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This is Roundtable.
You're listening to Roundtable with myself, He Young.
I'm joined by Steve Hatherly and Yushan in the studio.
Coming up, lights, music and surprises await.
The CMG Spring Festival Gala promises a spectacle that will leave you talking after the night ends.
We give you a preview on what to expect and a review on the classic moments and life's best moments from the soundtrack of your heart to little things that make you smile.
Join us in Roundtable's happy place.
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Now on Roundtable, let's move on to the next topic discussion today.
As Chinese New Year's Eve on January the 28th approaches, one tradition that completes the celebration for families across China and around the world is watching the China media group's Spring Festival Gala, otherwise known in Chinese as Chunwan.
While enjoying the big meal and reuniting with loved ones, tuning in to the gala has become an integral part of the evening for many.
The show blends music, dance, comedy sketches, and nonstop fun, offering a showcase of Chinese culture, creativity, and unity.
This upcoming Chinese New Year of the Snake promises fresh spins on traditional performances and exciting surprises that will make the night even more memorable as the new year rings in.
Let's take a closer look at what makes this event such a cherished part of the tradition.
So review for us if you could.
How has the China Media Group or CMG Spring Festival Gala got so big for folks in China?
I mean, in short, it is just a TV program presented by the CMG that's hosted annually on Chinese New Year's Eve every year.
And it features a diverse array of performances, including songs, dances, comedy, sketches, crosstalk, opera, and high -tech light shows.
That's something new in recent years.
So the Spring Festival Gala, as we talk about it, is renowned as one of the largest televised events globally, captivating millions of views in China and beyond.
For me personally, if you don't watch the Spring Festival Gala in the Chinese New Year's Eve, then it's not really Chinese New Year's Eve for my family.
I kind of feel, and this is funny coming from me because I haven't even been in China for a spring festival yet, although it's happening very soon, but I've seen clips of the gala from previous years.
I think you're underselling it.
It's not just a TV show.
Sure, it's shown on television, but it's long.
Well, yes. It's about five hours long, isn't it?
But it is a massive, massive performance, and that's just speaking about the production of what this show is.
Five hours of entertainment from so many different performers in so many different styles of performing, and then the sheer number of people who tune in and watch it.
But that's just one part.
The second part, as you said, is the connection to the Spring Festival and the importance that the gala has to families because it's been around for such a long time.
Since 1983, right? Yeah, around 42 years ago.
And that's the first time when the annual Chinese New Year's Celebration Evening Gala was held back in the 1980s.
And back then it was a television show that also have songs and dances performances by artists selected from all around the country.
And audiences could even phone in to request their favorite song to be sang during the performances.
That's really nice.
I mean, you can no longer do that nowadays.
But back then, it was quite a niche way to celebrate the New Year's Eve for a lot of the Chinese.
It was a new way. It was groundbreaking.
We cannot undersell this.
And for the pioneers in the TV industry, and also those people who had the guts to make this proposal to top -level decision makers.
And this is a brilliant idea.
You got to think about this.
This is the biggest holiday for all the Chinese people and the Chinese diaspora around the world.
And you've got the whole family together.
Sure, you're chatting, you're catching up and everything.
But wouldn't it be great to have something on TV that accompanies you throughout this whole night?
And for the Chinese New Year's Eve, for the Chinese people, we wait until midnight.
We do the countdown.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Happy New Year of the snake this year.
And you're all together.
And wouldn't it be great if there's something that's keeping you company throughout those five hours?
and that is the genius idea but also to pull it off and to make it succeed because everybody's going to be watching this all eyes are on this tv production the pressure is huge too of course of course it's on it's on every year at the same time right eight eight p .m is the start time eight p .m is when it
starts and it usually lasts until the early morning of the new year so about five to maybe sometimes four to five -ish hours throughout the night.
So, in general, watching the gala on the Chinese New Year's Eve has now become this modern tradition that raises this nostalgic feeling of happiness and reunion in many Chinese.
When you were young, when you were both young, can you remember sitting around the table with the family?
That's something my grandpa did and still does every year on this evening.
So it's about 7 .40, 7 .50 -ish.
Time to turn on the TV and wait for that moment when the music rises and all the red covers and the lucky numbers start to count down and everything.
And I can tell from different generations.
I was just a kid. I could be excited over anything.
But seeing how the lights sparked up in my grandparents' generation's eyes, in my parents' generation's eyes, that's when the new year's come.
