Spring Festival Gala honors everyday heroes from diverse backgrounds with exclusive invitations

This year's Spring Festival Gala has extended exclusive invitations to everyday heroes from diverse backgrounds, recognized for their bravery, optimism, kindness, and resilience, to experience a truly unforgettable celebration.

Hosted by the China Media Group (CMG), the Spring Festival Gala, also known as "Chunwan" in Chinese, has been an annual tradition since 1983 and is aired live on the Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve, which falls on Jan 28 this year.

This year, 14 guests received invitations to the "Spring Festival Gala Awaits You" project, including Wang Jibing, a food deliveryman from Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province who loves writing poems.

At 55 years old, Wang runs a small supermarket with his wife while also working as a delivery driver. A poetry enthusiast for 20 years, he has written over 6,000 poems and even published a collection.

The lively atmosphere of the Spring Festival Gala sparked his inspiration, and after watching the rehearsal, he spontaneously composed a poem.

"I like to use a pen to record my feelings anytime and anywhere. For example, after watching that short comedy sketch, I felt like applauding and shedding tears at the same time as it is true to life and straight to my heart," said Wang.

Also receiving an invitation to watch the Spring Festival Gala were Zhou Yiwei, a middle school student from Changde City, central China's Hunan Province, and his mother, Li Chunmei.

For over two years, Zhou consistently got up at 05:00 on weekends and during holidays to help his mother, a sanitation worker, clean the streets.

"I feel that the Spring Festival Gala program is very down-to-earth, with many shows that reflect the lives of ordinary working people. I think it's really great," said Li.

"My mom is also a sanitation worker, and every morning she works hard to beautify the city. Sometimes, I even help her with the sanitation work. I've decided that I want to inherit my mom's hardworking spirit as part of the laboring people," said Zhou.

This year, the "Spring Festival Gala Awaits You" project also extended invitations to international friends, like Evan Kail, an American pawnshop owner who gained recognition in China for donating a photo album documenting Japanese war crimes during World War II.

"I'm really excited to be here, it 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 going to be my year, and hopefully this is going to be a great year for China too. And I'm looking forward to spending more of the Year of the Snake this year in China," said Kail.

The Spring Festival Gala has become a fixture for many households in China as part of celebrations for the Spring Festival, the country's largest annual holiday which centers around the Chinese New Year. It features a mix of performances, including dance, opera, comedy, skits, martial arts, magic, and more.

With performances staged at both Beijing's main venue and sub-venues in four cities across the country, the gala promises a rich blend of traditional culture and modern flair.

Spring Festival Gala honors everyday heroes from diverse backgrounds with exclusive invitations

U.S. stocks extended losses on Friday as an unexpectedly weak employment report and surging oil prices tied to the ongoing Middle East conflict heavily weighed on investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.95 percent to 47,501.55. The S and P 500 sank 1.33 percent to 6,740.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.59 percent to 22,387.68.

Nine of the 11 primary S and P 500 sectors ended in the red. The consumer discretionary and materials sectors led the laggards, dropping 1.96 percent and 1.89 percent, respectively. Consumer staples and energy managed slight gains, advancing 0.29 percent and 0.13 percent, respectively.

The February jobs report dealt a blow to market confidence, revealing that non-farm payrolls unexpectedly contracted by 92,000, widely missing market expectations of a 55,000-job addition. Consequently, the national unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent.

While the weak data quashed notions of a stabilizing labor market, analysts suggested the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates this month because the energy price shock poses a significant risk of reigniting inflation.

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly noted in a media interview that the report commands attention, acknowledging that the labor market may be weaker than previously observed.

Global oil prices surpassed 90 U.S. dollars per barrel on Friday. Tanker traffic in the critical Strait of Hormuz has slowed to a near-standstill, raising concerns that Gulf exporters may soon be forced to halt production due to depleted storage capacity.

The broader market sell-off dragged down major technology shares, with the "Magnificent Seven" closing mostly lower. In earnings news, Marvell Technology soared 18.35 percent to pace the Nasdaq, while Gap dropped 14.41 percent.

Financial equities also faced pressure with BlackRock down 7.17 percent, marking its worst trading session since April 4. The steep decline followed the investment management firm's unprecedented decision to cap client withdrawals from one of its private credit funds, signaling potential growing stress within the broader credit markets.

U.S. stocks drop amid weak jobs data