Deng Zaijun had been working at CCTV as a director since 1959. Together with Yang Jie, Wang Fulin and Huang Yihe, they were called CCTV's four best directors.

She may not be famous like Kris Phillips, Wei Wei and Mao Amin, but they are well known on the stage because of Deng. She has a strong sense of the times and innovations in her work. 

She was enlisted in a PLA regiment's publicity team at the age of 13. She did not tell her family about this and became the youngest female soldier. She was assigned to the art troupe to perform in many musicals and stage dramas before she graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy as a director.

When the reform and opening-up started, she was assigned to direct the very first Spring Festival Gala.

"Actually, CCTV had held the gala in the early 1960s, but it was small-scaled and little-known," said Deng. "As the policy was carried out, CCTV intended to inspire people with a grand show at the Spring Festival of 1979."

The first real Spring Festival Gala was co-directed by Deng and Yang Jie. It was presented in the form of a tea party with ballroom dances, which was very rare at that time. 

"The most impressive program had to be 'A Toasting Song' by Li Guangxi," said Deng. The song went viral across the country. "People enjoyed the spring sunshine of the coming new era. Their happiness could only be expressed by dancing and singing."

The gala has pushed the country's artistic atmosphere toward an open and modern direction.

Then Deng directed the 1983 Spring Festival Gala. Performed by Li Guyi, the song “Hometown Love" became a hit. 

In fact, this song was not the first choice for the gala.

"Such a lyrical and beautiful song. What is improper about it," questioned Deng. She worked with other directors and managed to set four hotlines to take the audience's demands. Surprisingly, when Li was seen during the live show, the hotlines were filled with requests for “Hometown Love." The orders were brought to the chief supervisor in piles. Finally, Li sang this song on the stage of the national television, making the gala one with strong social effects.

Another highlight of Deng's career was to bring Kris Phillips into prominence in 1987.

The Chinese American singer was not well-known at that time. Deng was inspired by the song “Sexy Music" accidentally, and said: "The rhythm is great! It fits the gala perfectly." As they wanted both soft and lively songs, the arranger mixed two songs and made it into the hit piece “A Fire in Winter." Thanks to the song, Kris became the heartthrob of the time.

Kris also added some disco steps during the interlude, which were, according to the supervisors, "too much in tempo" to be performed in the show. But Deng insisted on keeping it. "The rhythm represented our voices in the new age," she said. The Gala of 1987 was praised as "the most successful and glamorous one." For Deng, it meant that "people became more open about entertainment, and their mind has been freed."

Forty years later, the techniques and visual effects on the stage has progressed considerably. However, Deng still believes that "every program should keep up with the influence from the outside." Since the reform and opening-up, the main theme of the society has always been about changes, opening-up and innovations.