While the Third China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Fair attracts tens of thousands of domestic and overseas visitors, nationally acclaimed artists also attended the fair Thursday for cultural exchanges and opportunities.

Yang Shuo, a manager from the China National Acrobatic Troupe (CNAT), brought English brochures showing their latest repertoires, including acrobatics, aerial acts, farces, vocal imitations and magic.

"One of our repertoires, the Spectacular Acrobatics, was performed to 450,000 audience members in France over four months last year," he told the Shenzhen Daily.

Founded in 1950 under the attention of late Premier Zhou Enlai, the CNAT is the first national acrobatic troupe in China.

The country's unique leather-silhouette show, an ancient form of story-telling and entertainment, also drew hundreds of interested visitors at the cultural fair Thursday.

The shadow show in China dates back to at least the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and may date back even earlier. One of the most famous shadow play troupes from Xiaoyi in Shanxi Province showed off their skills Thursday, with vividly colored puppets made of leather moved around on sticks and used to tell dramatic versions of traditional fairy tales and myths.

Song Yi, a spokesman for the performance department of the National Ballet of China (NBC) in Beijing, said ballet dancers are also keen to perform in Shenzhen at its newly reconstructed grand theater.

Representing the NBC, Song also wants to seek overseas performance opportunities at the annual cultural fair.

"I was told that the fair had invited cultural officials from dozens of countries, including Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States. It's always good to meet those officials and investors in an all-inclusive fair," he said.

The NBC, founded in 1959, is the country's most prestigious ballet group. Its repertoire includes world-acclaimed "Swan Lake," "Giselle," "Don Quixote," "Le Corsaire," "La Sylphide," "Sylvia" and other classical ballets. The NBC's symphony orchestra is also famed for its performances and offers its own concerts.

Editor: Yan