Shen Chen, deputy chief director of the gala, said the performance used nearly 8,000 performers and some choruses of around 8,000 students from over 20 universities.

"The show has been prepared and rehearsed for two years, with the script revised over 100 times due to changes of ideas and locations," Shen said.

Once the location of the performance was set, in July last year, the creative team behind it decided to make it an epic gala. They then gathered all the performers in Beijing for two months of rehearsals in the stadium from late April.

One highlight of the program mentioned by Shen was the chorus- and-dance Zhan Qi Mei Ru Hua－The War Flag as Beautiful as a Painting－a performance about the Chinese People's Volunteers entering the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to help in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53).

With around 1,000 performers dressed in military uniforms bringing fierce conflicts to life, one innovative feature of the performance saw a 30-meter-wide, 90-meter-long screen slowly lifted from the ground, with an actor playing a renowned war hero sitting on top of it.

Shen said the performance was a tribute to the many unnamed martyrs who sacrificed their lives to demonstrate the Chinese people's determination to defend peace.