The city of Jiuquan in Gansu province welcomed 2025 with a grand cultural gala at the Jinta Grand Theater, highlighting the region's most memorable moments from the past year.

'Poetry and Landscapes: Jiuquan's Beautiful Moments' gala show at Jinta Grand Theater [Photo provided to gogansu.com]

The year 2024 marked several milestone achievements for Jiuquan. The city witnessed the 19th Shenzhou spacecraft launch from its renowned Satellite Launch Center, further cementing its role in China's space program. In a significant diplomatic event, ambassadors from 22 countries gathered in Dunhuang to experience the achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative. The city also established sister-city relationships with Huangshan (Anhui province) and Quanzhou (Fujian province), expanding its domestic partnerships.

Cultural highlights included hosting the prestigious Chinese Poetry Conference and organizing the spectacular Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Lake Concert, which attracted thousands of visitors. The city demonstrated its humanitarian spirit by providing assistance to travelers bound for Xinjiang, while also successfully hosting major sporting events, including the popular "Village Basketball Association" tournaments. The 70th anniversary celebration of the Aksay Kazak autonomous county added to the year's significant moments.

A scene from the Gala [Photo provided to gogansu.com]

The New Year gala transformed these achievements into an artistic spectacle through a combination of dance, music, theatrical performances and multimedia presentations. Using advanced stage technologies, including holographic projections and gauze screens, the show presented ten "most beautiful moments" themed around happiness, poetry, vitality, dreams, unity, partnership, perseverance, cultural heritage, warmth and passion. Each segment artistically portrayed Jiuquan's socio-economic development and cultural vibrancy throughout 2024.

The performance successfully captured the essence of Jiuquan's progress in China's modernization journey, presenting a harmonious blend of technological advancement, cultural preservation and community development that characterized the city's achievements in 2024.