China's annual Spring Festival Gala was held on January 4, 2019. The gala, also known as "Chunwan", has taken place every year since 1983, and is now a cultural symbol of the Spring Festival. (Photos: VCG)

The four hour gala included singing, dancing, crosstalk, sketches and a magic show, and is considered the world's most-watched television program.

“The Soul of Shaolin”, a martial arts show brought by Henan Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School, appeared later in the show.

Actors stand in a formation that creates the character “Shaolin”, along with other blessing characters.

Apart from the main venue in Beijing, this year's gala will be staged simultaneously in three other sub-venues located in Jinggangshan of Jiangxi Province, Changchun of Jilin Province, and Shenzhen of Guangdong Province. This photo shows the sub-venue in Jinggangshan.

This photo shows the sub-venue in Jinggangshan.

This gala provides a creative and excellent extravaganza for Chinese audiences both at home and abroad. (Compiled by Wang Zi, with input from CGTN)