Ablaze with lights and excitement, the 2025 Taicang Spring Festival Gala venue saw many fantastic performances taking audiences' breath away on Jan 19, extending a warm welcome to the forthcoming Year of the Snake.

Off the ground, the cross talk performance titled Miao Yu Lian Zhu (Witty Words) brought rounds of laughter to the audience, infusing the evening with humor and lightheartedness.

An erhu (a two-stringed Chinese fiddle) and flute duet is staged at the 2025 Taicang Spring Festival Gala. [Photo/WeChat account: tcfbgw]

Another gala highlight was the erhu and flute duet, which graced the stage with melodies composed by native composer Wu Limin. Zhou Zhou, an inheritor of Jiangnan Sizhu (a traditional stringed instrument from the south of the Yangtze River), collaborated with Nana, a Dutch student from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, to present this piece, adding a touch of tenderness to the evening with its melodious and graceful tunes.

An original dance show is performed at the 2025 Taicang Spring Festival Gala to commemorate Wu Xiaobang. [Photo/WeChat account: tcfbgw]

2024 marked the 118th birthday of local artist Wu Xiaobang, the father of modern Chinese dance. Therefore, an original dance piece in honor of this venerable maestro was performed on the gala stage, the exquisite choreography exhibiting Wu's artistic spirit of expressing aspirations and alerting the world through dance.

A children's choir is on show at the 2025 Taicang Spring Festival Gala. [Photo/WeChat account: tcfbgw]

Audiences were also treated to a multifaceted audiovisual feast that included various song and dance performances, a sketch, and a children's choir.

Since its debut in 2016, this was the eighth edition of the Taicang Spring Festival Gala, which not only presented spectacular cultural performances for the audience but also showcased Taicang's economic development and cultural achievements. This year, over 140,000 viewers tuned in via live streaming to experience the charm and vibrancy of Taicang.