孫佳慧

At precisely 8 p.m. on Lunar New Years Eve in practically every Chinese household， the din of firecrackers and gossiping relatives will be interrupted by a different sound—an assemblage of red-clad TV announcers with overly chirpy voices， proclaiming that “spring has arrived.”

The CCTV Spring Festival Gala， or?chunwan， is state medias annual celebration of the Lunar New Year. When it premiered in 1983，?the?chunwan?was the undisputed television event of the year， since most Chinese had no other chances to see different celebrities and entertainments share the same stage in a four-hour song， dance， and comedy extravaganza. Over the next quarter-century， though， as other amusements appeared， the show developed a reputation for being cheesy， formulaic， and a clunky mix of the political and sentimental.

Whatever ones thoughts on the galas entertainment value—and those thoughts are always aired， passionately， on social media the morning after—its predictability has made?the?chunwan?an immutable Spring Festival tradition. Just like the distinctive teleprompter air of CCTV News， the language and presentation style of?chunwan?hosts is a key element to the general feel of the show.

Anchors Away

There is perhaps no surer sign that a TV anchor has “made it” than being invited to host the CCTV?chunwan. But with so many stars to highlight， recent editions have featured a bloated army of anchors， all itching to say the same stock phrases to over a billion audience members in China and abroad， necessitating some not-so-creative compromises：

Host A：?China Central Television！

Zh4nggu5 Zh4ngy`ng Di3nsh#t1i！

中國中央電視臺！

Host B：?China Central Television！

Zh4nggu5 Zh4ngy`ng Di3nsh#t1i！

中國中央電視臺！

Certainly， important messages should be repeated twice.?Chunwan?hosts way of delivering identical lines with seamless transition between each—all in the same plaintive voice， with matching pauses and intonation—creates a unique patter thats recognizable to viewers around China， as is the following timeless greeting：

Host C：?To all guests， and dear friends！

G-w-i l1ib～n， q～n3i de p9ngyoumen！

各位來賓，親愛的朋友們！

All：?Happy Spring Festival！

Ch$nji9 h2o！

春節(jié)好！

Nothing says “festivity” like a bunch of TV hosts shouting together. Announcer-choruses， though， are not just a feature of the intro， but the go-to method for both hosts and actors to introduce or wrap up any?chunwan?performance， emphasize certain messages， send well wishes， or simply increase that party atmosphere. Take 2015s controversial “Happiness Street” skit starring actress Jia Ling—it may have insulted every unmarried “manly” woman in China in the span of 15 minutes， but the cast still wanted to leave the audience feeling warm：

Jia：Although I have no job or boyfriend， I have you guys…as long as friends stick together， then， in all the world， were—

W6 zh～d3o， w6 m9i g4ngzu7， y0 m9i du#xi3ng， k0sh# w6 y6u n@men......Zh@y3o p9ngyoumen zh3n z3i y#q@， z1nmen ji&sh# ti`nd@xia——

我知道，我沒工作，也沒對象，可是我有你們……只要朋友們站在一起，咱們就是天底下——

All： The happiest！

Zu# x#ngf% de！

最幸福的！

Spring Couplets

During Spring Festival， Chinese families traditionally decorate their doors with couplets—poems with two rhyming lines， corresponding in length and theme. Perhaps inspired by this tradition， the matching pairs of anchors in CCTVs Spring Festival Gala often make use of repetition and parallels in their narration， as in this classic example from the 2008 Gala：

A： Fly toward spring—the spring tide surges and renews the world.

F8i xi3ng ch$nti`n， ch$nch1o p9ngp3i ti`nd# x～n.

飛向春天，春潮澎湃天地新。

B： Fly toward spring—the spring wind rushes and beautifies the scenery.

F8i xi3ng ch$nti`n， ch$nf8ng h3od3ng sh`nh9 m0i.

飛向春天，春風浩蕩山河美。

The festival is often likened to a handover from one Chinese zodiac animal to the next. Last year， as the Year of the Rooster gave way to the Year of the Dog， we heard couplets like：

The golden rooster crows goodbye to the old year; the auspicious dog steps across the snow to welcome the new spring！

J～nj～ b3oxi2o c！ ji&su#， ru#qu2n t3xu0 y！ng x～nch$n！

金雞報曉辭舊歲，瑞犬踏雪迎

新春！

Look out for porcine terms this

year， like：

Seeing off the jade dog， meeting the golden pig， we welcome another year to the sound of firecrackers！

S7ngbi9 y&qu2n， y！ngl1i j～nzh$， b3ozh% sh8ng zh4ng w6men y7u ji`ng y！ngl1i zh2nx～n de y# ni1n！

送別玉犬，迎來金豬，爆竹聲中我們又將迎來嶄新的一年！

All-embracing Greetings

The most important task for the?chunwan?hosts is to send New Year greetings. In order to ensure national unity and harmony， they must make sure that the wishes reach all the different ethnicities and classes， every profession， and every Chinese living elsewhere in the world：

A： At the turn of the year， we send greetings to people of all ethnic groups， to our compatriots from Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions， to our compatriots in Taiwan and overseas Chinese， and to all Chinese across the world.

