Song celebrating Year of the Horse inspires younger generation at Spring Festival Gala

A song celebrating the Year of the Horse made its stunning debut on stage during the China Media Group's (CMG) 2026 Spring Festival Gala as audiences celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Horse on Tuesday, inspiring the younger generation to strive for progress.

The hours-long gala had began earlier on Monday evening on the eve of the Chinese New Year, with a carefully curated line-up of performances and variety acts guiding viewers towards the new year.

With the help of AI stage technology, audience members were immersed in a scene inspired by traditional Chinese ink wash painting, while the three-dimensional visual effect brought galloping horses to life, making them appear to race through the audience.

The 2026 Chinese New Year sees the arrival of the Year of the Horse, the seventh animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac.

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.

In December 2024, the Spring Festival itself was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Song celebrating Year of the Horse inspires younger generation at Spring Festival Gala

Song celebrating Year of the Horse inspires younger generation at Spring Festival Gala

Iran's capital Tehran was subjected to large-scale airstrikes by the United States and Israel on Friday night while two U.S. ​warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, Iranian forces said.

At around 21:00, an aircraft was seen flying over northeastern Tehran, and subsequently, Iran's air defense system was activated.

More than two hours later, Iran was hit by another air attack, leading to major explosions. It came after the Iranian military announced that its air defense system had successfully shot down a U.S. A-10 fighter jet, marking the second U.S. warplane hit by Iranian fire that day. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday night threatened to hit Iran "extremely hard over the next two to three weeks," a timeline he has recently set for ending the monthlong war.

Iran has rejected a U.S. proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire delivered to Iran through a "friendly" country, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Friday.

The report added that Iran's response to the offer was not given in writing, but through the continuation of attacks in the battlefield.

On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. assets in the Middle East.

Tehran hit by large-scale US-Israeli air attacks