In an unprecedented celestial celebration, China's Shenzhou-21 crew marked the 2026 Lunar New Year by hosting a unique Spring Festival Gala aboard the Tiangong space station. The event, broadcast live to Earth on February 16, featured crew members sharing traditional greetings while floating in microgravity against a backdrop of Earth's curvature visible through station windows.
The astronauts demonstrated cultural traditions adapted for space conditions, including calligraphy with water-based ink and a zero-gravity tea ceremony. The program concluded with a collaborative musical performance using compact instruments specially designed for space travel.
This milestone event highlights China's growing capabilities in long-duration space missions while maintaining cultural continuity. The Chinese National Space Administration emphasized the achievement reflects technological progress in supporting crew wellbeing during extended orbital stays.
Residents of Taiwan and Hong Kong joined mainland viewers in watching the broadcast, with social media platforms showing widespread engagement across Asia. The celebration comes as international collaboration in space exploration increases, with China's space station recently completing its first joint experiments with ASEAN member states.
