China Media Group (CMG) released the program list for the upcoming 2025 Spring Festival Gala on Tuesday afternoon.
Hosted by China Media Group, the annual televised fiesta features an eclectic 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.
The 2025 Spring Festival falls on Wednesday, ushering in the Year of the Snake. On the eve of the Chinese New Year, the gala will be broadcast worldwide from 20:00 Beijing Time (1200 GMT) via various CMG channels, as well as on several social media platforms.
As the first Spring Festival Gala after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed the traditional festival on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December last year, this year's show will feature more elements of intangible cultural heritage to present global audiences a cultural feast full of new ideas.
In terms of technological innovation, this year's gala will further deepen the integrated broadcast via big and small screens, advance the application of 8K ultra-high-definition technology, and use cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, extended reality, digital twins and virtual production to create a virtual stage that can be expanded at will.
For the first time in the history of the Spring Festival Gala, visually impaired and hearing-impaired versions will be broadcast for those in need.
The annual Spring Festival Gala produced by CMG, also known as "Chunwan" in Chinese, has been seen as a major cultural symbol for the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations in China since its debut in 1983.
Recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most watched TV program since its debut, the gala boasts billions of viewers every year.
CMG unveils program list of 2025 Spring Festival Gala
CMG unveils program list of 2025 Spring Festival Gala
CMG unveils program list of 2025 Spring Festival Gala
Axis powers during World War II should offer sincere reflection and apology, a Greek mayor said after Greece successfully repatriated a rare collection of 262 World War II-era photographs.
Greek officials traveled to Belgium to negotiate with the seller and brought the photographs back to Greece, after they were put up for sale online by a Belgian collector, said the Greek Culture Ministry.
The images were taken by Wehrmacht lieutenant Hermann Heuer, who served in Greece from 1943 to 1944, during World War II, and part of the collection documents the mass execution of Greek communists by Nazi troops in Kaisariani, east of Athens.
During World War II, German occupation in Greece met with fierce resistance. On May 1, 1944, German forces executed 200 Greeks at the Kaisariani firing range in retaliation for the killing of a German general by resistance fighters.
A memorial and a museum were set up after the war in Kaisariani to commemorate those who died in the mass execution.
"The photos really shocked us all because they were real documents from the day of the execution. We are shocked for many reasons. An important reason is that the 200 communists were singing with their heads held high before the execution in the photos, and they were not mourning because they were fighters," said Ilias Stamelos, mayor of Kaisariani.
The newly recovered photographs have drawn renewed attention to the historical trauma still felt in the community, as the images provide a direct visual record of the final moments of those executed.
In 1987, then German President Richard von Weizsaecker visited Greece and made a special stop in Kaisariani, reflecting on the profound suffering inflicted on the Greek people by Germany during World War II.
Ilias said that, like Germany, Japan, another Axis power during the war, should also be held accountable for the massive harm it caused to multiple countries and should offer sincere reflection and apology for its wartime aggression.
"And I think it's a common demand, because those responsible for the deaths in the World War II need to pay for what happened. It's known to all that back then it was Germany, Japan and Italy, the allies in this war, that each played different roles in the war, yet they do have common responsibilities," said the mayor.
Historic photos of Nazi mass execution of Greeks returned to Greece, mayor calls for historical accountability
