‘National Treasure: Season 2’ returns with upgrades

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“National Treasure: Season 2” focusing on popularizing cultural relics returns to Chinese television on Sunday.

The show will be aired every weekend on the variety channel of the China Media Group (CMG), starting at 19:30 BJT.

It is produced with the cooperation of the Palace Museum but the new season sees the involvement of another eight museums that will introduce a total of 27 national treasures to viewers.

The show, a combination of documentary and variety show, is aiming at exploring new ways to bring high-end cultural relics closer to the public.

A still from the promo of the "National Treasure Season 2." /Photo via CCTV

In each episode, three relics from a museum will be introduced in the form of a short play. Celebrities such as actors and singers were invited to perform lead roles and act as “guardians” to the relics.

The show, which adopts the pop culture and trending catchwords of the younger generation, is widely loved by many young people, who have complimented it as “a breath of fresh air” in the Chinese variety show industry.

Ahead of the return, the hashtag “National Treasure Season 2” has garnered around 1.9 billion exposures on China's social media platform Sina Weibo.

A poster of the "National Treasure Season 2". /Photo via CCTV

According to the production team, the celebrities joining the cast in the new season include Faye Wong, China's top singer called by many as the “diva". Actor Leon Lai will also take part in the show, playing the role of the 87-year-old Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912).

Yu Lei, chief director of the show, said that while keeping the familiar stage design, format and crew, the new season also brings more diversified artistic forms such as musicals, dance, and traditional instruments to present the stories of the cultural relics.

“One year ago, when the Palace Museum decided to cooperate with the ‘National Treasure' team, many of the eight invited museums called me to ask whether we are serious about attending a variety show,” said Shan Jixiang, curator of the Palace Museum. “And now when we prepare for the new season, many uninvited museums called to ask when they could attend it."

A poster of the "National Treasure Season 2". /Photo via CCTV

“I was a little bit worried at the beginning,” said Ma Wendou, curator of Yunnan Museum. “Combining such profound history with such modern ways, will it work? How would it look like.”

The warm reactions from the public soon eased his worries.

The show earned 1.8 billion hits online, while at the same time, visitors to the museums across China increased 30 to 50 percent year on year.

A deal has also been signed with global producer and distributor Endemol Shine Group to distribute the show globally. Potential international cooperation is also under discussion for expanding its horizons to more museums around the world, as well as featuring more heritages outside China.