Going beyond puppets on a string

Experts weigh in on what needs to be done to boost children's theater in China. Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai.

Children's theater is gaining popularity in Shanghai as parents increasingly look to the stage as a source of meaningful entertainment for their kids.

As a result, the Shanghai Children's Art Theater has become a favored venue for such productions. Opened in 2013, 80 percent of the shows presented at this theater are from other countries, indicating the demand for foreign plays in the Chinese metropolis, says the theater's general manager Christine Liang.