The Spring Festival Gala, also known as "Chunwan" in Chinese, broadcasts on the eve of the Lunar New Year when millions of Chinese families get together. This year's gala will fall on February 11 and will go ahead despite the ongoing pandemic.

As an integral part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, the annual show hosted by China Central Television (CCTV) is the most-watched television show in the world. The extravaganza often features songs, performances, and comedy sketches.

For more than three decades, the gala has not only been an entertainment trendsetter, but also a mirror of China's economic growth.

1991-95: Singers gathering

In the early 1990s, folk songs, rock music, and Chinese original pop music gradually dominated the music market and became the trend in China, when the "Four Heavenly Kings" from Hong Kong, namely Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, and Leon Lai, and the Little Tigers, a boy band from China's Taiwan region, swept the country.

The Spring Festival Gala caught the trend and gathered a group of stars between 1991 and 1995, including Alan Tam and Aaron Kwok from Hong Kong, Harlem Yu and Mai Meng from China's Taiwan region, and Na Ying and Lao Lang from the Chinese mainland.

Although it had first appeared on the gala in a video in 1992, the Little Tigers still successfully made the song "Happy New Year" one of the most heard melodies in the nation. The year also saw Andy Lau, along with Mao Amin from the mainland and Chang Yu-sheng from Taiwan region, breaking new ground by singing together a song from their three original homes. 

1996: First sub-venues

Previous Spring Festival Galas were always broadcast in Beijing. To let people in other regions also experience the gala in person, the 1996's gala also included two sub-venues in Shanghai and Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province.

Besides the scenes from the studio, the gala also showed for the first time people's greetings from other parts of the country, including southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, uniting all people in one show.

1997-99: Themed in the return of Hong Kong and Macao

Hong Kong returned to China on July 1, 1997 and Macao returned on December 20, 1999. Their returns brought more local singers and actors to the galas.

In 1998, Faye Wong, Chinese singer who developed in Hong Kong and was hailed as "diva of Asia," made her debut by singing "Meet in 1998" with Na Ying, which became a classical moment in the gala's history.

In the next year, children from Macao sung a song adapted from one of scholar Wen Yiduo's seven patriotic poems, "Song of the Seven Sons — Macao," which made the audiences more excited for the return of the region. The song was so memorable that it was sung again on the ceremony of Macao's return later that year.

Stay tuned to CGTN as we continue giving you more details about the Spring Festival Gala to welcome the Year of the Ox.

Read more:

Spring Festival Gala A to Z: Unforgettable moments during the '80s