New theaters raising the bar for quality acts

Performing arts centers are springing up all over China, but audience demand for quality means a greater investment into the cash-strapped industry is desperately needed, reports Zhang Kun in Shanghai.

Big investment is pouring into live show productions, and new theaters have sprouted like mushrooms in the second- and third-tier cities of China. As the theater world takes its "great leap forward", quality has become the winning ticket.

Wu Promotion, one of China's first private performing arts promoters and event organizers operating since 1991, has found that more venues with state-of-the-art theaters are being built in China's second- and third-tier cities. And the public has become more appreciative, raising their demand for quality, according to Zenaida des Aubris, director of International Relations for Wu Promotion Co. Ltd.