Choice Moments from the Spring Festival Gala

Perhaps the most well-received act of this year's Spring Festival Gala on CCTV was the "Thousand-hand Guanyin", a spectacularly choreographed routine performed by deaf members of the China Disabled Arts Troupe. The dance itself has appeared in many variety shows, but this particular performance was extremely well done. Watch it at Sina (the links below the embedded video are left for low and right for high bandwidth versions), or check out the rehearsal video (same deal).

The reaction to the rest of the program was mixed. Will-he-or-won't-he-attend Olympic champion Liu Xiang sat in the front row and became the cameraman's favorite reaction shot. Zhao Benshan's highly-anticipated Kung Fu got knocked by the director for succumbing to sequelitis. And in a shocking development, several singers were alleged to have lip-synched their songs, breaking the director's promise to have everything done live. The general feeling is this was the best show of the past few years.

Sina also offers a massive archive of photos taken during the gala.

[Technical terms edited 05.02.17 for clarity. -jdm]