"It is a breath of fresh air for China's variety show biz," is one of the widespread online comments for the TV show, Letters Alive.

After achieving huge success in the past two seasons, the mega-hit show will return with more surprises. The show is to premiere on China's major video platform, v.qq.com on Dec 25, and will be aired on Heilongjiang Satellite TV on Saturdays.

The semi-theatrical show draws inspiration from the UK televised show, Letters Live, that is based on Shaun Usher's bestselling anthologies, Letters of Note.

Letters penned by celebrities ages ago, or modern ordinary people, are chosen and then reinterpreted by today's stars, striking a chord with audiences by presenting human stories.

More foreign letters selected

The second season received a record score of 9.3 out of 10 on Douban, China's major TV and film review platform, based on the ratings of more than 7,000 viewers.

"Letters Alive is a one of the best shows in modern China, and it guides us to be a better person through highlighting the charm of Chinese culture and history," one Douban user, Xiao Maotou said.

"In comparison with some reality shows that focus on a celebrity's boring private life and gossip news, Letters Alive sets a true example of what is a successful show in acquisitive society," another user, Qing Guanaiwo, added.

According to Guan Zhengwen, the show's chief director, the letters offer an insight into universal values.

"There is only one standard in our selection, that is, these letters deserve to be seen by more people," the director said, adding that those letters can encourage more people to think independently and reflect on life and the world around them, as well.

The show displayed one letter from a Japanese World War II veteran, who commits all sorts of crimes, and is troubled by nightmares after the war.

At the end of his tragic life, he wrote a letter to show his deepest regret on what he had done during the war and suffered the shame of distorting humanity

"Different cultural backgrounds do exist in the world, but human nature can bridge different cultures. People's understanding of themselves, others and society can be understood through writing, and that's the power of letters," the director believes.

"Chinese letters are still the mainstay of the program's selection, but the addition of classic letters from abroad is bound to bring more diverse tastes to it," he added.

More artists to be involved

"Good letters may lose their appeal because of unsuccessful interpretations, therefore, performers, to some degree, determine the success of Letters Alive," said Wang Cheng, deputy director of the Media Center Department, Heilongjiang Satellite TV.

As a rule, the 12-episode culture program has invited many well-known Chinese celebrities to the show. In comparison with the former two seasons, more young artists are taking part this time.

In addition to the familiar faces like actors Zhao Lixin and He Bing, and Taiwanese actress Kuei Ya-Lei, TV host Kevin Tsai, hostess Yang Lan, actresses Chen Shu and Qi Wei, and actors Dong Yong and Wang Zijian also will bring impressive performances in turn.

"Our program's viewers under the age of 29 accounted for more than 75 percent of the total. However, the popularity of celebrities among the young generation is not our selection priority," Guan said.

"The program focuses more on the match suitability between performers and the letters they are to read. Every person has a different style and feeling in performing them, and all we want to is to give the audience the best visual feast."

Also, it is worth noting that the program has added a comment time. Each time a letter is read, a renowned commentator sits in the studio and shares their feelings toward the letter and tells viewers the stories behind the letters.

"The commentators' views do not stand for truth, as there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes," the director said. "But they, based on their vision and experience, will convey positive social energy to viewers."

Letter reading expands to book performing

Wining favor from more and more people, Guan and his team have devoted themselves to bringing more quality TV shows to Chinese viewers.

The reality show, The Wonderful Read, has blazed a new way in encouraging people to read books in the internet era.

The 12-episode show has chosen 11 classic books, ranging from history, romance to science fiction and spy novels, and gathered a group of artists to perform classic scenes for audiences.

"The Wonderful Read has created a brand new scenario-style reading mode', which presents the most exciting, moving and most thought-provoking parts of the books to the audience through stage play, film and TV scene performing," Guan said.

"After watching those performances, quite a few in the audience have aroused their interest in knowing more about the book, and some of them later will read the books willingly," Guan added.

Since its premiere on Oct 8, the program has expectedly achieved high ratings and word-of-mouth effect at the same time. For instance, the first 11 episodes have received more than 360 million hits on v.qq.com. And the average hits for each episode has exceeded 33 million.

Also, The Wonderful Read has scored 9.3 points on Douban, ranking first in the list for 2018 China reality shows.

"After watching the show, I really want to take a closer look at the books" is the most popular comment for the show. The widespread popularity of the program also triggered reading enthusiasm among viewers and selected books in the program have become best-sellers in many online and offline book stores.