"Two Cai Mins": How a Chinese Startup Built Robots for the Country's Biggest Show in 100 Days

"Two Cai Mins": How a Chinese Startup Built Robots for the Country's Biggest Show in 100 Days

Beijing startup Songyan Dynamics showed off five anthropomorphic robots at the 2026 New Year gala, causing a real stir. The biggest surprise was a biomimetic clone of famous actress Cai Ming, able to reproduce human facial expressions and lip articulation in fine detail. The N2 model also performed a series of stable backflips, and a mini robot named "Little Bumi" did a fiery breakdance.

Founder Jiang Zhehuan stressed that this ambitious project took 100 days of intense non-stop work, with constant iterations and refinements. The success on state television was not just a triumph but a starting point for large-scale expansion: the startup is preparing to launch mass production of affordable robots aimed at the education and home segments, with an expected price of around 10,000 yuan.

The story of building robots for the 2026 New Year gala is not just a technological breakthrough, but also a vivid example of how ambitious goals can be met on a tight schedule. Cooperation between Songyan Dynamics and the show's organizers began quickly: after the first meeting between Jiang Zhehuan's team and the broadcaster's representatives, the specific forms of partnership were agreed within days. The organizers were particularly interested in the company's capabilities in building biomimetic robots and demonstrating stable acrobatic stunts.

"It came out incredibly similar," Jiang Zhehuan recalls of Cai Ming's reaction when she first met her robotic double. Building an anthropomorphic robot that can convey a rich palette of human emotions is an extremely complex engineering task. It requires packing many miniature but powerful servo motors into the limited space of a face, and developing sophisticated control algorithms that keep movements smooth and natural. In parallel, to make complex stunts such as backflips reliable, the Songyan Dynamics team made significant adjustments and optimizations to its algorithms.

"The hundred days of intense work before appearing on the 'Spring Festival Gala' became a powerful stimulus for our robotics development," Jiang Zhehuan says candidly. During preparation, the team constantly received new, sometimes quite unexpected, requests from the directors, such as adding the ability to raise the robot's head or perform barely noticeable facial movements. The team had to respond within one or two days, quickly adapting both the mechanics and the control software.

To get the movements as precise as possible, right after the first rehearsal Jiang Zhehuan decided to buy the set pieces for the rehearsal stage and rebuild an exact copy in a rented workshop as fast as possible, so the robots could train in conditions as close to the real ones as possible.

Alongside show preparation, makers of anthropomorphic robots are actively working on strategies to attract and retain an audience that could surge after an event as big as the "Spring Festival." Jiang Zhehuan notes that the success in 2025 came down to two factors: first, the enormous reach of the Gala translated directly into sales, and second, the performance itself opened entirely new commercial scenarios for robotics. "The Gala is like a big battle," Jiang Zhehuan says by analogy, "and once the battlefield has been cleared, you need 'ground troops' to gather the harvest and hold the position." That is why, besides rehearsals, the company was actively preparing for the post-show period.

In particular, to ensure mass production and timely delivery of the "Little Bumi" robot, which played a dancing robot grandson in the sketch, the company set up partnerships with OEM manufacturers and built up warehouse stock to cover potentially higher demand. The Spring Festival brought not only higher sales but also a significant boost in brand recognition, and helped spread awareness of robotics more widely. Songyan Dynamics' plans for 2026 include new application areas, such as bringing robots into the home for companionship, and developing educational programs.

The appearance of several Chinese robotics companies at the 2026 Spring Festival Gala is expected to be more than a spectacle: it should mark the start of a new era, one of robotics commercialization and of deciding the future of companies in this fast-developing industry.

"For us, every rehearsal was a chance to get new requirements from the directors," Jiang Zhehuan says. "For example, they might ask the robot to raise its head or add a barely noticeable facial expression. That demanded extremely fast iteration and adaptation of both software and hardware, often within one or two days.

We kept daily reports detailing progress on every product and every movement; iterations effectively ran by the hour. I tried to get across to the team how unique this opportunity was: performing at the Gala, being in the first hall. We aimed to make the robots' movements reflexive for the operators, performed from muscle memory, without the need for conscious control.

A fun fact: on the first day of rehearsals, around four in the afternoon, we had already received three sets of scenery for our sketch, and by midnight we had rebuilt an exact copy in the workshop next to our office, so the robots could train in realistic conditions."

"The backflips and other acrobatic elements were the result of joint work," Jiang Zhehuan explains. "The directors decided which actions were needed to improve the stage effect, and we picked suitable capabilities from our arsenal. Originally a backflip was specifically required, although our robots were more stable at front flips. Still, within three days we developed an ultra-stable backflip. Performing three consecutive backflips live is a task few companies can handle, requiring extremely high precision and algorithm stability."

"Building a biomimetic face is a multifaceted task," says the founder of Songyan Dynamics. "First, conveying rich expressions requires a large number of degrees of freedom in the robot's face, which means using miniature servo motors and precise control algorithms. Second, achieving a likeness to a real person requires highly accurate copying. Third, synchronizing lip movement with speech is the hardest part and requires serious algorithmic breakthroughs. Overall, a biomimetic face is a complex engineering project."

"The Spring Festival Gala can be compared to war," Jiang Zhehuan continues. "We carried out a 'bombardment' with our robots, but now we need to 'clear the battlefield' and hold the position. So, besides preparing for the show, we took a number of steps.

First, preparing production capacity. Mass production of Little Bumi is planned to start in March; cooperation with OEM manufacturers is already in place and stock has been built up. Second, an information campaign to raise awareness of our affordable consumer robots, priced a little over 10,000 yuan, to strengthen our position in the B2C and B2B markets.

Third, recruiting new talent. I am confident that higher brand recognition will make it much easier for us to build a strong technical team."

"Right now my top priority is delivery volume," Jiang Zhehuan admits.

"Delivery problems will be minimal, because we have already been through this," he assures. "Earlier we built robots on our own lines, assembling each unit by hand."