BEIJING, Feb. 18 — A global Spring Festival gala themed “All Under Heaven, One Spring” aired on Feb. 17, aiming to resonate with overseas Chinese communities by highlighting shared cultural roots and emotional ties to the homeland.
The 2026 edition of the annual event, jointly organized by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, was broadcast on the Chinese International Channel of China Media Group.
In interviews with China News Service, several overseas Chinese said the gala centered on themes of family and country, evoking collective memories and emotional connections among Chinese communities worldwide.
The show opened with the song-and-dance performance “Chinese New Year, Global Celebration” and was structured around two segments, “Lights in Every Home” and “Spring Returns to the Earth.” Blending traditional aesthetics associated with the Year of the Horse and contemporary artistic elements, the program sought to convey a festive holiday atmosphere.
Luo Jian, principal of the Panda School in France and a participant in the interview program “Chinese Culture Overseas,” said the gala embodied overseas Chinese people’s longing for reunion while conveying the homeland’s care for its diaspora, serving as an emotional bridge linking Chinese communities at home and abroad.
Luo said the program combined classical Chinese artistic traditions with a modern sensibility, ranging from ink-wash landscape imagery to futuristic lighting effects, and from folk songs to contemporary dance. The performances preserved the essence of traditional culture while incorporating technological elements to project a sense of innovation and vitality.
“The gala feels like a warm emotional space where nostalgia for one’s hometown and hopes for the new year are expressed,” Luo said, adding that the connection it fosters between tradition and modernity, nation and world, homeland and diaspora is particularly meaningful. As its title suggests, she said, no matter how far people travel, the desire for reunion during the Spring Festival remains strong.
Ding Shaoping, head of the Huaxing Arts Troupe in Perth, Australia, said the gala was “not only an audio-visual feast but also an opportunity for Chinese communities worldwide to inherit cultural traditions and strengthen bonds with their homeland.” The program wove together past and present through music, stirring feelings of nostalgia among overseas Chinese, he added.
Ding highlighted an original dramatic performance inspired by the wartime song “Flower Selling Ballad,” which circulated widely in Southeast Asia during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and symbolized overseas Chinese support for China during a time of national crisis. The performance, he said, invited audiences to reflect on that history and the patriotic sentiments embedded in the song.
Li Fen, chair of the New Zealand Huaxia Multicultural Arts Exchange Center and a performer of the closing song “It’s You Who Always Thinks of Me,” said the title conveyed deep affection, expressing the homeland’s concern for overseas Chinese and enabling audiences to find emotional resonance through familiar language and melody.
“Music transcends mountains and seas, connecting Chinese communities around the world,” Li said, adding that the sense of shared heritage and hope for reunion continues to spread across borders with the warmth of the Spring Festival.