Last year, Beijing People's Art Theatre participated in the Shanghai festival as the company in residence and presented five productions alongside a series of public educational events.

Encouraged by the positive public response, this year the Shaanxi People's Art Theatre has taken residence at the festival. It will present five plays, four of which are adapted from recipient novels of the Mao Dun Literature Award, arguably the most prominent literary prize in China. All four plays — White Deer Plain, Protagonist, The Book of Life, and The Ordinary World — feature realistic social themes and highlight Shaanxi's distinctive aesthetics, according to Li Xuan, president of the company.

The fifth production, Starry Sky and Half a Tree, is the company's latest creation, which premiered at the Shangyin Opera House on Tuesday. Adapted from the novel of the same title by Chen Yan, a renowned writer from the province, it shares the life and conflicts of a village in the Qinling Mountains.

With the opening of the largest exhibition of artworks from Guangdong province at the Shanghai Art Museum on Oct 18, the festival kicked off a new initiative this year — the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Culture Week.