Li Fan, director of the theater and drama department at the Shaanxi Opera House and Xi'an Concert Hall, said, "We've attracted more audiences this year after the city was hit hard by the pandemic."

In December, a monthlong lockdown was introduced in Xi'an, the Shaanxi provincial capital.

"From February to June, we saw a rise of about 30 percent in our newly registered audience members-more than ever before," Li Fan said.

From June 10 to 18, the Chinese play Hello Rob!, directed by Rao Xiaozhi, was staged at the Xi'an venue to full houses, mainly comprising newcomers.

Li Fan said, "As the play premiered in Xi'an in 2003, we thought that audiences coming to watch it this time would include some of our old fans. To our surprise, many new supporters came to see the production.

"Even though they may not be familiar with the play, they're coming to see it as a show, as a form of entertainment."

This month, the Xi'an venue also launched a series of talk shows in conjunction with leading domestic standup comedy enterprise Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media Co.

Xu Zhisheng, a popular talk show performer, gave three shows during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, all of them selling out within minutes.

Li Fan said the local government also offers low-priced tickets to attract audiences back to theaters.

Meanwhile, the Strawberry Music Festival, the biggest outdoor music gathering in China, has announced its return.

The festival will be held simultaneously on July 2 and 3 in Wanning, a coastal city in Hainan province, and Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province. The lineup for Wanning features a total of 22 artists and bands, including New Pants, Dada and Jiulian Zhenren.

Song Jia, manager of Jiulian Zhenren, a four-piece rock band from Lianping county, Guangdong, said: "The upcoming Strawberry Music Festival will be our first performance at an outdoor music festival this year. Like our audiences, we have been anticipating the shows for some time."