The adorable giant pandas that stole the spotlight at the Yibin sub-venue of China's 2026 Spring Festival Gala were not real pandas but robot dogs dressed in panda suits.

Engineers spent months refining their movements, adjusting motor torque and cooling systems, and using 3D modeling to make the robots move like real pandas. In the end, about 100 robotic pandas appeared on stage, creating one of the night's most memorable moments.