The list of "60 most welcomed artists by the people" was recently released by People.com.cn, the online newspaper of People's Daily. Over a four-month period, netizens picked 60 film, TV, and theater artists besides singers and dancers, from 140 nominations. The list not only includes senior artists, such as actress Tian Hua and mezzo-soprano Guan Mucun, but also younger ones, such as folk singer Song Zuying, director Zhang Yimou, actor Jackie Chan and actress Zhang Ziyi.

More than 30 million votes were cast, and thousands of messages posted online.