Local villagers participate in  Farming Ritual, a dance piece choreographed by Myra Chu (in black dress). [Photo by Wu Xiaohui/China Daily]

The theme of this particular event was "festival", and, at the opening ceremony, a school from Weifang brought an original drama called Nianyue, to commemorate Chang'e, the Chinese goddess of the moon and her husband Hou Yi.

A farmer from the area performed a local opera accompanied by the troupe that he established five years ago. Myra Chu performed her dance, Farmland Ritual in a field where the ground was covered with ears of corn.

The drama festival-held twice a year in spring and fall-is also known as the "Village Reviving Drama Experiment" and was inaugurated in 2016 by a young local, Mu Changfei, when he gave up the big city life and returned to his hometown.