The Spring Festival Gala sub-venue of Yibin City in southwest China's Sichuan Province dazzled audiences on Monday evening with a series of lively performances intertwining the city's rich history, green technologies, and modern industrial advancements.
Hosted by the China Media Group (CMG), the long-running gala this year features four sub-venues in addition to the main stage in Beijing. Taking the grand show to new locations each year has become a new tradition, shining a spotlight on more of China's varied landscapes and cultural traditions.
As well as Yibin, the other venues this year include Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang in northeast China known as the "ice city," Yiwu in east China's Zhejiang, which has been dubbed "the world's supermarket," and Hefei, the provincial capital of the eastern Anhui Province which has emerged as a hub for sci-tech innovation.
The Yibin sub-venue set its stage against the majestic Yangtze River, weaving folk customs into scenes of family reunion and the festive joy on the eve of the Chinese New Year.
Given the city's focus on high-quality environmental sustainability, the gala segment in Yibin showcased how it is balancing tradition with a forward-looking, eco-conscious future. It featured various performances ranging from original songs showing off the picturesque scenery along the river to dancing robots demonstrating the city's achievements in high-tech innovation.
Audiences were also attracted by the appearance of adorable giant panda robots, while dazzling lights, lanterns and fireworks lit up the night sky, creating a marvelous visual spectacle.
Yibin is a dynamic city where time-honored traditions and modern vitality coexist harmoniously. It holds many distinctions, including being known as the 'First City on the Yangtze River', recognized as the 'City of Liquor' for its popular Chinese baijiu drink, and is regarded as 'China's Bamboo Capital' for boasting the world's largest bamboo forest. In recent years, Yibin has also gained more international prominence as the 'Capital of Power Batteries' as a major hub for electric vehicle battery production.
The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, is the most important traditional holiday for the Chinese people, and watching the Spring Festival Gala, also known as "Chunwan," is a cherished part of the celebrations every year in hundreds of millions of Chinese homes.
Since first being broadcast in 1983, the gala has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the most-watched annual television program on the planet.
The Spring Festival itself was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2024.
The 2026 Spring Festival falls on Tuesday this year, ushering in the Year of the Horse.
Yibin sub-venue displays creative fusion of historic past, future vision
Yibin sub-venue displays creative fusion of historic past, future vision
