The Chinese answer to the Edinburgh Arts Festival, the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, is back this October. The annual international extravaganza, which takes place in the historic water town in east China's Zhejiang Province, says this year's festival will be even bigger and packed with more surprises. Our reporter Luo Chen went to Wuzhen to give us a sneak peek.

In spite of the sizzling July temperature, crowds flock to the 2000-year-old water town in record numbers.

Comes October, Wuzhen literally turns into one of the hottest destinations, drawing in tourists as well as theater enthusiasts and professionals from around the globe.

From October 18th to 28th, the sixth edition of the festival will stage a total of 109 performances by 27 productions. The organizers have promised more diversity this year, selecting productions from five continents and featuring a variety of styles. Renowned theatre director Stan Lai, one of the founders of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, is proud of introducing more experimental works to this year's program.

The soaring popularity of the festival has made it a magnet for the world's top-notch theatre troupes. This year's headliner includes the Moscow Art Academic Theatre in Russia and Hamburg Thalia Theatre in Germany. Stan Lai is amazed by the international reputation of Wuzhen Theatre Festival.