Chinese artists perform at the Spring Festival show in Vientiane. Provided to China Daily

Each television station in China broadcasts a Spring Festival gala in its own style and facilities, Li said. While the Yunnan station is not as high-tech as its big-city counterparts, "it is impressive if we work with foreign performers in the gala show and many Chinese viewers will be interested," Li says.

Millions of ethnic Chinese live in Southeast Asia—Thailand alone has a population of 10 million people with Chinese blood. In February 2013, Yunnan TV co-hosted a celebration for the Spring Festival in Bangkok with Thai Central Chinese Television to attract more than 2,000 officials and businessmen in Thailand.

In Laos, thousands of Chinese workers are completing foreign-aid projects sponsored by the Chinese government, such as employees of the Yunnan Construction Engineering Group Co Ltd. Meanwhile, Chinese teachers have been sent to teach Mandarin in Laos, where Chinese is getting more popular due to the increasing economic interaction between the two counties.

Yunnan TV spent 4 million yuan ($666,000) to co-host the event, while another 4 million yuan was provided by the State Council Information Office of China and the Yunnan provincial government.