So what about this year with the upcoming Chinese Zodiac Year of the Snake?
What is new for us to anticipate?
I mean, this year it's definitely dedicated to be a cultural show as the first CMG Spring Festival Gala since the festival's inscription on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
So this year's gala integrates more elements of intangible culture or cultural heritage to create a cultural feast full of new ideas for the global audience and the Chinese audience as well.
There hasn't been really an official program list out yet, but I can tell from the news report and their press conferences that there are numerous cultural elements being presented that's introducing the ancient Chinese style and the aesthetics to the whole world as well.
One of my favorite, I'll say favorite element would be the architectural.
presence. That's the ancient architecture show called Dongliang or the Ridge Beam that's shown during the press conference by Professor Cui Donghui, the Deputy Dean of the School of Architecture.
So he presented this show called Dongliang.
That's a creative performance to be presented on the gala inspired by traditional Chinese architecture.
So that's kind of niche to me because I don't remember seeing similar shows or programs in the previous years.
And this one is like gathering elements such as the Mortese and Tenor Structure, and also the Hall of Prayers for Good Harvest, and Beijing's Central Axis, which is also inscribed as the UNESCO's heritage list as well.
So such a unique cultural fusion.
And also, in China, we love a good word play.
Dongliang in Chinese is also like, it has the connotation of the spine of a country right so well this big show of course there's top -notch entertainment one can anticipate but also it there's a certain level of symbolism of political unity of solidarity prosperity all these things that chinese people
very much well who doesn't enjoy, right?
And then I suppose the spine of a nation that also might offer us some kind of encouraging messages as well.
I'm looking forward to see how that's going to play out in the gala eventually.
From a viewing experience, this year they're going to have a pretty fancy camera system that will grant a 3D viewing experience.
This is from CGTN. So CMG will deploy a pioneering multi -angle camera system with 30 cameras installed in the ceiling of the broadcast studio so there will be a real -time 3d point cloud rendering through stereoscopic vision ai algorithms and it's going to create a 3d video of the gala itself and they
will have intelligent virtual camera movements showcasing some kind of hard to capture images and videos it's going to create a much more modern and a much more technologically advanced viewing experience for people viewing from their homes.
And yeah, that's even bettered by the fact that this year's gala also continues to deepen the 8K technology application and the use of AI and this XR plus digital twin plus VP shooting.
I have no idea what these three elements are, but it sounds fancy.
thus creating this infinite virtual stage space and enriching the visual presentation on vertical screen as well by achieving 360 -degree watching.
That's something kind of niche in recent years as well because people can also watch the Spring Festival Gala on their mobile devices.
So there's this vertical screen design.
And, you know, most people, most of us are watching it through some sort of screen, big small tv phones so the virtual experience it's something that the chunwan team has been working on continuously over the years to enhance that visual um spectacular experience it's going to look good it's going to
look really cool on your screen regardless of where you're watching it from yeah just on a side note that's such a big challenge for every performer um you know your every little single facial expression could be captured.
Right. The pores on your nose.
Yeah. And we talked about the visual design and everything.
And this year, for the first time, the Spring Festival Gala will also utilize AR technology and sign language performers, along with AI -generated subtitles.
So this is aimed to provide barrier -free broadcasts tailored for visually and hearing -impaired audiences.
so that everybody could have this inclusive experience and just enjoy this cultural feast together.
Yes, this is indeed a huge cultural feast for the Chinese people.
And I suppose for those who, you know, put this show together and might wonder, you know, could this be potentially something that outside of the Chinese speaking population of interest for people?
So therefore, you know, with a big show like this bridging the cultural distance as such, what do you think, Steve?
Yeah, they're going to have a wide variety of cultural performances.
They'll have music, they'll have dance, they'll have traditional opera, martial arts, language -based programs.
Remember, this is a five -hour show roughly, so there's lots happening over the course of those hours.
And then this is wonderful as well.
Internationally, in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, the Russian channel as well of CGTN, along with 82 foreign language communication platforms, they will cooperate with more than 2600 overseas mainstream media outlets in 200 countries and regions around the world to broadcast and report on the Gala.
what a production this is this and and we were chatting in the office uh you know knowing that we were we would be discussing this on the show today and i said to you hyung this must be months and months and months and months and months in the planning and you agreed with that oh yes the painstaking
effort that goes into planning and executing a huge show like this um well Well, in fact, you know, we are part of CMG Media Group, and I know colleagues who pretty much spend a whole year of time on this.
