The 2025 Ningbo Spring Festival Gala, a spectacular event blending tradition and innovation, captivated audiences on the evening of January 23 at Studio One of the Ningbo Radio and Television Group.

Featuring a diverse array of original programs that celebrated Ningbo’s unique character, local traditions, and impressive development, the gala offered a cultural feast for Ningbo natives both at home and abroad. Highlights included the symphonic recitation “Seeing You Through Words,” the dazzling fashion show “Oriental Splendor,” and the specially designed performance “At the Heart of the Sea.”

Iconic Ningbo cultural elements, such as the historic Tianyi Pavilion, the ancient Hemudu Culture, the exquisite Yue Celadon, and the renowned Hongbang (red band) tailors, were featured. This year’s gala presented a reimagined version of the celadon music performance “Rhythm of Water,” while the male group dance “Moonlight Shines Over the Siming Mountain” drew inspiration from revered historical figures like Wang Anshi (1021-1086), Wang Yangming (1472-1529), and Huang Zongxi (1610-1695). The dancers, portraying “scholars” in flowing, wide-sleeved robes, moved with grace and precision, embodying both youthful vigor and a deep-seated patriotic commitment to serving the nation.

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The gala also seamlessly integrated cutting-edge digital stage technology with live performance. The female group dance “Like a Lotus” employed a combination of immersive surround-screen digital displays, a dynamic mechanical stage, wirework, and virtual technology to create captivating effects, showing delicate “lotus flowers” emerging from the water with roots, stems, and tendrils. The innovative human-machine performance “AI on the Spring Festival Gala” showcased multiple robots and robotic dogs, which, after sophisticated programming, took to the stage, performing fluid dance moves and successfully interacting with the audience through heart gestures.

Reflecting Ningbo’s status as a vibrant international coastal city, numerous foreign residents and international students who live and work there participated in the gala. Some of them donned traditional opera costumes, joining over 20 young local performers dressed as Mu Guiying, a legendary ancient Chinese heroine, in a captivating Chinese opera showcase. Notably, Sime Nkemeni Darrin from Cameroon portrayed the upright official Baogong in Henan Opera; Haines Phoebe Georgina from the UK embodied the iconic imperial concubine Yang Yuhuan, singing a section from the Peking Opera’s “Ode to Pear Blossom”; and Nweke Chioma Precious from Nigeria delivered a performance from the Huangmei Opera “Emperor’s Female Son-in-Law.” These performances highlighted the allure of traditional Chinese culture.

Further enriching the event’s global tapestry, musicians from Austria presented a unique performance, skillfully blending Western string instruments with the exquisite poetry of China. Composed by local artist Robert, the piece drew its inspiration from “Zi Jin,” a poem from the Book of Songs, creating a harmonious fusion of cultures.

Adding a human dimension, the gala’s special program, “At the Heart of the Sea,” brought frontline workers involved in the construction of the Hangzhou Bay Railway Bridge to the stage. This remarkable feat of engineering, a key component of the Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing-Ningbo High-speed Railway and set to be the world’s longest cross-sea railway bridge upon completion, exemplifies the pioneering and innovative spirit of Ningbo people.

This year marked the third consecutive year that Ningbo has hosted its own Spring Festival Gala. Over the past three years, this pre-Chinese New Year tradition has proven invaluable in showcasing Ningbo’s rich cultural heritage, summarizing the year’s key cultural highlights, bringing people together from all walks of life, and inspiring a shared sense of enthusiasm and energy throughout the community.

Source: Ningbo International Communication Center