For CCTV's Lunar New Year's Eve gala that heralds the Year of the Monkey, one "monkey" is widely considered by Chinese to be indispensable.

He is Zhang Jinlai, whose stage name Liu Xiao Ling Tong means The Little Six-Year-Old - the age at which he made his stage debut 51 years ago.

Zhang starred as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, in the 1986 television adaptation of Journey to the West. The 25-episode fantasy series, complete with the crude special effects of its day, was given repeat airings every summer.