CRI听力:Wuzhen Theatre Festival, A Small Town's Ambition

Many people in China usually consider tourism and culture two separate and unrelated issues.

However, Wuzhen's administrative authorities have demonstrated their efforts to enrich tours of the ancient town by offering visitors cultural interpretations and content.

Chen Jie, a member of the international theater festival's organizing committee, believes the festival is their first endeavor to convince visitors that their trip to Wuzhen means more than just sightseeing.

"Wuzhen town's drama festival marks a turning point in the operation strategy of the entire town's scenic area. We hope to build the town into a drama town like Edinburgh. Through our constant efforts over the upcoming five to 10 years, we plan for Wuzhen to impress visitors by providing a splendid cultural feast although the town remains small."

Chen Jie, who works for a company that explores and displays the town's local culture, says she's not alone in supporting the enrichment of tourism activities.

Behind her are the entire organizing committee and the three initiators of the festival.

Huang Lei, a famous mainland actor and singer, is one of the initiators along with Meng Jinghui, mainland drama director and Lai Shengchuan, a Taiwan-based stage-play director. Huang, also a fan of drama, explains why they wanted the cultural event to take place in Wuzhen.

"I have been to Edinburgh, a Scottish city famous for comedy and drama. The trip inspired me to think boldly about why there wasn't such a place in China where a similar theater festival is held. I thought it would be interesting if a Chinese drama festival were held in a relatively enclosed place but with strong Chinese characteristics. Preparations for this festival began three years ago. Today, the dream has come true."

Over the last three years, Wuzhen town ha spent around 500 million yuan on building and renovating seven classic theaters. Meanwhile, it has also invited a number of master-level drama performers from home and abroad to participate in the festival.

Chen Jie says some 120 domestic and foreign artistic troupes will give performances against the natural backdrop of local wooden houses, stone bridges and black-awning boats during the festival. Chen Jie, a native of Wuzhen, expects this to help attract new visitors to her hometown.

"Our traditional tourists who show steady interest in Wuzhen sightseeing trips are expected to develop their understanding about local culture in a more profound way through this new drama festival. Meanwhile, we believe some new visitors will come specifically for this drama festival, and they might be drama fans and professionals in the drama field."

The Wuzhen Theater Festival began on May 9th and runs until May 19th.