A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

机器人与AI技术占领春晚舞台
Unitree Robots and ByteDance AI Take Over China's 2026 Spring Festival Gala
About this story
Unitree Robotics' humanoids and ByteDance's AI tools dominate CCTV's 2026 Spring Festival Gala stage with dance and tech. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 3-4 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 16 key vocabulary words such as 动作、吃惊、精彩 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.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Speaking of the most special performance at this year's Spring Festival Gala, that would definitely be those robots.
In the past, the movements of the robots we saw on TV were often quite simple.
But this year is different; many human-like robots appeared on stage.
Not only were there many of them, but their movements were also very complex, making people feel very surprised.
A total of four Chinese robot companies participated in the performance at this Spring Festival Gala.
You could see more than ten robots dancing together with human actors on stage.
Some of them were holding nunchucks in their hands, moving very fast and looking very cool.
Some robots even performed the traditional Chinese "Drunken Fist," looking as if they were drunk.
However, their body control was excellent, and they wouldn't fall down at all.
Besides doing kung fu, these robots can also perform many high-difficulty movements.
For example, they can do somersaults or cartwheels on stage.
These movements are very difficult even for ordinary people.
But when these robots do them, they appear very relaxed and natural.
There is a company called Unitree Robotics whose performance was particularly wonderful.
Their robots can change formation while running.
This means that engineers can control many robots simultaneously.
This is a huge progress technically, and also the first performance of its kind in the world.
Another company demonstrated the robots' ability in caring for the elderly.
In a skit about elderly care, four robots played the role of home assistants.
They could not only help the elderly get things but also chat with them and even dance for them.
This made many viewers start imagining what future life will look like.
Perhaps in the future, we really will have such robots in our homes to take care of us.
Besides the performances on stage, there was also a short video showing robots working in the kitchen.
They could use two hands to fold clothes, organize things, and even cook.
All these show that robot technology is becoming increasingly mature.
This is also the reason why there were so many robot programs in this year's Spring Festival Gala.
For these robot companies, the Spring Festival Gala is a very good advertising opportunity.
It is said that in order to get on this stage, these companies spent a lot of money and time.
Because the Spring Festival Gala is the most-watched TV program in China.
Since 1983, watching the Spring Festival Gala has become a habit for Chinese people during the New Year.
According to the latest data, close to 700 million people were watching the Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve this year.
Moreover, there were 10% more young people watching the Spring Festival Gala this year compared to last year.
This shows that the Spring Festival Gala is working hard to attract young viewers.
To attract young people, the Spring Festival Gala added a lot of content that young people like.
For example, there was a comedy sketch telling the story of a boss of a big company and a cleaner.
This kind of story is very popular in current short videos, and young people like watching it very much.
Besides robots, this year's Spring Festival Gala also used a lot of other high technology.
If you look carefully, you will discover a lot of content regarding "Artificial Intelligence."
Which is what everyone commonly calls AI technology.
For instance, the "Doubao" robot from ByteDance is very smart.
Not only can it chat with the host between programs, but it can also dub the voices for robots in skits.
Additionally, many beautiful images in the stage background were also created by AI.
In the background of one song, there were many ink-wash painting style horses.
These horses looked just like real ones, running out of the painting.
This was actually produced by a video model called Seedance 2.0.
This is the first time this model has demonstrated its capabilities on such a big stage.
Of course, regarding so much AI technology, viewers' opinions also vary.
Some people feel it is very fresh, has a strong sense of technology, and the visuals are beautiful.
But there are also people joking online that there is too much AI in the Spring Festival Gala.
A very popular joke is: "The AI content in the Spring Festival Gala is even higher than in my graduation thesis."
Although everyone has different opinions, AI technology has indeed changed the way the Spring Festival Gala is produced.
Even CCTV itself used its own AI model to make videos for the first time.
This not only improved the efficiency of program production but also brought many new creative ideas.
Besides technology, this year's Spring Festival Gala also had many international stars, just like before.
For example, American singer John Legend and Ireland's Westlife.
They sang some very famous old songs, reminding many viewers of the past.
This arrangement was made so that people from different countries could all enjoy this festival.
On the stage, foreign art and Chinese traditional art were combined together.
For instance, Spanish dance was performed together with dance from Chinese ethnic minorities.
There were also acrobats from China and Austria collaborating, and the performance was wonderful.
Although they are in different places, music connected everyone together.
In general, this year's Spring Festival Gala was an evening party combining technology and art.
It allowed us to see the latest situation of China's technological development.
Especially robot and artificial intelligence technology, which has become very impressive.
Although these robots are currently mainly performing on stage.
But we can see that they are getting closer and closer to our daily lives.
Perhaps in the near future, these robots will really walk into our homes.
They might help us do housework, take care of the elderly, or play with children.
This is the hope and imagination that technological progress brings us.
If you are interested in these robots, you can go online to find videos to watch.
You will find that current technology is really much more advanced than we imagine.
Moreover, the speed of development of this technology is very fast.
Maybe at next year's Spring Festival Gala, we will see even more impressive robot performances.
This concludes the introduction to the robots and AI technology in this year's Spring Festival Gala.
The topic we are going to discuss next is about traditional Spring Festival food.
After all, for Chinese people, the most important thing during the New Year is still eating delicious food.
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Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Refers to physical movements or motions. Common noun.
A verb/adjective used when something unexpected happens. Often used as '让人感到吃惊' (makes people feel surprised).
Often used to describe performances, games, or speeches.
Used to emphasize an extreme case or example.
To draw interest or attention.
Describes something widely accepted or liked by people.
Commercial promotion.
Conjunction introducing a concessive clause.
Literally 'machine person'. Specific noun for the topic.
A traditional martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks connected by a chain.
A specific physical action often seen in acrobatics or gymnastics.
The arrangement of a group of people or things (like robots or soldiers).
Refers to taking care of old people.
Technical term.
A traditional Chinese style of painting using black ink and water.
A person employed to clean a building.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Not only... but also... . This pattern is used to connect two clauses, where the second clause adds to or reinforces the first.
它们不但数量多,而且动作非常复杂。
它不但可以在节目中间和主持人聊天,还能给小品里的机器人配音。
To look like... / To be the same as... . Used to make comparisons.
舞台上出现了很多像人一样的机器人。
看起来像喝醉了一样。
这些马看起来就像真的一样。
Even if... still... . Indicates that the result or conclusion remains the same despite a hypothetical or extreme condition.
这些动作即使是对于普通人来说,也是非常困难的。
Besides... also... . Used to indicate an addition to what has been mentioned.
除了打功夫,这些机器人还会做很多高难度的动作。
除了机器人,今年春晚还用了很多其他的高科技。
Subject + 把 + Object + Verb + Result. Used when the subject takes an action that changes the state or position of a specific object.
但是音乐把大家联系在了一起。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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