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The Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, offers outdoor celebrations for residents and visitors. [Photo provided to China Daily]

One aspect of the novel that struck a chord with Xiao was its depiction of the yearning to escape from one's social identity. Bound by constraints, many people seek escape, some choosing temporary retreat, while others move from big cities to smaller ones.

She is also interested in the feminist perspective of the story. While the theme of women leaving home has been explored in classics, such as Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, Xiao points out that these works often end at the moment of departure.

"I think Lu opens up a new perspective. The protagonist arrives at her 'utopia', and then discovers that it is no different from other places. She wants to go back to her previous life, but there's no place for her anymore. So what should she do? The novel has an open ending. Personally, this question has no answer. It's for all of us to think about," she says.

For many people, the annual festival is itself an escape from the mundane, everyday routine to a town with theater happening in every nook and cranny.

Walking from the entrance of the Xizha scenic area to the town's center, visitors will pass the Wuzhen Grand Theatre, where the festival's opening and closing ceremonies are held, enter the ancient town with its interwoven alleys and waterways, and pass historical squares and docks, which serve as antique backdrops for open-air vignettes.

The old buildings with their white walls and gray, upturned eaves conceal within them theater venues of different sizes and functions, among them the West Warehouse Theatre, where young practitioners bring their shows to compete every year. On the water town's outskirts lies the Wuzhen International Internet Exhibition and Convention Center, which has three theater venues that can accommodate both international forums and large-scale theater productions.