So immediately once this year's great cultural feast ends, it's time to plan for the next one.
Yeah, no, exactly. Right.
It's almost like a full time job.
In addition, by the way, to the things that I just mentioned about broadcasting in the foreign country countries, There's also a series of events outside of China, too, things like art performances, intangible cultural heritage experiences and program broadcasts.
And all of that is intended to let overseas audiences feel the atmosphere of the Spring Festival and get a taste or a sense of Chinese culture as well.
Actually, the first stop on the series of events was held in New York and it was on January 16th.
But they're going to be in other countries, too, Kenya, Spain, Brazil, Australia, France, Russia, UAE.
Those countries will be having their own events held there.
So we see that after 42 years of development nowadays, the gala, the Spring Festival gala is really emerging to become a global event where people from inside or outside of China or the Chinese culture can really indulge or get to share a little bit of our happiness of celebrating this Chinese New Year.
And this year, besides the main venue here in Beijing, as it always has been in the past years, there are also four different sub -venues taking all of the viewers on a virtual trip all across China.
We mentioned how long -spanning this show could be, this event could be.
So this year, the gala is also taking us outside of Beijing to the following four sub -venues as well.
The first one is in Chongqing in southwestern China.
So this mountainous city, it boasts for its iconic hotpot cuisine and distinctive hillside charm as well.
So during the rehearsal, the third rehearsal of the gala this year, the news has it that the Chongqing sub -venue has brought songs and dances with distinctive local features.
I would imagine that's very spicy as well.
Yeah. And you mentioned the third rehearsal.
Yeah, there are multiple rehearsals, which happens months ahead of time.
And then you have to have, you know, Plan B and a Plan C for Plan B.
This is definitely a huge, huge television endeavor.
And did you mention that there's also Wuhan, Lhasa, Wuxi, like there are three other cities in China where you can get a glimpse of, well, actually, they're going to have their local celebrations, but you'll catch a glimpse of it on the CMG Spring Festival Gala.
So, yeah, it's a spectacle.
It goes beyond the studio.
Another big deal for this year's event is that they're looking to attract younger viewers.
They've joined Bilibili this year.
Bilibili would be for our listeners not from China.
That's kind of like YouTube, I guess.
Right, you're correct.
Or a younger YouTube.
A younger YouTube featuring not just short videos, but also like edits of personal influencers videos and anime related contents as well.
so it's a leading Chinese video platform Bilibili and this year it announced a significant collaboration with CMG for the Spring Festival Gala where Bilibili will live stream the entire TV gala on Chinese New Year's Eve and serve as this exclusive platform for young people to do this real -time we call
it danmu or bullet comments so you can't call in with your song request anymore but you can leave a comment on Bilibili exactly and everyone that's watching it with you will see it and they can interact through the bullet comments as well and this will mark the first time in Bilibili's 15 year history
that it will live stream the gala together with CMG and also for Bilibili I think it's very recent that it also announced that all 42 years of past CCTV Spring Festival Gala content has officially went live now via their platform as well so for those nostalgic viewers of previous shows You can go on there
and literally watch all of them.
Yeah, plenty of choices for you to take on if you want to sort of visit a little bit of the Chun Wan history.
And also, you know, the new show is definitely something that so many people are very much looking forward to.
And after 42 years that we did mention, Chunwan, or this CMG Spring Festival Gala, still holds a unique place in the hearts of many Chinese people.
With this rich blend of tradition and innovation, it continues to draw in a massive audience each year.
Coming up next, welcome to the happiest corner on the airwaves, Roundtable's happy place.
Delivery. Delivery.
Delivery. What is it?
Happy Mills from Roundtable.
You're listening to Roundtable.
I'm He Young, joined by Steve Hatherly and Yushan in the studio.
Well, what do you have for us for this happy place?
Steve and I, we have something similar.
So let's let Yushan go first.
Well, mine is kind of in a festive celebration category as well.
Okay, maybe all three of us then.
So for me, I actually purchased new clothes for myself.
That's not something new.
Like people purchased new clothes a lot before the Spring Festival.
That's kind of like a tradition here.
But for me, I purchased something called Tangzhuang or the Tangsuit that's traditionally viewed as a type of Chinese jacket.
