It's a feast for the eyes, ears and soul in Liangshan of China's Sichuan Province – home to the majority of the Yi ethnic group. The Daliangshan International Theater Festival is held amidst the natural beauty of mountains and lakes, and officials say the event is poised to give the region, one of the poorest in China, a leg-up.

Wang Xiaoying, vice president of the Chinese Dramatists Association and of the sponsor of the festival, said cultural development in western area of China should be carried out simultaneously with its economic development.

"If we were to push poverty alleviation work in a big way, I believe we could also build our spiritual culture, aside from pursuing material achievements. We hope to help our relatively backward economy and cultural art space develop. This can also be summed up as a poverty alleviation effort," Wang told CGTN.

The 12-day festival will wrap up on December 1. It has over 300 shows from eight countries including China.

For many of the international performers, it's their very first time in this part of China.

And for the O'Keeffe's from Australia, it's the response from the audience that makes it unique to performing.

"You may have noticed as well after the show we come out and say hello to the audience, and some of the people coming up to us were this high (short) and some were much older wanting to shake our hands," Paul O'Keefe said.

"I think we've achieved for me what we hope to set out to achieve, that everyone would enjoy it. Whether you're five years old to 85 years old. There's something in it for everyone."

Paul is performing in Wolfgang's Magical Musical Circus by Australia's CIRCA team, along with his wife Kathryn.

"We're warming up today and we had people coming to talk to us and ask us where we're from and what we're doing so that generosity and appreciation and kind of almost that beautiful effort that everyone is trying to communicate with us. So we felt really welcomed here," Kathryn said.

Paul has been in the circus industry for 30 years.

At age 40, he feels as fit as ever and says he'd like to continue doing what he does for as long as he can. He loves connecting with the audience, and what he calls "building tension to a trick" on stage. 

The couple hopes their performances can spark a little something in the audience – whether it's to pursue circus, or anything their hearts desire.

Indeed, if reactions from children are anything to go by, it would seem the ongoing event can be said to be a success.

"I'm very excited; it's my first time seeing such a grand performance in Xichang. It's also my first time seeing foreigners perform!" said a little girl.