CCTV9英语新闻：道具团队加入中央电视台春节联欢晚会（在线收听）

In the lead up to the big night of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, organizers have been busying to get things ready. We followed one of the directors during the penultimate rehearsal, to see how the stage props and costumes are coming along for the hundreds of performers.

Looking worthy of any feast. But these dumplings are not for eating. They are part of the stage props.

Wang Jing is leading the stage props team of the Spring Festival Gala for a third year.

The team prepares items for cross-talks, sketches and dances, almost everything needed on stage.

"This car is for Pan Changjiang and Cai Ming's sketch. Most of their performance will be in it. It looks like a real hand-me-down, but it took us more than a month to make. It's all wooden, but it has all the necessary functions. Including a special one, that I'm going to leave as a surprise for when you watch the show," Wang said.

But not all props are tailor made like this car. Most of them are recycled from previous shows and galas. The value of frugality goes for costumes too.

This year, only 100 sets were newly made, for performers representing the 56 ethnic groups of China.

The stage props team has taken two months to prepare nearly 900 sets of costumes. Mostly reused, some new, but they will all look fabulous when the actors appear wearing them on the gala stage.

The props team are always on hand to do some tailoring. But finding that perfect outfit can take time and effort.

"This jacket is for Pan Changjiang. We had to go to film producers to look for it. It's a real 1960s jacket. And, to be frank, it was hard to find one that suits Pan's figure really well. It really took us a long time," said Lin Fengguang, costume organizer of CCTV Spring Festival Gala.

But to the surprise of Lin, it's effort that may have been in vain.

"The director said this jacket looks too old, so I'll try this newer jacket for this rehearsal. And the old car? It needs to be made newer too. We'll have to see," said Pan Changjiang, a sketch comedian.

The gala goes through a series of rehearsals before airing on the Lunar New Year's Eve. At each one, performances are polished, and programs could face the chop. The audience will only know how it looks on the night, building up the expectations to the big show.