CCTV Spring Festival Gala to spotlight Zhuhai

Zhuhai has been chosen as one of four sub-venues of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala on Feb 15. This is to reflect the Special Economic Zone's achievements since Reforming & Opening Up in 1978.

In celebration of Chinese New Year's Eve, Central China Television's evening gala has been the country's most popular TV program since its debut in 1983. The variety show is an amalgamation of musicals, dances, dramas, and comedies performed by Chinese household names.

Hengqin New Area's Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, home of one of the world's largest aquariums, is this year's local venue along with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a marvel of Chinese engineering and the world's longest sea-spanning structure.

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge [Photo by Chen Xinnian / Zhuhai Daily]

The gala's production team has already begun stage and setting tests in preparation for the evening. Frontier theatrical devices will create magnificent visual effects. There will also be recordings of greetings and well wishes from locals.

Chimelong Ocean Kingdom [Photo courtesy zh.chimelong.com]

"Technology, Ecology, and Culture" is the theme for Zhuhai. A national bridgehead for the past 40 years, Zhuhai was one of the first four cities designated as a Special Economic Zone in 1980. Since implementation of Reform & Opening Up, the city now has international status with even more potential for development. It has since also lived up to the goals set in 2012 to become "a new eco-civilized special economic zone and a model city of scientific development," according to the Publicity Department of the Zhuhai Municipal Party Committee.

Beijing will continue to host the main session this year. Besides Zhuhai, the other live broadcasting sub-venues are Qiandongnan Miao & Dong Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou, Shandong's Qufu and Tai'an, and Hainan's Sanya.