The Start Festival 2018 wrapped up today at Sinan Mansions in Shanghai. More than 100 performances by international artists have been staged for free to the public. Huang Yuan'qing reports.

Three Dutch performers were busy working on the costumes and props for the show. One of the highlights is Saurus, a show featuring two stilt walkers dressed up as dinosaurs walking around.

  HUANG YUANQING, SHANGHAI "The performers have a number of ways to engage with people. Oh, here comes one. Let's see what he does."

SU TING, VISITOR "It really freaked me out when it was licking me and I'm glad it's not real, otherwise I wouldn't have known how to deal with it. I also gave it my beverage and hoped someone could help me out."

LISA LOUWERS, ACTRESS, SAURUS "First need to learn to walk on stilts, because that's very hard, you need to find a balance. After that you rehearse with the suits, and it's quite heavy, it's like 25 kilos. And then it's very big, so there is weight in the front and weight in the back, and then you have to learn to control it and to see what you can do with the head, so it needs a lot of practice before you can perform this."

The festival also includes Chinese performers. Famous artist Ma Liang set up a large puppet installation about a pilot in the age of steam to show his understanding of Western philosophy.

SUN HAO, PRODUCER, MA LIANG STUDIO "This giant puppet called Xi Xi Fu, which originated from the Greek myth Sisyphus, who was forced to roll a rock to the top of a mountain over and over as a punishment from the gods. So Ma created the puppet and gave it a Chinese name to make it relatable to a Chinese audience."

These performances have been held at 15 sites around Sinan Mansions with half of them by artists from abroad including countries like France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

STELLA ZHENG, BRANDING DIRECTOR OF SINAN MANSIONS "We chose all the performances according to four standards: interactivity, less lines, visualization and multiple angles. Since the artists come from different countries, we hope people can communicate directly with art and without any language barriers." 

Some award-winning plays also made their Shanghai debuts at the festival. This included the "Last Dance of Brigitte" from a Spanish troupe that won the top prize at the Dutch international puppet festival. The performance schedule is available every morning on Sinan Mansions' Wechat account. HUANG YUANQING, ICS FOR CGTN, SHANGHAI.