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A scene from a large-scale historic immersive play at Banzao Museum in Jishan County, Yuncheng City, north China's Shanxi Province, September 18, 2023. /CFP

Along with record highs at the box office, a travel boom and the ongoing winter sports craze, young people in China are also creating prosperity in the sector of live performances.

Showing several theater tickets, a woman surnamed Zhao from Beijing said that watching live shows has been her favorite pastime recently.

"Hardly a weekend goes by without friends telling me about going to a play, concert or other performance on social media," Zhao added.

In recent months, from big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai to tourist cities, various live shows in the performance market are embracing enthusiastic theater goers.

An audience member joins in with the interactive experience of having his hair washed on stage during a live show in Shanghai, January, 2024. /CGTN

Beijing's performance market roared back in 2023, with the number of performances, audience and box office reaching record highs. In 2023, nearly 50,000 commercial performances were held in Beijing, with 11.4 million audiences and a box office revenue of 2.3 billion yuan (about $323 million), according to data from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism. The revenue increased 32 percent compared with that of 2019.

The city also enjoyed a good start at the beginning of 2024. During the three-day New Year's Day holiday, 153 theaters in Beijing saw a total box office revenue of 53.5 million yuan (roughly $7.5 million), a 442.8 percent increase compared to 2023. With the Spring Festival holiday coming, the performance market is expected to witness a new boom.

Pan Yan, vice president of China Association of Performing Arts, said the 20-to-34 audience has the highest proportion rate, accounting for 67 percent of the total.

"Young people have become the most important group of consumers in the market of performing arts and the main source of growth for market revenue," said Pan.

An immersive performance at a tourist spot in Yuquan District, Hohhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, December 31, 2023. /CFP

In Shanghai, new performance styles such as small musicals and immersive plays have gained popularity among young people as well. Home to 19 mini-theaters, the building of Asia Mansion has become one of the city's most popular destinations for young people to catch a live show.

According to some show goers, the audience can get closer to performers at mini-theaters which are smaller, with a limited number of seats. In addition, the interactions between the audience and performers during and after the show also increase young people's interest and recognition of the performance.

Guo Ling, manager of several new venues in Shanghai, said live shows usually get a packed house during holidays and about 40 percent of the audience come from outside Shanghai.

Speaking of the reasons behind the prosperity of small theaters in the city, industry leaders noted that Shanghai has been backing the trend since 2018, with an aim of building a Broadway-like ecosystem of smaller venues. They said the shows in small theaters are shorter, and ticket prices are lower, making them more accessible to young audiences.

Young people perform the classic Yueju opera "Birthday Celebration by Five Daughters" in Fuzhou, east China's Fujian Province, January 4, 2024. /CFP

Statistics show that about 45,000 commercial performances were held in Shanghai in 2023, with box office revenue of over 3.2 billion yuan ($449 million), up 61.5 percent compared with 2019.

Jiang Yizhe, a junior at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, has performed in live shows in Shanghai's mini-theaters in recent months. Jiang said he appreciates the opportunities he got in the burgeoning market, since most college students usually only get real chances to perform after graduation.

"I can get an opportunity to feel the real working environment earlier, which I think is very valuable," said Jiang.

With so many projects going on in the theater industry, young scriptwriters, directors and performers can hone their skills, developing a thriving ecosystem for performing arts.

"The prosperity of Shanghai's performance market also attracted many overseas companies who are interested in our original shows," said Ruan Hao, general manager of Shanghai Yahuahu Theater Development. "We have already exported two works, which will be performed overseas in 2024."

Jin Lei, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, said tourists' average length of stay in Shanghai increased from two days to 2.84 days as performances thrive. He said the boom of theater industry may become a new economic growth point, which promotes cultural and tourism integration.

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Fluid use of space enriches live performances in Shanghai

(Cover designed by Yu Peng)