All Wuzhen's a stage

Chuanju Opera from southwestern China is featured at the annual festival. Photo by Wang Jia/For China Daily

Such is the festival's appeal to young Chinese that Qiu Ling, vice-general manager of Culture Wuzhen Co, claims the company has cut back significantly on advertising during the last two years as online buzz and word-of-mouth has done the job.

So what is behind Wuzhen's extraordinary drawing power?

Backing from such famous stars as director Stan Lai and actor Huang Lei certainly gives Wuzhen credibility, as do high-profile international productions like The Tiger Lillies Perform Hamlet on the lineup each year.

However, only around one in 10 of the people who come to Wuzhen for the festival actually buy a ticket for a show.

The majority of the young crowd says that they had not come to see any production in particular.

It's really about the atmosphere the festival generates.

Wuzhen has invested huge amounts of money and effort in creating this feel.

Chen Xianghong, director of Culture Wuzhen Co and chairman of the festival's organizing committee, also masterminded the 1 billion yuan ($147 million) development of the West Scenic Area during his term as head of the Wuzhen government.

In many ways, the area and the festival are two parts of the same vision.