Technology 'lights up' the new trend of the Spring Festival

Original Title: Technology ‘Ignites’ New Trend of the Spring Festival

At the first AI-themed technology temple fair in Beijing, humanoid robots perform ‘Peking Opera’ and ‘face-changing,’ attracting a large number of visitors to stop and watch; at the New Year Lantern Festival in Jimo Ancient City, Qingdao, Shandong Province, a blend of technology and fantasy creates a series of marvelous scenes; above Sanyang Square on Hankou River Beach in Hubei Province, 1000 drones ‘change steps’ to present fancy New Year blessings to the citizens…

As the first Spring Festival after the successful application for the World Heritage status, the 2025 Spring Festival can be said to be full of technological flavor, known as the “Cyber Spring Festival” by netizens. From the well-received 2025 Spring Festival Gala to various local traditional customs activities during the Spring Festival, from the online “AI Chinese New Year” series of cultural activities to offline immersive intangible cultural heritage experiences, all are filled with a strong New Year atmosphere and a lot of technological style.

“This Spring Festival, cutting-edge technologies such as VR/AR, holographic projection, artificial intelligence, and big data collided with traditional customs, giving rise to new Spring Festival trends such as AI New Year greetings, intelligent temple fairs, and mech lion dances. This not only reshapes the sense of ceremony for the Spring Festival, but also showcases the romance and charm of the ‘Chinese New Year’ to the world,” said Lin Jifu, professor at Minzu University of China and vice chairman of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association, in an interview with Science and Technology Daily.

Visual spectacle intangible cultural heritage performance rejuvenated

“With a history of more than 700 years, with the continuous innovation of production technology, the dragon lantern is becoming more and more delicate and lightweight, and the dragon lantern performance is also unique.” During the Spring Festival, the reporter saw in the Chengnan Dragon Lantern Base in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, that the “science and technology version” of the Chengnan Dragon Lantern made by Shi Kebin, a representative inheritor of Jiangxi Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage, exuded a full scientific and technological flavor in the smoke and fireworks.

In order to make the Longteng performance in the southern city more in line with modern aesthetic needs, Shi Kebin led the team to innovate the production form, using engineering plastics instead of traditional bamboo and wood materials to build the framework, replacing traditional candles with LED lights, and using electronic ignition cold sparklers to allow the Longteng, which does not light candles, to “breathe fire”, while also promoting the export of Longteng to the United States, France and other places, achieving the Longteng performance in the southern city to “travel around the world”.

In Zoucheng City, Shandong Province, there is a centuries-old intangible cultural heritage - the Huohu Performance, which welcomes the first Spring Festival after the successful application with a new look. Zhou Changlai, the representative inheritor of the Huohu intangible cultural heritage, has improved the traditional performance props materials to flame-retardant carbon fiber materials, replaced gunpowder with cold light fireworks, and coordinated with drone light shows, presenting a visual feast of the Huohu performance that combines old and new for the citizens.

Among the many performances at the Spring Festival Gala in 2025, “YANG BOT” is undoubtedly one of the most eye-catching programs. 16 humanoid robots H1 equipped with advanced AI algorithms and other technologies, dressed in big flower cotton-padded jackets, follow the rhythm of yangko music, smoothly change dance steps, complete a series of high-difficulty movements such as twisting waist, kicking legs, and flipping handkerchiefs without any mistakes, and can even easily perform reverse hand flicks that are difficult for humans to achieve, sparking discussions among audiences at home and abroad.

With technological support, common performances have taken on new forms, and some lesser-known intangible cultural heritage items can also integrate technological elements and re-enter the public eye, rejuvenating themselves. H1, the first humanoid robot in the world capable of completing somersaults in place, will continue to explore integration with more action-based intangible cultural heritage performances in the future, creating new visual spectacles.

Associate Professor Li Ruiyuan from the School of Computer Science, Chongqing University, introduced to the reporter that the perfect integration of VR and other technologies that were previously mainly used in the industrial and gaming fields with intangible cultural heritage and folk customs is a continuous down-to-earth application of technology, which helps the public deepen their understanding and recognition. “The ‘bi-directional rush’ of technology and the successful application for intangible cultural heritage have opened the most technological New Year flavor tour.”

