A stage photo of the dance show titled Crested Ibis during CCTV's 2021 Spring Festival Gala. (Photo: chinadaily.com.cn)

A total of 1.14 billion people watched CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, which broadcast at 8 pm, Feb 11, via television, the internet and other outlets during the live broadcast.

As the most-watched television program in the country, the gala was also livestreamed in over 170 countries and regions, such as the United States, France, Germany and South Africa. Over 18.7 million people from overseas watched the gala online.

Besides a diversity of programs, such as singing, dancing, acrobatics and traditional Chinese operas, the gala also focused on critical moments which received worldwide attention during the year of 2020, such as the landmark Chang'e 5 lunar sample-return mission and the country fulfilling its commitment to poverty alleviation under the current standards by 2020.

A stage photo of the program titled Balcony during CCTV's 2021 Spring Festival Gala. (Photo: chinadaily.com.cn]

One of the programs, titled Balcony, which featured Chinese actors including Tong Dawei, Qin Hao and Huang Xiaojuan, portrayed the lives of local people of Wuhan, who were quarantined at home during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the people who fought against the pandemic. It also reviewed the moments when the lockdown in Wuhan was lifted in April 2020, which touched many audiences.

"A year ago, Wuhan was at the center of the attention of the whole world and now it returns to normal. Behind this success were the heroic and tireless efforts of hundreds of thousands of people in Wuhan who were engaged in epidemic prevention and control, along with support from the whole country," wrote a fan on the social media platform Sina Weibo after watching the program.

Besides, many classic songs were re-staged during the gala featuring veteran artists and young music and movie stars, appealing to audiences of different generations.