Fluentide

A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

Robots and AI Perform at China's Spring Festival Gala 2026 — episode cover art
6:37

Robots and AI Perform at China's Spring Festival Gala 2026

About this story

Humanoid robots and AI dance, sing, and surprise the audience at China's 2026 Spring Festival Gala on CCTV. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.

This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 7 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 15 key vocabulary words such as 节日、节目、聪明 and walks through 5 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.

Read at your level

原文

Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.

今年春节电视出现很多非常有意思东西其中特别就是机器
每年这个时候中国新年
中国新年一个非常重要节日
大家不到公司工作
大家也不学校学习
每个人回到自己
大家爸爸妈妈哥哥姐姐在一起
大家在一起好吃饭菜
吃完以后大家什么
中国很多坐在椅子一起电视
这个电视节目非常非常
它的名字春节联欢晚会我们也可以
这个节目唱歌也有跳舞
但是今年大家看到很多新的东西
就是机器
这些机器我们以前看到玩具一样
它们做得非常
它们看起来很像
它们身体也有
它们站在舞台真的一起表演
你们知道它们在做什么
它们在做中国功夫
功夫中国一种运动也是一种文化
功夫
需要身体非常
但是这些机器做得非常
机器手里棍子
它们棍子玩得很快
时候可能担心棍子打到
但是机器非常聪明它们不会
还有一种表演有意思
就是
什么
意思就是喝了很多
喝了很多以后走路
身体左边右边
看起来好像摔倒
但是一种特别功夫
虽然看起来像是喝醉但是其实清醒
机器也在这个动作
它们舞台身体摇晃
就像喝了一样
大家看到机器这样觉得很奇怪觉得很好玩
大家都在都很高兴
除了功夫机器跳舞
它们可以跳得很高
它们可以向后
对于机器来说非常事情
如果它的身体不好
但是这些机器没有
它们舞台跑去
它们知道自己哪里
它们知道别的机器哪里
它们不会撞到别人
说明机器人的公司非常厉害
这些公司都是中国公司
他们大家看看现在技术
除了跳舞功夫机器演戏
演戏就是故事
一个故事关于家里事情
故事老人
老人身体不太好
机器就去帮助老人
这个故事机器我们朋友
可以老人
可以老人
可以老人走路
可以老人说话
大家觉得很温暖
大家觉得也许以后我们家里也会有这样机器
如果爸爸妈妈老了机器可以照顾他们
一件很好事情
除了机器这个电视节目还有很多电脑做的事情
现在电脑非常聪明
我们AI
这个节目很多漂亮不是
电脑
电脑非常
很多很多
这些舞台后面
看起来非常漂亮
电脑可以说话
电视主持人说话
它的声音很好
听不出来它是电脑
可能觉得它是一个真的
就是科技进步
因为有了这些新的技术今年电视节目变得更好看了
很多年轻喜欢
以前年轻可能觉得这个节目没意思
但是现在因为有了机器电脑年轻觉得很
年轻喜欢新的东西
他们喜欢高科技东西
所以今年电视非常
除了中国机器还有外国朋友
很多外国唱歌
他们来自不同国家
他们舞台唱歌
他们大家喜欢
英文
中文
大家都很高兴
说明这个节日大家节日
不只是中国人节日也是全世界朋友节日
大家在一起机器快乐新年
刚才我们说的这些其实是关于最近一个新闻
新闻今年中国春节晚会很多机器公司参加表演
共有四家机器公司
它们机器做了很多动作
比如功夫还有我们前面说的
很多开始讨论中国科技
大家看到科技文化结合
就是今年春节特别地方
English transcript reference

Speaking of this year's Spring Festival, many very interesting things appeared on TV, among which the most special were robots.

This time of every year is Chinese New Year.

In China, New Year is a very important festival.

Everyone stops going to the company to work.

Everyone also stops going to school to study.

Everyone returns to their own home.

Everyone is together with their father, mother, older brothers, and older sisters.

Everyone eats delicious meals together.

After finishing the meal, what will everyone do?

In China, many people will sit on chairs and watch TV together.

This TV program is very big and also very long.

Its name is "Spring Festival Gala," and we can also call it "Chunwan."

In this program, there is singing and also dancing.

But this year, everyone saw many new things.

That is robots.

These robots are different from the toys we saw before.

They are made very large.

They look very much like humans.

They have heads, bodies, hands, and also feet.

They stand on the stage and perform together with real people.

Do you know what they are doing?

They are doing Chinese Kung Fu.

Kung Fu is a type of Chinese sport and also a type of culture.

Doing Kung Fu is very hard.

It requires the body to be very fit.

But these robots do it very well.

Some robots are holding sticks in their hands.

They play with the sticks very fast.

When you watch, you might worry about the stick hitting someone.

But robots are very smart; they will not make a mistake hitting.

There is another kind of performance that is more interesting.

That is "Drunken Fist."

What is "Drunken Fist"?

The meaning of "Zui" is having drunk a lot of alcohol.

After a person drinks a lot of alcohol, walking becomes unsteady.

The body will fall to the left and also fall to the right.

It looks like they are about to fall down.

But this is a special kind of Kung Fu.

Although it looks like being drunk, actually they are very sober.

Robots are also learning this movement.

They are on the stage, their bodies swaying back and forth.

Just like they have drunk alcohol.

