Continue treasure hunting with CCTV’s hit show

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Introducing more artifacts to the public and continuing the legacy of the first season from 2017, "The Nation's Greatest Treasures," one of China's most popular TV shows on cultural heritage, recently began production of its second season.

Although the second season will use similar choreography, background music and storylines as seen in the first season, it will also feature new cultural relics, new "national treasure guardians" and new elements drawn from folk music, musicals and dancing drama.

The launching ceremony of the second season of "The Nation's Greatest Treasures" on an ancient stage platform in the Palace Museum, Beijing, China, October 9, 2018. /Photo via weibo.com

Scoring 9.0 out of 10 points on Chinese rating platform Douban, the first season of the docutainment show introduces a total of 27 cultural relics selected from the Palace Museum and eight other iconic museums in China.

Cast members also express the significance of each artifact through historical drama while artists, painters, craftsmen, museum volunteers and others share their own stories and knowledge related to such relics.

A scene from the first season of "The Nation's Greatest Treasures". /Photo via weibo.com

The stage performance presents the treasures as well as the stories and history behind each piece of cultural relic. Therefore, the beauty of a cultural relic is no longer confined to its appearance and archaeological value, since it also records parts of Chinese civilization and the spiritual core of the Chinese people.

Almost every episode has been viewed over 10 million times online – the first episode alone has been viewed 44 million times.

Tony Leung, a famous actor and one of the "national treasure guardians," plays Sima Guang, a Song-dynasty scholar on the show. /Photo via weibo.com

The new season will continue to see collaboration between the Palace Museum and China Central Television, with eight new partner museums across China also on board, including Hebei Museum, Shanxi Museum, Shandong Museum and Guangdong Museum.

"When we walked into the eight new partner museums, we realized again how limited we were in understanding the long history of China and the rich collection of cultural heritage preserved in museums," said Yu Lei, producer and chief director of the show.

Yu Lei, producer and chief director of "The Nation's Greatest Treasures". /Photo via weibo.com

China had nearly 5,000 registered museums nationwide as of the end of 2016, welcoming about 900 million visitors annually.

"Amid changes, we will stick to our unchanged aspiration of bringing museums and heritage back to life, and seeking to explore and create new content," Yu said.

(With inputs from Xinhua)

(Cover: The logo of the hit show “The Nation's Greatest Treasures”. /Photo via weibo.com)