The 24th China Shanghai International Arts Festival featured 58 stage productions, over 90% of which had their Shanghai premieres. World‑renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, and Mariinsky Orchestra delivered masterful interpretations of classical repertoire, while conductors including Valery Gergiev and Christian Thielemann, alongside opera star Renée Fleming, graced the stage in succession. Eleven productions, including the Bayerische Staatsoper's The Flying Dutchman, the Stuttgart Ballet's Romeo and Juliet, and the festival‑co‑produced revival of Pina Bausch's Kontakthof – Echoes of '78 (a reimagining of her iconic 1978 work), staged their only China stop. At the same time, Shaanxi People's Art Theatre presented five major plays – Protagonist, Starry Sky and Half a Tree, White Deer Plain, The Ordinary World, and The Book of Life – as resident performances in Shanghai, alongside a splendid array of “Shanghai Originals” such as the ballet Lily, the final season of the stage play Blossoms, and the Pingtan (storytelling‑singing) piece Shanghai Wonton, all vividly showcasing the city's vibrant culture. On the festival stage, Oriental charm and international flair complemented each other perfectly.