Z3i zh- c！ji& y！ngx～n zh～j#， w6men xi3ng qu1ngu5 g-z% r9nm！n， xi3ng Xi`ngg2ng T-bi9 X！ngzh-ngq$ h9 Aom9n T-bi9 X！ngzh-ngq$ de t5ngb`o， xi3ng T1iw`n t5ngb`o h9 h2iw3i qi1ob`o， xi3ng qu1n sh#ji- de Zh4nghu1 9rn） b3ini1n！

在這辭舊迎新之際，我們向全國各族人民，向香港特別行政區(qū)和澳門行政區(qū)的同胞，向臺灣同胞和海外僑胞，向全世界的中華兒女拜年！

B： We wish a happy New Year to all the soldiers of the Peoples Liberation Army， the armed police forces， to the policemen， and everyone still working at this time！

W6men xi3ng Zh4nggu5 R9nm！n Ji0f3ngj$n qu1nt@ zh@zh3nyu1n， xi3ng w^j@ng b&du# gu`nb～ng， g4ng`n m！nj@ng y@j！ su6y6u c@sh！ c@k- y～r1n ji`nsh6u z3i g4ngzu7 g2ngw-i shang de r9nmen shu4 y# sh8ng “Gu7ni1n h2o”！

我們向中國人民解放軍全體指戰(zhàn)員， 向武警部隊官兵，公安民警以及所有此時此刻依然堅守在工作崗位上的人們說一聲?“過年好”！

C： We want to say “Happy New Year” to all the workers， farmers， teachers， doctors， and people in every profession！ Wish you the best of luck in your job next year！

W6men xi3ng su6y6u de g4ngr9n、n5ngm！n、

ji3osh～、y～sh8ng y@j！ g-h1ng g-y- de p9ngyoumen b3ini1n！Zh& n@men x～n de y# ni1n g4ngzu7 sh&nl#！

我們向所有的工人、農(nóng)民、教師、醫(yī)生以及各行各業(yè)的朋友們拜年！祝你們新的一年工作順利！

Achievement Reporting

The New Year is also a chance for the government to report on the previous years activities and make forecasts for the future. Given that its a festive occasion—and one of the biggest media events of the year—we predictably only hear the good news：

Over the past year， significant headway has been made in reform and opening up; breakthroughs have been made in important fields and key links.

Gu7q& de y# ni1n， g2ig9 k`if3ng m3ich$ zh7ngd3 b&f1， zh7ngy3o l@ngy& h9 gu`nji3n hu1nji9 de g2ig9 q^d9 t$p7x#ng j#nzh2n.

過去的一年，改革開放邁出重大步伐，重要領域和關鍵環(huán)節(jié)的改革取得突破性進展。

Saved by the bell

Ringing the New Year bell is the reason most people stay awake through the interminable hours of kitschy graphics， stale skits， and random celebrity guest spots. For the emcees， though， its the hardest part， because they need to finish all their lines exactly before 12 a.m. strikes. The common strategy is to announce that its time to ring the bell， then trot out a few sentimental， essentially meaningless remarks that can be discarded once the countdown begins：

A：?Friends， the New Year bell is about

to ring.

P9ngyoumen， x～nni1n de zh4ngsh8ng m2sh3ng ji&y3o qi`oxi2ng le.

朋友們，新年的鐘聲馬上就要敲

響了。

B：?At this moment， lets say goodbye to the old year with a grateful heart. Be grateful to our great era， to the beloved motherland， to our parents who raised us， to our friends who stand by our sides...

C@sh！ c@k-， r3ng w6men hu1izhe g2n8n de x～n y^ ji&su# g3obi9， g2n8n w0id3 de sh！d3i， g2n8n q～n3i de z^gu5， g2n8n sh8ngy2ng w6men de f&m^， g2n8n p9ib3n w6men de p9ngy6u......

此時此刻，讓我們懷著感恩的心與舊歲告別，感恩偉大的時代，感恩親愛的祖國，感恩生養(yǎng)我們的父母，感恩陪伴我們的朋友……

C：?Are you ready？ Lets count down together！

N@men zh^nb-i h2o le ma？ R3ng w6men y#q@ d3osh^！

你們準備好了嗎？讓我們一起倒數(shù)！

All：?Ten！ Nine！ Eight...

Sh！！?Ji^！?B`......

十！九！八……

“Unforgettable” Ending

No Spring Festival Gala is complete without the familiar melody of “Unforgettable Tonight.” Created for the 1984?chunwan， the song has closed the official gala so many times in the last 24 years. The hosts ending lines usually match the lyrics：

A：?Tonight is unforgettable， as we collect memories and look back with deep feelings！

N1nw3ng j～nxi`o， j～nxi`o w6men li%zh& j#y#， sh8nq！ng hu！w3ng！

難忘今宵，今宵我們留住記憶，深情回望！

B：?Tonight is unforgettable， when we long for the future and prepare to set sail again！

N1nw3ng j～nxi`o， j～nxi`o w6men m2nhu1i ch4ngj@ng， z3id& q@h1ng！

難忘今宵，今宵我們滿懷憧憬，再度起航！

C：?Thanks to all for your company tonight！

G2nxi- d3ji` j～ny- de p9ib3n！

感謝大家今夜的陪伴！

ALL：?See you next year！

M！ngni1n z3ihu#！

明年再會！