Wuzhen theater festival lures crowds of tourists from far and wide

A variety of activities including carnivals, themed parades and dance dramas have attracted a large number of enthusiasts to come to Wuzhen in east China during the theater festival.

The 11th Wuzhen Theater Festival kicked off on Oct 17 in the ancient water town of Wuzhen in Zhejiang Province.

During the festival, carnivals, themed parades, dance dramas, and stand-up comic have enchanted crowds of tourists.

"I felt it is novelty and interesting, and there are many performance forms that I have never seen before, such as improv comedy, which is very intriguing," said a visitor.

This year's festival, which runs until Oct 27 under the theme of "solidarity," features 24 specially-invited plays from 11 countries.

Moreover, the public welfare drama "Reversing the Future" will be performed at the Wuzhen Grand Theater, featuring a cast that includes several disabled people. The director said that they want to present diverse life experiences from the perspective of the disabled community.

"We figured out how a visually impaired friend could interact with a friend who is hearing impaired on stage through repeated rehearsals. And we use unique techniques to showcase this interaction without barriers," said Sun Yan, director of a troupe.

"More and more artists from around the world are coming to Wuzhen, which serves as a representative of Eastern culture. Drama actually originates from the West. The profound dialogue transcending space and time is very meaningful," said Huang Lei, executive director of the Wuzhen Theater Festival.

Wuzhen theater festival lures crowds of tourists from far and wide

Wuzhen theater festival lures crowds of tourists from far and wide

The Zhuhai Port on the mega Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China which marked its sixth anniversary on Wednesday saw surge in both foreign trade and vehicle trips through it in the first three quarters of this year, according to the latest customs data.

In the first nine months, the value of imports and exports through the Zhuhai Port, which lies at the end of the mega bridge on the side of the Chinese mainland, reached 164.97 billion yuan (nearly 23.2 billion U.S. dollars), with 3.968 million vehicle trips made, representing a year-on-year growth of 10.4 percent and 89.9 percent, respectively.

In the past six years since the mega bridge opened to traffic six years ago, total import and export value of goods moving through the Zhuhai port of the bridge has reached 942.7 billion yuan (more than 132.5 billion U.S. dollars), according to Zhuhai's Gongbei customs.

The port has recorded over 12.7 million inbound and outbound vehicle trips over the past six years.

The 55-kilometer-long bridge links China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), the Macao SAR and the city of Zhuhai in south China's Guangdong Province. It is the world's longest bridge-and-tunnel sea crossing.

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge sees surge in foreign trade, vehicle crossings in January-September