Program for children stirs up nostalgia with adults

Usually, parents accompany their children to watch TV shows even if the content makes adults feel childish. But a recent TV program produced by China Media Group, the country's largest broadcaster, could perhaps entertain every member of a family.

Guo Nian La (The Spring Festival is Coming), a special program gathering the group's most famous hosts such as Ju Ping and Wang Jinjian of children's shows, features a bunch of games that once prevailed in the 1970s and 1980s, stirring up nostalgia with parents.

Consisting of a six-episode variety show, a gala and seven animated films, the program was broadcast on CCTV-14 between Feb 5 and 11. 

With the show's stage decorated like a hutong lined by courtyards, the distinctive Beijing housing, host Ju plays the role of a teacher to lead a class of "students" performed by other hosts to play old games.

Such games include "throw a handkerchief" (children squat down in a circle with one running around to randomly drop a handkerchief) and "punch a card" (whoever skillfully turns the card upside down wins).

Xu Beibei, the chief director, said the annual show, which was first launched eight years ago, has sought a breakthrough in the formats to bring to life some classic games that were once popular decades ago.

Host Wang Jinjian, better known as Golden Bean Brother, said these traditional games take a good use of discarded items in daily life such as ice cream sticks to make appealing toys.

"Most of the old games need teamwork and train physical strength as well as raise the children's ability to observe details. Most of them are heathier than today's digital games, beside such games could help parents to better accompany their children," said host Huo Xiaolei, better known as Caterpillar Brother.