Adorable snake dances in CMG promo video marking 10 days to 2025 Spring Festival Gala

China Media Group (CMG) kicked off the final countdown to the 2025 Spring Festival Gala with the release of a charming animated promotional video on Saturday, marking just 10 days until the grand show airs on January 28, the eve of Chinese New Year.

The Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is China's most cherished traditional celebration, uniting families across the country in joyous festivities.

As the Year of the Snake approaches, the gala unveiled its official mascot "Si Shengsheng." Drawing inspiration from a 3,000-year-old bronze snake, the mascot has a round head and serpentine body, resembling the character "si" in the oracle bone script, which stands for snake in the Chinese zodiac.

An animated Si Shengsheng puts on a playful performance in the video, capering with a large persimmon, a symbol of good luck and longevity which often has a place at Chinese New Year celebrations.

In a remarkable milestone, UNESCO inscribed the Spring Festival on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in late 2024, officially recognizing the global significance of this vibrant tradition.

Initiated in 1983, CMG's annual Spring Festival Gala has become an iconic part of the Chinese New Year celebration, drawing hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide with its star-studded performances. The gala is a rich mix of comedy skits, songs and dances, acrobatics, and magic acts.

On Friday, the 2025 Spring Festival Gala concluded its third rehearsal. For the first time, sub-venues in Chongqing Municipality, Wuhan of Hubei Province, Lhasa of Xizang Autonomous Region, and Wuxi of Jiangsu Province made their appearances, joining the main venue in Beijing for a combined rehearsal.

More than four decades since its inception, the gala, also known as "Chunwan" in Chinese, has evolved beyond a mere television show. It represents a nationally shared experience, a collective memory, and its evolution is in many ways representative of China's wider technological growth and social development.

Adorable snake dances in CMG promo video marking 10 days to 2025 Spring Festival Gala

Adorable snake dances in CMG promo video marking 10 days to 2025 Spring Festival Gala

Adorable snake dances in CMG promo video marking 10 days to 2025 Spring Festival Gala

Adorable snake dances in CMG promo video marking 10 days to 2025 Spring Festival Gala

Adorable snake dances in CMG promo video marking 10 days to 2025 Spring Festival Gala

Lebanon's Health Ministry said Saturday that Israeli strikes during the latest round of fighting have killed 2,020 people and wounded 6,436 others since hostilities escalated.

The ministry said the toll reflects cumulative casualties recorded across multiple regions amid continued Israeli airstrikes and cross-border exchanges of fire.

On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Israeli forces engaged in close-range firefights with Hezbollah militants, striking multiple targets and killing several militants while seizing various weapons. In the past 24 hours, the IDF targeted over 200 Hezbollah sites within Lebanon and continued to target Hezbollah rocket launchers to prevent attacks against Israel.

Additionally, the IDF's Home Front Command has tightened public safety guidelines, suspending or limiting educational activities in border communities, Upper Galilee, and Haifa Bay, while also restricting the size of gatherings in those areas.

Hezbollah, in its statement, claimed that its operations in southern Lebanon continued, attacking Israeli tanks and personnel. The group also targeted Israeli military infrastructure, soldiers, and vehicles in northern Israel.

The escalation followed renewed hostilities involving Hezbollah, which said it launched rockets from southern Lebanon toward Israel on March 2 for the first time since a ceasefire on Nov. 27, 2024. The exchange prompted Israel to expand its military campaign across Lebanon.

Lebanon has since been hit by sustained strikes in several areas, with fighting spreading beyond border regions into other parts of the country.

Iran and the United States agreed to a ceasefire on Wednesday. Israel said it would abide by the truce but argued the agreement does not apply to Lebanon. That assertion was rejected by Iran and by mediator Pakistan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the disarmament of Hezbollah is a prerequisite for any ceasefire agreement with Lebanon.

In a video statement, he said Lebanon had approached Israel several times over the past month seeking to begin direct talks following Israeli military actions.

"I approved this, subject to two conditions: we want to achieve the disarmament of Hezbollah, and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations," Netanyahu said.

Death toll from Israeli attacks in Lebanon reaches 2,020