2014春节联欢晚会第一次彩排

It’s less than two weeks until the Spring Festival and of course CCTV’s annual gala. Although the full official program for this year’s event hasn’t been revealed yet, the first rehearsals wrapped up on Saturday which gives us some hint as to what to expect.

A major highlight every year is the "language category", which includes crosstalk and comedy sketches. For Shu Huan, the man behind several hit sketches at previous Spring Festival Galas; it was local news that inspired his new creation. Taking news stories based on Beijing "clamping down on apartment group rentals", he approached the director of the gala with the idea of telling stories of tenants living in the capital.

"Originally I had several ideas for the theme of the sketches and the story about tenants in Beijing was one of them. As soon as I presented this idea to Director Feng, he said "this is it, let’s do that". Just like that it was settled." said Shu Huan, Scriptwriter.

And for the dance section, the director has chosen to go retro. Soon after he was appointed director of the 2014 Spring Festival Gala, Feng Xiaogang announced that China’s National Ballet would perform "The Red Detachment of Women" on the night.

The classic piece has been staged for over half a century, but this is the first time it will hit the biggest stage in China.

"I was really excited when I got the call from Director Feng. For the all-star line-up from the National Ballet of China to perform at the Spring Festival Gala, it’s huge. According to Feng, we will be featured in a section dedicated to the past, saluting the classics. " said Feng Ying, Director, National Ballet of China.

Wang Zhengliang performing his hit record "Where did the time go?" was also one of the first acts to be confirmed in the line-up. The stage designer of this year’s gala, Cheng Yan says the hard part is not just to decorate the stage but also be able to tell a story through the stage design. And for the Year of the Horse, Chen has chosen the Chinese knot to be the key element of his design.

"The whole stage will look like a giant Chinese knot and it will be three dimensional. It will be pure and simple." said Chen Yan, Chief Art Designer, 2014 Spring Festival Gala.

As to the hosts of the gala, actor Zhang Guoli will be joining last year’s four hosts. Exactly what kind of surprise the gala has in store for us, we’ll have to wait and find out on Chinese New Year’s eve.