When everyone sees the robots moving like this, they all feel it is strange and also feel it is very fun.

Everyone is laughing and is also very happy.

Besides doing Kung Fu, robots can also dance.

They can jump very high.

They can also jump backward.

For robots, this is a very difficult thing.

If its body is not good, it will fall and break.

But these robots did not fall and break.

They run back and forth on the stage.

They know where they are.

They also know where other robots are.

They will not bump into others.

This shows that the companies making the robots are very formidable.

These companies are all Chinese companies.

They want to let everyone see how good current technology is.

Besides dancing and Kung Fu, robots can also act.

Acting is telling a story.

There is a story about family matters.

There are elderly people in the story.

The elderly person's health is not very good.

The robot then goes to help the elderly person.

In this story, the robot is our friend.

It can help the elderly person get water.

It can help the elderly person get medicine.

It can support the elderly person to walk.

It can also talk with the elderly person.

This makes everyone feel very warm.

Everyone feels that perhaps in the future, our homes will also have such robots.

If mom and dad get old, robots can take care of them.

This is a very good thing.

Besides robots, there are many things done by computers in this TV program.

Current computers are very smart.

We call it "AI".

In this program, many beautiful paintings were not painted by humans.

They were painted by computers.

Computers paint very fast.

It painted many flowers, and also painted many mountains and water.

These paintings are behind the stage.

They look very beautiful.

Computers can also speak.

It talks with the host on TV.

Its voice sounds very pleasant.

You cannot tell it is a computer.

You might think it is a real person.

This is the progress of technology.

Because of these new technologies, this year's TV program became better to watch.

Many young people also like to watch it.

Before, young people might have felt this program was uninteresting.

But now, because of robots and computers, young people think it is very cool.

Young people like new things.

They like to watch high-tech things.

So, there were very many people watching TV this year.

Besides Chinese robots, there were also foreign friends.

Many foreign singers came.

They come from different countries.

They sang on the stage.

They sang songs that everyone likes.

Some songs were English.

Some songs were Chinese.

Everyone was very happy hearing them.

This shows that this festival is everyone's festival.

It is not only a festival for Chinese people but also a festival for friends all over the world.

Everyone is together, watching robots, listening to songs, and celebrating a happy New Year.

What we just talked about is actually regarding a recent news item.

The news said that at this year's Chinese Spring Festival Gala, many robot companies participated in the performance.

There were a total of four big robot companies.

Their robots performed many difficult movements.

For example, holding nunchucks to do Kung Fu, and also the Drunken Fist we mentioned earlier.

This made many people start discussing China's technology.

Everyone saw the combination of technology and culture.

This is the most special place of this year's Spring Festival.

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.

What vocabulary does this episode teach?

词汇
jiérìfestival / holiday

A general term for holidays or festivals. Used here to describe New Year.

jiémùprogram / show

Refers to a TV program or a specific performance segment.

cōngmingsmart / clever

Adjective describing intelligence; used here for both robots and computers.

dānxīnto worry

Verb or adjective meaning to be anxious about something.

zhàogùto take care of

Verb meaning to look after someone, such as elderly parents.

qíguàistrange / odd

Adjective describing something unusual or surprising.

shēngyīnvoice / sound

Noun referring to audio or human voice.

yǒu yìsiinteresting

HSK 1-2. interesting.

jīqìrénrobot

Compound word: 机器 (machine) + 人 (person). The main topic of the script.

wǔtáistage

The platform where performances take place.

gōngfuKung Fu / martial arts

Chinese martial arts; also implies skill or effort.

zuìquánDrunken Fist

A specific style of martial arts that mimics the movements of a drunk person.

shuāidǎoto fall down

Verb compound: 摔 (to fall/cast) + 倒 (to topple).

yǎnxìto act / to perform

Verb-object compound meaning to perform in a play or movie.

kējìtechnology

Short for 科学技术 (science and technology).

* beyond level超纲词

What grammar patterns appear in this episode?

语法

除了 ... (以外),还/也 ...

A structure meaning 'Besides... also...'. It introduces an additional item or action.

除了做功夫,机器人还会跳舞。

除了机器人,这个电视节目里还有很多电脑做的事情。

除了中国的机器人,还有外国的朋友。

Verb + 得 + Complement of Degree

Used to describe how an action is performed. The adjective after '得' comments on the verb.

它们做得非常大。

它们把棍子玩得很快。

它们可以跳得很高。

Verb + 来 + Verb + 去

Indicates a repetitive action back and forth.

它们在舞台上跑来跑去。

虽然 ... 但是 ...

A conjunction pair meaning 'Although... but...'.

虽然看起来像是喝醉了,但是其实很清醒。

把 + Object + Verb + Complement

The 'Ba' sentence structure, used to emphasize the manipulation of an object.

它们把棍子玩得很快。

Proper Nouns

专有名词
中国ZhōngguóChina春节ChūnjiéSpring Festival / Chinese New Year春节联欢晚会Chūnjié Liánhuān WǎnhuìSpring Festival Gala春晚ChūnwǎnChunwan (Abbreviation for Spring Festival Gala)AIAIArtificial Intelligence

Sources

来源

Free account

Keep learning from this story

Create a free account to keep saved words and your preferred level together.

  • Keep words with their story context
  • Remember your preferred level
  • Build your vocabulary over time

Continue with Fluentide