The fusion of virtual and reality experience across ancient and modern times

“Smart electronic navigation allows me to quickly browse the scenery on both sides while sitting on the cruise ship; holographic imaging allows me to cross back to the scene of Bao Zheng’s case a thousand years ago with my naked eyes.” During the Spring Festival, Mr. Sun, a tourist from Tianjin, came to the Kaifeng Prefecture scenic area in Henan Province and immersed himself in the first holographic detective drama “The Zhakou Panche Case” in Kaifeng. He told reporters that the immersive stage interprets thrilling mysteries in an interactive manner, with real actors and digital actors fighting with swords, and tourists solving mysteries with “Judge Bao” together, “full of a sense of the future and science fiction color.”

The performance of the ‘Gate Plate Car Case’ relies on cutting-edge technologies such as holographic three-dimensional imaging, naked-eye 3D visual effects, and virtual reality interaction, creating a comprehensive, deeply immersive, and super-sensory trendy experience, allowing visitors to feel the charm of Song culture in the instantaneous leap between ancient and modern times.

“Technology empowerment has brought new vitality to the ancient capital culture and tourism.” Xiao Wenxing, Deputy Mayor of Kaifeng City, said that in recent years, Kaifeng has continuously innovated new models of digital intelligent services, unlocked more forms of development combining ‘technology + culture and tourism,’ continuously created immersive cultural and tourism new scenes, and effectively transformed ‘traffic’ into ‘retention.’

In the digital cultural and tourism industry park of the Metaverse in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the VR grand space exploration exhibition of “Ancient Shu” allows visitors to instantly travel through time and space back to the ancient Shu period, experiencing the sounds of vendors in the streets and interacting with the ancient Shu ancestors; at the immersive theme exhibition “Dream of the Red Chamber” in Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, visitors quickly “get into the play and dreams”, where they can recite poetry with “Cao Xueqin” under the moon, and also pass messages with “Jia Baoyu” with flying flowers.

Lin Jifu believes that during the Spring Festival, the application development of VR/AR technology and holographic projection technology has reached new heights, not only breaking the temporal and spatial limitations of cultural presentation, allowing experiencers to immerse themselves in the charm of traditional culture in the ‘native’ environment, but also gradually establishing cultural identity in the digital space, sparking new forms of cultural experience in drawing on the past and nourishing the present.

Dual-wheel drive makes the cyber Spring Festival more flavorful

During the Spring Festival, the New Year’s Science and Technology Temple Fair in Haidian District, Beijing, has become one of the most popular internet celebrity check-in spots. Android robots transform into the God of Wealth to deliver blessings of “prosperity and good luck”, robot bands play the music “Dance of the Golden Snake”, AI robots make sugar figures and desserts for visitors… Over 70 AI application scenarios have been implemented, and many visitors exclaim, “the future has arrived” and “the cyber Spring Festival is so exciting”.

At the same time, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum in Linyi City, Shandong Province, was also bustling. From the first day of the first lunar month, visitors kept coming, with more than 70 performances of dramas, traditional Chinese storytelling, martial arts, etc., almost always full house. The most popular ‘Gate Piercing Paper-Cutting’ had its raw materials replenished four times in a row.

“Our ‘traffic password’ is the reconstruction of scenes, the empowerment of technology, and the connection of emotions, allowing culture to ‘speak out’ and traditional craftsmanship to become the memory of the Spring Festival again.” Su Ren, member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Linyi City Construction Group, said that now, the ‘hand in hand’ of technology and intangible cultural heritage has surpassed the level of tools and has become the underlying logic of reshaping cultural inheritance, awakening the excellent traditional cultural genes that have been precipitated so far.

Li Ruiyuan stated that this year, many places have launched a “cyber-style” Spring Festival custom activities, the fusion of technology and culture has provided the public with a rich New Year atmosphere and firsthand experience of the latest scientific and technological developments. In the future, the dual drive of cultural inheritance and technological empowerment will be stronger, the deep integration of technology and culture will be more extensive, and cross-border cooperation among technology-based enterprises, social organizations, and inheritors of intangible cultural heritage will also become a new trend of development.

“However, it should be recognized that while technology empowers cultural inheritance, cultural inheritance also activates the civilization attributes of technology in reverse.” Lin Jifu believes that from the assistance of quadruped robots in human performances to humanoid robots becoming the main characters in performances this year, the real needs of cultural presentation have effectively accelerated the relevant technological research and development process, promoted the precise landing of technological applications, effectively prevented cultural hollowing caused by technological alienation, and continued to promote a stronger taste of ‘Cyber Spring Festival’.

(Source: Science and Technology Daily)

Source: East Money

Author: Science and Technology Daily