

China

CMG stages annual Spring Festival Gala as China celebrates Year of Snake

2025-01-29 02:38 Last Updated At:04:17

The 2025 Spring Festival Gala hosted and aired by the China Media Group (CMG) has delivered over four hours of captivating cultural performances to audiences tuning in from all around the world as people celebrate one of the most important Chinese holidays.

The gala opened at 20:00 Tuesday Beijing time on the eve of the Chinese New Year of the Snake, with performances being staged at the main venue in Beijing and at four sub-venues across the country, namely Wuxi, Wuhan, Chongqing and Lhasa.

Themed "Year of the Snake, Keep Your Spirit Awake", the annual television extravaganza featured a dazzling array of singing and dancing, opera, comedy sketches, martial arts and other performances.

As the first gala held since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed the Spring Festival on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December last year, this year's show featured more elements of intangible cultural heritage such as Lazi Duixie, a traditional tap dance from Lazi County in Xizang Autonomous Region, and the ritual act of Yingge Dance which is popular in the Chaoshan area of the southern Guangdong Province.

Highlighting a blend of traditional and modern elements, with performances ranging from humanoid robots performing folk dances, to operas with regional traditions, to comedy sketches and magic tricks, the gala once again demonstrated the rich and diverse culture of China as it brought together artists from the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and performers of various ethnic groups.

A delightful collision of cultures was also displayed at the event, with Chinese and Peruvian artists sharing the stage to deliver a performance blending a traditional Chinese folk song with a popular Peruvian orchestral musical piece.

The gala also featured a performance by American pop rock band OneRepublic, who gave a rendition of their popular single 'Counting Stars' from the stage of the sub-venue in Wuhan.

The marathon variety show reached its climax with the countdown to New Year and the ringing of the midnight bell signaling the arrival of the Year of the Snake.

Also known as "Chunwan", the gala was first broadcast in 1983 and is seen as a major cultural symbol for Spring Festival celebrations in China.

Recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's most-watched annual TV program, the hours-long television extravaganza attracts over a billion views every year.

CMG stages annual Spring Festival Gala as China celebrates Year of Snake

CMG stages annual Spring Festival Gala as China celebrates Year of Snake

CMG stages annual Spring Festival Gala as China celebrates Year of Snake

CMG stages annual Spring Festival Gala as China celebrates Year of Snake

Reconstruction plans are already underway to restore damaged Buddhist monasteries from a devastating earthquake earlier this month in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region as part of post-quake relief efforts.

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Dingri County on January 7, leaving 126 people dead, including two nuns, and 337 others injured. In total, six temples in the region suffered significant damage from the powerful earthquake.

A rite for the deceased took place in a makeshift sutra hall in Dingri County. For the mourning villagers, the monks with the Sengar Chode Monastery offer some consolation.

A short walk away is the monastery, now in ruins from the earthquake. Abbot Thubten recalls that fateful morning on January 7, when all the buildings collapsed except for the main hall, and that's where all 22 monks of the monastery happened to be.

"It's so fortunate we were in here for morning prayers. If we had been in the dormitory, we would have all been doomed," he said.

However, a more than 600-year-old nunnery was hit hard. Once Tserin Wangdui, party secretary of the Dingri County Sengar Chode Monastery management committee, spotted the damage from his office, he and a group of people rushed up the steep hill to the Dzongbu Temple. They were able to retrieve six nuns from the rubble, four of whom survived.

At the Sengar Chode Monastery, three thick walls, which embody 600-year-old murals, standing in the main hall have been assessed by experts to be important cultural relics that must be preserved. It will require special technicians to dismantle then rebuild the temple, all while leaving these ancient paintings intact.

Built in 1541, this Gelug monastery serves some 4,000 Buddhist believers in the region.

Standing amid the ruins, the abbot reflects on what transpired.

"Through this disaster, we should all realize that those who are alive must be even more united in the future," said Thubten.

Having gone through this ordeal together, the monastery's relationship with its government regulator is also said to have shifted.

"In the past, they sometimes thought we were here just to supervise them and had some opinions about it. But after we helped them with disaster relief this time, their perception of us has changed, and our perception of them has also shifted," said Tserin Wangdui.

Rebuilding an ancient monastery is, in many ways, even harder than constructing one from scratch. But it will be done because preserving culture and history matters. For the religious people in Xizang, seeing their treasured monasteries restored will be one more step towards healing.

Efforts underway to restore quake-damaged Buddhist temples in southwest China's Xizang

Efforts underway to restore quake-damaged Buddhist temples in southwest China's Xizang

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