The 2026 Spring Festival Gala delivered a spectacular set of performances on Monday at the sub-venue of Yiwu in east China's Zhejiang Province, highlighting the city's vitality as a key global trading hub while several well-known international stars also made special guest appearances.
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 Yiwu, the other venues this year include Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang in northeast China known as the "ice city," Hefei, the provincial capital of the eastern Anhui Province which has emerged as a hub for sci-tech innovation, and Yibin in the southwestern Sichuan Province, known for its ancient architecture and picturesque scenery along the banks of the Yangtze River.
The Yiwu venue integrated local folk elements, including Wu opera, into a vibrant series of performances, offering a festive celebration of global friendship and commerce, while showcasing Yiwu's growing international trading influence, with the city having been dubbed as "the world's supermarket" for its prowess as a small commodities hub.
In a powerful moment of international collaboration, global icons such as movie star Jackie Chan and U.S. singer Lionel Richie lent their voices alongside other global artists as part of a special song titled "We are the World", delivering a heartfelt message of unity and hope as part of the wider festive celebrations. The performance underscored how China's Spring Festival has evolved into more than a national celebration, instead becoming a cultural bridge linking people across continents.
Among the other highlights in the Yiwu segment of the gala was a cameo from Chinese actor Zhang Ruoyun and a humanoid robot dressed up as the legendary character Sun Wukong, or the 'monkey king', from the classic Chinese novel 'Journey to the West'.
Yiwu has long been a dynamic hub in China's opening-up endeavors. The Yiwu International Trade Market houses nearly 80,000 booths offering over two million types of commodities, and maintains trade ties with 233 countries and regions worldwide.
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 on December 2024.
The 2026 Spring Festival falls on Tuesday this year, ushering in the Year of the Horse.
Spring Festival Gala shines spotlight on Yiwu as key int'l trading hub
