China Media Group (CMG) on Monday released the official mascot for its 2025 Spring Festival Gala, as the Year of the Snake in the Chinese lunar calendar is approaching.
Based on the image of a cartoon snake, the mascot is named "Si Shengsheng", and was designed to match the theme of the Spring Festival Gala -- "Year of the Snake, Keep Your Spirits Awake!"
The outline of the mascot's head and the shape of the patterns on its cheeks are derived from a silver "Ruyi", a traditional Chinese ornament representing blessings and auspiciousness, unearthed in Shaanxi Province from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
Its head is decorated with a bat pattern and its tail is embellished with a long knot representing longevity in Chinese culture, making the entire mascot represent blessings and good luck.
The shape of the eyebrows and eyes of the vivid mascot is taken from the pattern of snake-shaped bronze cultural relics unearthed from the Sanxingdui Ruins, one of the world's greatest archaeological findings of the 20th century in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
This pattern is also widely seen on bronze and jade items in the Central Plains region, showing the diversity and unity of Chinese civilization.
Some of the patterns on the mascot are carved with cloisonne craftsmanship, and the filigree inlay art was also used to sketch out a variety of flowers on the mascot, implying that the spring is back.
Green is the main color of the mascot, symbolizing spring and vitality, and a variety of traditional Chinese colors are also used in the design.
The Spring Festival Gala hosted by CMG has been an essential part of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration since 1983. The gala includes songs, dance, comic sketches, operas and folk arts.
The annual spectacle, known as the most-watched television program in the world, is broadcast on the eve of the Chinese New Year, when families come together to ring in the new lunar year.
The 2025 Spring Festival Gala will be on the air on the lunar New Year's Eve, which falls on January 28, 2025.
CMG unveils mascot for 2025 Spring Festival Gala
CMG unveils mascot for 2025 Spring Festival Gala
CMG unveils mascot for 2025 Spring Festival Gala
Held on the slopes of Mount Tai, one of China's most iconic peaks in eastern Shandong Province, a distinctive robot mountain climbing competition kicked off on Monday, turning the popular scenic area into a live proving ground for robots' extreme performance and future real-world deployment.
The inaugural China Media Group (CMG) World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition brought together nearly 90 teams of humanoid, quadruped, exoskeleton and other types of robots. Competitors tackled the 3.9-kilometer ancient stone path from Hongmen to Zhongtianmen -- ascending more than 3,100 steps with an elevation gain of nearly 640 meters, while morning mist and moss added extra layers of difficulty.
The competition is divided into two main categories of speed races and specialized events, with five events in total for different robot forms, including speed racing and load-carrying challenges.
The event provides a high-standard and real-world testing platform for the technological advancement and practical application of specialized mountain robots.
"For robots, this course is a natural training ground. It keeps changing in every possible way. If a robot can complete this race, it will make a huge difference to their progress," said Su Qingwei, the competition's chief referee.
At the load-carrying challenge, robots carry not only bulky cargo boxes, but also fragile eggs. Along the way, they must complete four mountain supply transport tasks.
Unlike the speed race, the load-carrying challenge is scored on the number of tasks completed, the condition of the items, and transport efficiency.
This competition provides robots with practical experience for future roles such as mountain transport and inspection -- capabilities that are currently in demand at the Mount Tai scenic area.
"During the operating season, the scenic area generates about 20,000 tons of waste every year. Most of it is carried out by hand. The climate and terrain are complex, so transport costs are high and efficiency is low. That is our biggest problem. During the competition, many companies talked with us in depth. They learned about the pain points we face in daily operations, which gives robot companies ideas and guidance for upgrading their products," said Zhao Ameng, a staffer at scenic area.
Experts noted that the event goes beyond displaying robot functions, more importantly, it pushes performance forward via real-world simulation and promotes in-depth participant exchanges for continuous refinement.
"The key value of this competition is that it uses a real-world setting as a natural testing ground for robots. The teams collect massive amounts of training data in actual tests, providing a model for smarter robots to be applied on a much larger scale," said Liu Wenqiang, Party secretary of China Center for Information Industry Development.
Mount Tai robot competition acts as proving ground for future applications
