Marking the 120th anniversary of Yueju Opera this year, Zhejiang Satellite TV's Yue Opera Spring Festival Gala held its fourth edition, propelling the traditional art form — currently regarded as the second-largest opera genre in China — to new heights of popularity.
According to Zhejiang Satellite TV, the live broadcasts of all four editions were watched by 19.44 million viewers, with a total viewing time of 9.27 million hours, while related topics achieved a total online reach of over 6.8 billion.
In an attempt to attract a younger audience, the gala also featured new elements, ranging from a virtual reality-generated anchor to the infusion of artificial intelligence and gaming content into the traditional performances.
This year, the gala brought together more than 30 troupes from across China, and attracted fans of traditional opera from 15 countries and regions to be part of the program.
Han Xiaopeng, deputy director of the National Radio and Television Administration's information network center, emphasized the program's attempts to continually innovate, evidenced by incorporating the pipa (short-necked Chinese lute) and guitar in 2023, using jazz in 2025, and introducing more digital elements this year.
The efforts paid off: the number of viewers and the length of time they spent watching this year's gala both increased by 43.2 percent compared to 2023, indicating that innovation is the key driving force for communicating the power of a work, added Han.
Pan Chaoying, mayor of Shengzhou in Zhejiang province, said the city, which is the birthplace of Yueju Opera, has renovated multiple former residences of renowned Yueju Opera artists such as Yuan Xuefen, and has preserved more than 200 historical opera stages. The city's Yueju Opera art schools have also trained nearly 10,000 professionals in over 100 troupes who travel across China to perform over 30,000 shows annually. Therefore, a solid foundation has been laid for the Yueju Opera Spring Festival Gala, propelling the century-old art to a wider and younger audience.
