If there’s one must-visit place in life, Wuzhen would be it, and the best time to go is during the golden October theatre festival.
Last month, I managed to catch the closing weekend of the theatre festival and spent a magical three days and two nights in Wuzhen, experiencing both its A and B sides.
Side A is the original image of the Jiangnan water town in my memory. In the early mornings, there are bustling “early tea guests,” slow-paced vehicles, boats, and mail, fewer people, beautiful scenery, and a strong scent of osmanthus flowers.
Side B is the art-forward temperament that is completely opposite yet naturally blends with the ancient town. Small theaters are everywhere; stopping at any street corner for ten minutes can immerse you in a fragment of life through a play.
Of course, to feel both sides, you need to stay within the Xizha scenic area. If you wake up early or stay up late, the entire Wuzhen is yours.
There are two ways to experience the theatre festival: one is to watch plays, and the other is not to watch plays. (Note that the plays here refer to those that require ticket purchases and are in high demand.) Some might ask: Why come to a theatre festival if you’re not watching plays?
It must be admitted that the plays that require ticket purchases at the theatre festival have a certain threshold. After all, the initiators are big names in the theatre world: Meng Jinghui, Lai Shengchuan, Huang Lei… The selected plays are highly artistic.
If you are not a theatre enthusiast or a student or practitioner in the field, you might find it a bit confusing.
*Some of the plays at the theatre festival
However, after experiencing the theatre festival for three days and two nights last month, I personally feel that the theatre festival without spending money on plays is equally exciting.
You might not believe it, but the most exhilarating experience at the theatre festival was the free “Youth Competition.” (But the lines were incredibly long.)
*Photo from the Youth Competition play “Monologue”
Not to mention the “Ancient Town Carnival” that takes place anytime during the day on the old streets and water pavilions, and the “Midnight Reading Session” at midnight, which is a gathering of big names, with poets like Shi Hang, Li Dan, He Jiong, and Sun Li… Next to the “Night God Music Scene” where people dance, you might even run into Zhou Xun.
Once you’re at the theatre festival, you’ll find that running into celebrities is quite common. The first day seeing Li Dan’s iconic bald head felt novel, but later encounters with Li Ruotong, Zhang Yixing, Zhang Yuqi… were all met with calm.
Now in its eighth edition, the Wuzhen Theatre Festival is no longer exclusive to theatre people, especially this year, where it felt like the festival was exploring more possibilities for the general public. Whether you love theatre or not, Wuzhen during the theatre festival is worth experiencing.
The Pinnacle of Domestic Theatre Festivals
Li Dan “Accompanied” Me Through the Entire Performance of “Twin Sisters”
After a year’s absence due to the pandemic, this year’s theatre festival felt particularly hard-earned.
Unfortunately, foreign plays still couldn’t make it in, so the opening and closing performances were both supported by big directors. The opening was Meng Jinghui’s “Red and Black,” and the closing was Lai Shengchuan’s “Once Upon a Time.”
Before each performance, there’s always a Mr. Huang Lei, who claims to be a staff member of Wuzhen, coming to personally remind the audience of the “rules for watching a play”: no photography, no using mobile phones. Before the premiere of “Once and Again” in Wuzhen, Mr. Huang Lei even specifically called out Xie Na: “No photography, not even of your own husband.”
I’ve watched plays in many cities, but the audience in Wuzhen is the most “impressive,” with many celebrities, actors, and media professionals among them… Everyone has high viewing etiquette.
*Showcasing my “achievements”
I can’t help but boast a little—I’ve watched plays with quite a few celebrities. Li Dan “accompanied” me through an entire performance of “Twin Sisters,” his magical laughter was so distinctive that it kept pulling me out of the play.
*Photo from “Twin Sisters”
Within the entire Xizha scenic area, there are nearly ten theaters of various sizes, including the iconic Wuzhen Grand Theatre, the Guoyue Theatre on the old street, Shen’s Theatre, Xiu Shui Lang Theatre, Bang Wan Theatre, and the outdoor Sun-Moon Theatre and Water Theatre.
The dance drama “Wild Grass” I watched this time was performed at the outdoor Water Theatre.
How beautiful is the night in Wuzhen? The Water Theatre offers the best answer. The moonlight is beautiful, and the dance performers’ shadows on the broken bridge, the old house by the water, the big white ball, and the trees are even more beautiful. The dancers’ body lines and the flowing water infuse the Water Theatre with soul.