It's not really the same as Hanfu in a way that's more commonly featuring the silky and layers of very light fabrics Especially for the female styles, the dresses and everything So for Tangzhong, it's more of a jacket style that's coming from the Qing dynasty Is it the Qing dynasty, not the Tang dynasty?
I know, right? So people outside of China call this Tangzhong because the dynasty of Tang had such a global impact where all the international influences and Chinese products start to come outside of China towards the rest of the world.
So that's a very iconic feature for the foreigners to recognize the Chinese.
So that's why they call this style Tang Zhung, even though it doesn't really come from the Tang dynasty.
Sorry, let me just quickly offer a footprint, not footprint, footnote here.
That is, okay, the Tang dynasty spans from 618 to 980 AD.
300 years or so? 1 ,000, 1 ,500, about 1 ,000 years.
Yeah, more than 1 ,000 years ago.
It just shows how good we're at math.
And the Qing dynasty is much closer.
Yeah, the Qing dynasty era is from about 1644 to the year 1911.
It's more modern comparing with Tang.
But this Tang suit I got myself was developed from this Qing dynasty Manchurian clothing style, which is called maguar.
Some sort of like a jacket that has Chinese history and diverse Chinese history.
It has this symmetry knot design that usually worn by men.
But for me, this year, I just wanted something red and something cool that I've never tried on before.
So I got one of these jackets for myself.
And I intend to do this almost cosplay style that has the entire suit and everything on, including a little round little glasses that has dark glasses on.
Just dress up for the new year and impress my family because they don't know about this yet.
Don't listen to the show just yet.
Yeah. What about you, Steve?
What's your happy place?
Yeah, I'm excited for spring festival.
It's really cool if you are new to a country, and I don't think it matters what country it is.
For me, it happens to be China.
But for you, it could be anywhere in the world.
But when you're here and the biggest holiday of the year is about to happen, it's really cool because there's a different energy in the air.
And even in our in our building where we work, there's a different vibe.
You can feel people are starting to get a little bit brighter.
There's more laughter.
There's some music playing from time to time.
There's some fresh fruit on tables because everybody's gearing up for it.
So I'm excited to be here to experience that I'm excited about the gala.
I want to watch a bit of that I don't know if I'll be able to do all five hours or not But i'm excited to see it simply from a production point of view, you know Because I work in the media like how do you put together a show of that magnitude?
I'm excited about the food We're going to do a bit of traveling my wife and I as well During the break so all of that put together that is absolutely my happy place today and that's also Well, can I get into your happy place as well?
Because I think all ours are connected today.
Yes, the countdown to the Chinese New Year is on.
And I'm filled with a sense of anticipation.
But from a slightly different angle.
the last push of work sorry to mention this before the holiday before the holiday week kicks off well kicked off a while ago on finalizing those special spring festival programs wrapping up projects and making sure everything is ready for you to enjoy during the spring festival period is something that i
suppose if you work in the media you know this and we've prepared a slew of spring festival special shows.
So yes, our podcast will keep updating every day during the holiday period.
And we've interviewed folks living in the US, the UK on the African continent, the expats living in China to share the holiday cheer.
It's a busy time, but knowing that we've created something special for you to enjoy.
And it just makes everything all worth it.
And with this rush of getting everything done, the thought of slowing down, finally, and soaking in the festive spirit when Spring Festival, that big week finally kicks in, I think it will just make it all feel even more rewarding.
And I know a lot of you are on the road.
Some of you might have already traveled home already, or maybe some of you have managed to get tickets and you will hit the road on the new year's eve um there's going to be this rush and i think it's kind of chaotic in people's minds i wanted to ask that would would the end of the work week be a common time
for people to kind of get on the road or get on the public transportation however they're traveling or would it be perhaps the beginning of the holiday time well it depends on this on your work basically and for freelancers for example, and we've chatted about this a couple of weeks on the show when Chunyun
kicks off two weeks ahead of time.
Some people are already going home.
Totally depends on your job.
Yeah, absolutely. And some people will be working during the holiday and hats off to those, you know, troopers for doing that.
And also, you know, just preparing for everything, getting the big meal together.
It's all kind of chaotic.
But once after the first couple of days and everything settles down a little bit and you can really reflect, rewind, and just chill and enjoy family time or some slow time, I think that's just also something I very much look forward to.
Fantastic. Yes, the holiday is almost upon us and wish you an early happy Chinese New Year and all the good things that are going to come.
And thank you so much, Steve and Yushan.
I'm He Yang. We'll see you next time.
