Show must go on as Children's Day gala adapts to pandemic

In addition to warm greetings from the role models, the show will also have narrated stories, varying from real-life tales about people's fight against COVID-19 to fairy tales selected from Chinese children's text books.

For instance, actress Han Xue will retell the story of The Snow Child, a renowned fairy tale wrote by novelist Ji Hong, which fictionalizes that a snow boy sacrifices his life to rescue his friend, a little rabbit, from a house that has caught on fire.

The program will use virtual-reality technology to build a world of ice and snow that is also expected to create a sense of nostalgia in parents, too, as it evokes memories of its classic 1980 animated adaptation.

"The visual tone is set in pink and blue, which will not make children feel sad but help them see a glimmer of hope," says Xu, adding that she hopes the story is reminiscent of those COVID-19 fighters who risked their lives for the sake of others' safety.

My Father and Mother, a picture-book anthology specially created for the gala, has invited eight children to respectively narrate one story each about their parents, who became superheroes to them for their devotion in the battle against COVID-19.