There are less than two weeks to go till Lunar New Year's Eve, when China's largest variety show, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, is aired. A major highlight every year is the "language category", which includes crosstalk and comic sketches.

The team of the comedy sketch series "Twisted Dough" takes a rest from busy rehearsals. The series has been a popular stage show for years, and was well received at last year’s gala. But this time around, things are quite not ready yet.

"We're still not fitting together well, we're missing each other's punch lines. So we keep rehearsing," actress Ma Li says.

But with the pressure increasing as time runs out, they've barely even got time to sleep.

"I almost stayed up the whole night. We did our makeup at 6 in the morning, and last night we rehearsed until 3 in the morning," Ma says.

To the delight of young staff members on hand, renowned TV hosts Da Peng and Hua Shao will also appear in a comic sketch for the night. Da Peng rose to fame as the host of a hit program online, while Hua Shao has become a household name for hosting the immensely popular show "The Voice of China". Although they’re busy with their own jobs, they still make time to rehearse for their debut at the gala.

"We can only meet after 11 o'clock at night, because we have our own jobs to do during the day. Comic star Cai Ming will join us for a program, so she has tutored the rehearsal. We've grown up watching the gala, so we've been looking forward to such an opportunity," TV host Hua Shao says.

Rising-star crosstalker Cao Yunjin and his partner are also in the gala lineup. It will be their third time to attend.

"Our work still targets young audiences. There will be a lot of fashionable things in our crosstalk that young people are interested in, related to modern issues," Cao says.

But for each team, the program is far from set, as changes are made right up until showtime. And with a tight-lipped production crew for this year's gala, one thing is for sure: the whole package won't be unveiled until the broadcast on Lunar New Year's Eve.