The play that left the deepest impression on me was Lai Shengchuan’s epic work “Once and Again.” It wasn’t because the play itself was so spectacular, but because the 390-minute viewing experience was a constant challenge to the audience’s endurance.
As Yang Meng’en joked, for the first two hours, you might still marvel at the exquisite costumes and props, but by the fifth hour, the audience had already adopted all sorts of bizarre sitting postures.
*Mr. Zong Juntao, the best of the night, probably played about 10 roles by himself
Listening to Zhang Jie’s heavenly tenor on stage, your mind might still be enjoying the artistic, but your body honestly betrays your soul, leaving only a sense of despair: “Is Zhang Jie working, or am I working?!”
But then again, being able to see Hao Lei perform in a play makes everything worth it.
This was also the first time I saw the true appearance of the “Lotus Pond” seating. The actors performed right in front of you, so close that you could see Hao Lei’s tears clearly, the only downside being that it was extremely unfriendly to the neck.
After “Once and Again,” there will be tours in Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Xi’an. If you’re willing to challenge yourself, you can go and watch it.
*Can you believe Xiao Bei had an “accident” on the ferry in Wuzhen?
The performance I watched happened to be the premiere. In the small Xiu Shui Lang Theatre, half of the audience were celebrity directors and media professionals. It’s said that there were also audience members who spent thousands of yuan on scalped tickets. Some fans waited outside for five hours for on-site tickets, forcing Huang Lei and Meng Jinghui to add an extra row of seats in the aisle.
As for the play itself, I can only say it was too experimental. The most exciting part was actually the warm-up stand-up comedy by actors like Xiao Bei and Yang Meng’en…
*Yang Meng’en, who had just gotten engaged, played a “scumbag”
The most recommended play is the academic “Spring Departure,” the only one that made me tear up.
*Still from “Spring Departure”
In the face of various avant-garde formalism dramas, “Spring Departure,” which tells a straightforward story, is a breath of fresh air.
It tells the story of female scientists Wu Jianxiong and Gu Jingwei pursuing their ideals, in a relationship that is both mentor and friend. The power of girls helping girls is always moving, regardless of the era.
I checked, and “Spring Departure” is performing in Shanghai in late November. Tickets are only eighty yuan, so it’s a worthwhile investment for friends in Shanghai.
As mentioned earlier, the plays at the drama festival require a certain threshold. If you don’t usually enjoy watching plays or movies, there’s no need to rush for tickets to the drama festival, and you might not even be able to get them. It’s better to leave them for true drama enthusiasts.
*Still from “Mixed, Chopped, or Salad”
Moreover, the Wuzhen Drama Festival, where you can watch plays for free, is equally wonderful!
When I watch plays for free in Wuzhen
What am I doing in Wuzhen
Free, even more exciting
Without the drama festival, Wuzhen is just Wuzhen. With the drama festival, the old streets, waterside pavilions, street corners, squares, and bridges of Wuzhen become natural theaters. As soon as you step into Xizha, you’re in the play.
The 8th “Ancient Town Carnival” may be late, but it delivers delayed gratification and doubles the joy.
Improvisational comedy, opera, installation art, puppetry, experimental poetry and music dance short plays… The open space allows inspiration to spread even more freely. Various street arts related to drama can be enjoyed to your heart’s content just by strolling around.
I was so busy with the plays that I basically watched the carnival randomly on my way to the next performance, which was quite frustrating.
The drama festival’s most viral photos are always contributed by stilt puppets.
Suddenly, the old streets become congested—it must be a stilt puppet parade.
Puppets towering two stories high march through Wuzhen, and everyone passing by can’t help but take out their phones to snap photos.
The audience at the carnival can also be surprising. While watching, you might suddenly spot, hey, isn’t that leader Cheng Lu on the opposite side?!
*The blurred big head in the back is Cheng Lu
In fact, the most important part of the drama festival is the “Youth Competition,” a great platform for those “unknown” drama artists to showcase themselves.
This year, 571 works from 18 cities across 13 provinces and municipalities participated, with 18 groups of works ultimately making it to the competitive performance at the Bangwan Theatre.
*Photo of “Its Branches Reach the Sky”
Compared to the relatively mature special invited plays, the works in the “Youth Competition” are more “wild,” and the actors are more explosive. A fellow traveler went to the final performance and came back raving about how it was worth the trip.
