Singer Huo Zun appears on the show Me and My Motherland.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Sun Xiaoqing, producer of the program, tells China Daily that the show does not want to convey messages like conventional TV shows.

"We'd like to see what young people want to convey on the topic of 'me and my motherland'," Sun says. "Once an open platform was given, diverse forms poured in-music video, vlog, animation, flash mobyou name it."

Form does not matter. True emotion does. "Only when video makers narrow down the topic into a point of focus can audiences be struck with resonance," she says. "A grand picture can then be unrolled from there."

This time, a group of popular youth idols-actors, singers, and standup comedians-who are used to being viewed in the spotlight by crowds of people, become the audience. After viewing the video clips, these star guests talk about their feelings and share stories in front of the camera, turning the studio into a friendly room of chat and banter.

"I see many young people admire traditional culture," says Huo Zun, a singer known for his traditional-style music, after he watched a video about overseas Chinese celebrating traditional culture abroad. "When they voluntarily set up clubs abroad promoting tradition among local communities, they enable Chinese aesthetics to be better understood by the public overseas."

Sometimes, the videos remind these stars of their own stories. Sometimes unfamiliar, interesting scenarios come up.

What is a memory for some viewers can seem like another country altogether for others. When veteran actor Yu Entai, 42, explains what a "food coupon" is, the 20-somethings opened their eyes in astonishment. They have no concept of a time when coupons were necessary for shopping due to supply shortages-as was the case during the 1950s to 1980s-and everyone had had a quota for daily necessities such as rice, flour and edible oil.