Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Before the Chinese New Year, everyone around me vows they'll never watch the Spring Festival Gala television extravaganza anymore. Once the holiday is over, these people switch to complaining about how annoying and boring the gala is. Year by year, I witnessed them vow not to watch it, then watch it and complain. They hate it, but they cannot shake it.

Twenty years ago, there wasn't much to watch on TV. This gala was the major source of my family's joy during Spring Festival.

I cannot forget how I pushed Mum to prepare dumplings earlier so that she wouldn't be too busy to miss watching the gala together with us. I also remember when Dad and I sat in front of the TV set for an hour, anxiously waiting for well-known Chinese comedian Zhao Benshan, who has been the symbol of the gala in my heart for almost two decades.

At that time, the gala was also seen as spearheading fashion in dress and makeup, as well as popular songs. Dad, who loves singing, would record all the songs in the gala onto a videotape so that he could listen over and over again. My fashionable aunty would specially get a tailor to make stylish trousers imitating those worn by her favorite singer on the gala stage.

Things change. With the diversity of entertainment programs now available, the gala seems have lost its advantages. Using the Internet, you can find whatever program you like.

Spoiled by enormous choices, I unconsciously became a member of the anti-gala clique, not wanting to be seen as low-brow or outdated. But like these complainers, I still watch it, because I feel something is missing without the gala on the eve of Spring Festival.

It's cold outside, fireworks and firecrackers are ignited and their glow lightens the evening sky; it's warm indoors, the steaming dumplings are ready on the table and the reunited family members are sitting around. At that moment, what can make the happy ambiance in the house even better? The gala.

Grandparents are perplexed by some portions of the gala; parents think much of it is boring, and I usually complain it didn't invite a certain star. But my grandparents will stop using their chopsticks and pay attention when Peking opera comes on. Dad and Mum laugh happily the minute Zhao Benshan steps on the stage, and I cannot help following the stars by singing my favorite songs. Watching performers dressing up festively singing and dancing, I feel the dumplings taste better.

The gala is magic. It cannot 100 percent satisfy its audience, but anyone, old or young, can find a part they like from it. Sharing makes you happy, and the gala does create an opportunity for all generations of the whole family to share what they like.

Don't complain about the gala, unless you can find an alternative to replace it.

And don't treat the gala as only entertainment. Society is not short of entertainment at all. In my view, the gala has become part of the Spring Festival - a magic seasoning for the reunion dinner.

One day on the roadside if you hear a song that has been broadcast during the gala, your heart will be warmed, because it brings back the memory of your family on a winter night that is not cold at all.

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.