The third rehearsal for the China Media Group (CMG) 2025 Spring Festival Gala dazzled the audience on Friday with a vibrant showcase of singing and dancing, magic, martial arts, and innovative fusion acts.
The rehearsal not only highlighted the diversity of performances but also fine-tuned the gala's overall structure, ensuring smoother transitions and a more seamless presentation.
Among the audience were individuals from various walks of life, each bringing a unique perspective to the gala. Evan Kail, an American pawnshop owner who donated a photo album documenting Japanese war crimes in China during World War II, expressed his excitement about attending the event.
"I'm really excited to be here. Looks like they put a lot of work into the performance. There's lots of cultural stuff that's going on. This is the Year of the Snake. I was born in the Year of the Snake, so this is gonna be my year and hopefully this is gonna be a great year for China, too," Kail said.
For Li Chunmei, a sanitation worker from Changde in Hunan Province, the gala struck a deep chord with everyday workers like her.
"I felt it really resonated with ordinary people, with many performances showing the lives of everyday workers like me. It is really amazing. I will share my excitement of watching the Spring Festival Gala live with my colleagues and friends," she said.
Her son, Zhou Yiwei, who has become a role model among teenagers for his dedication to helping his mother clean the streets every day, also found inspiration in the event.
"My mom is a sanitation worker. She works hard every day to keep the city clean. I'm determined to carry forward her hardworking spirit," Zhou said.
This rehearsal also, for the first time, involved four sub-venues: Chongqing Municipality, Wuhan of Hubei Province, Lhasa of Xizang Autonomous Region, and Wuxi of Jiangsu Province.
Together with the main venue in Beijing, these locations are set to present a vibrant and diverse cultural showcase, highlighting local traditions and remarkable achievements in modernization in the new era.
The Spring Festival falls on January 29 this year, marking the start of the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year. As China's grandest traditional festival, it is a time when people across the country travel back to their hometowns to celebrate and reunite with their families.
The gala, also known as "Chunwan" in Chinese, has been broadcast live annually on Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve since 1983 and is regarded as a major cultural symbol of traditional Lunar New Year celebrations in China.
The 2025 gala will be the first edition after the inclusion of the Spring Festival on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December last year.
CMG's 2025 Spring Festival Gala rehearsal wows audience with spectacular performances
