A variety show that brings cultural relics back to life

Why did the show go viral?

However the show is not going viral by accident. Every detail of the show was elaborately designed and repeatedly amended and refined, according to Yu Lei, chief director of the show.

Many people took to China’s Twitter-like social media Sina Weibo to express their fondness for the show. “The lighting, music and the stage arrangement really gave me a surprise,” exclaimed the social media users.

Breaking the dreary stage arrangement of the usual cultural programs, the stage of the “National Treasure” has adopted an IMAX-sized LED screen and holograms, which presents almost the best effects of all Chinese variety shows. Its adoption of the language and catchwords of the young generation also helps the show garner more fans.

“By telling stories and involving dramas and celebrities, the show has successfully transformed the abstract culture into figurative expressions. It was a real creative program of Chinese characteristics,” said Yin Hongru, professor of School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University.

Chief director Yu Lei wrote in her notebook that she was deeply touched by the online comments and compliments, describing the show’s debut as “the wedding night with her own ideal after a long and heartbroken love."

“National Treasure” is not the first original cultural program produced by CCTV. Earlier this year, two other variety shows featured ancient poems and book-reading “The Chinese Poetry Competition” and “Reader” have also led the trends during broadcast.

The popularity of the cultural program is only the tip of the iceberg for the Chinese people’s growing demands for high-quality cultural productions. Culture-related topics, from exhibitions to variety shows, have become frequenters of trending search lists on China’s social media.

For media and cultural spreaders, new challenges were also posed – how to cater to the tastes and interests of the audience while at the same time meeting their expectations?

Yu Lei has her own answer for the question.

“The social value of the show is more important than anything else,” she said. “Our original purpose is just to bring life to the relics and encourage more people to go to the museums and take a look at the country’s most precious and shining treasures.”