Time for a Gala of, by and for the people
People say I am an elitist because I never watch the CCTV Spring Festival Gala - otherwise known as Chunwan. It has been broadcast for almost 30 years and has the highest viewer ratings, with an estimated 70 percent of Chinese families tuning in.
Chunwan is a modern Chinese tradition, or addiction, depending on your viewpoint. Nobody really watches the whole thing for 5 hours. People just turn the set on at 7 pm and do other things, like cooking, chatting, spitting sunflower seeds, whatever. It is the ubiquitous background noise to the Chinese New Year's Eve family celebration.
In case you have not seen it, Chunwan is Pompeian in style. It is similar, in fact, to a lot of Italian television, minus the boobs. Anyway, because it is the most-watched TV program in the universe, it has the ability to turn unknown entertainers into overnight megastars.