*Photo of “The White Rhino Incident”
Although the tickets for the “Youth Competition” are free, if you don’t reserve online in advance, the line at the venue can be outrageous. Every time I pass by the Bangwan Theatre at the designated time, I’m always amazed by the queue. I hear many fans of the theater come early in the morning and line up for at least four to five hours, which is true love for the theater.
Actually, there is a live broadcast of the “Youth Competition,” and the real benefit of being on site is probably that the people you watch with are all celebrities.
Another free (and queue-worthy) unit is the “Town Talks,” where directors, actors, playwrights, or media professionals discuss some controversial topics in the new era of theater.
For example, this year, Teacher Jin Xing had many memorable quotes: “If Jin Xing were the artistic director this year, then no plays featuring Jin Xing would be allowed. As the artistic director, I am only responsible for selecting the plays.”
The new unit of the drama festival this year, the “Drama Market,” is not in the Xizha Scenic Area but in the Beizha Silk Factory across the river. Here, there are not only exhibitions and midnight horror movie screenings but also a food market by Huang Xiaochu.
After watching “Once Upon a Time” that day, it was already close to midnight, and it was a bowl of noodles from Huang Xiaochu that brought me back to life. The night of the drama festival doesn’t end until 2 a.m.
On the last day, the “Midnight Reading Session” was almost an all-star lineup, and those who stayed until 1 a.m. would find that Li Dan had returned.
*Photo of Teacher Shi Hang
Next door, at the “Night God Music Scene,” it is said that Zhou Xun danced for two consecutive days. After 00:08, there is an 88-minute beer free-for-all. The atmosphere on-site is very lively, with musicians “diving” and fans “forming trains” being standard operations.
As mentioned above, even without watching the big plays, the free performances and activities can keep you entertained from morning till night. Rushing to watch big plays (mainly “Once Upon a Time”) can easily exhaust both body and mind, whereas the various small theaters offer a more relaxed and joyful experience.
Accommodation Guide for Xizha
Staying in the scenic area doubles the fun
To double the joy of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, it is essential to stay within the Xizha Scenic Area. (Be sure to book in advance)
Staying within the Xizha Scenic Area has many benefits; just the experience of having Wuzhen all to yourself for 24 hours gives you a much better experience than regular tourists. If you didn’t manage to get tickets for the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, hotels often reserve some for their guests, which is a special benefit during the festival period.
This time, I also got up early to experience the “Morning Tea Guests” from my childhood memories.
As long as you stay in a hotel within Xizha, you can ask the front desk to book you a spot for the next day’s Morning Tea Guests, which you can attend before 9 a.m. At this time, tourists haven’t yet entered Wuzhen, and it is only open to guests staying in Xizha.
The early tea experience here is somewhat like an immersive ancient town buffet. All the shops around the water market: bamboo shoots noodles, shaomai, youdundun, pancakes, soy milk… everything is free to order, as long as you don’t waste. Isn’t this much more atmospheric than a hotel breakfast?
There are also many stalls run by uncles and aunts on the spot, where you can buy ingredients to take back to the hotel for processing.
In Mr. Mu Xin’s “Once Slow,” it is written: “The small shop selling soy milk is steaming with warmth. In the past, the days were slow, cars, horses, and mail were slow, a lifetime was just enough to love one person.” This is probably what it meant.
There are many hotel options within the Xizha Scenic Area. Previously, Cai Cai had compiled:
Luxury (boutique) category: Yida Silk Industry Guild Hall, Yiyuan, Wuzhen Guesthouse, Jintang Guesthouse, Wangjinli
Resort category: Zhenshui, Tong’an, Zhaoming Bookhouse, Shuishi Guesthouse
Guesthouse: Wuzhen Guesthouse
Youth hostel: Shui Xiang Youth Hostel
For detailed guides, please refer to (with Wuzhen guide) 👉 Wuzhen
Although I actually stayed in Wucun this time (about a ten-minute distance from Xizha by shuttle bus), rounding it off, I could also count as staying within the scenic area and could still enjoy the early tea experience.
The scenery of Wucun is not like the small bridges and flowing water of Xizha; it is more pastoral and serene, like a painting.
During the three days and two nights of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, I truly immersed myself in Wuzhen, this “Utopia.” I watched the plays and was also part of the play, slightly intoxicated in the tenderness of the water town.
Every year, I eagerly look forward to coming to Wuzhen to “escape the soul,” and every year it does not disappoint. This is probably the charm of theatre.
