Featured Chinese Productions & Cultural Events at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025

Cardstock

BL web novelist Mae is about to publish her first print book, but censorship forces her to revise it – triggering backlash from her obsessive fan Lily. As Lily’s buried trauma surfaces, Mae’s fantasy world begins to unravel, growing increasingly surreal and absurd. Drawn into the same interrogation room by surveillance and fate, the two women slowly build a fragile trust. This is a story about internet fringe culture, gender identity and female desire. It’s a torrent of images including abandoned manuscripts, folded posters and paper-thin characters. They attempt to rewrite a creased cardstock between fiction and reality.

Location：Clover Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court
Date： August 11-16
Time： 11:20 （approx. 60mins）
Ticket： https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/cardstock

©️Qiao Zhang & Chang Liu

Invisible Space

Invisible Space is an immersive headphone theatre experience using silent disco technology, inspired by the ancient Chinese tale The Legend of the White Snake. Imagining what might have happened to BAI Suzhen after XU Xian's death, we re-examine the story's portrayal of great love. Blending mythology with experimental theatre, Awful Shoes Collective invites audiences to become active participants. Through wireless headphones, spectators are immersed in a vivid soundscape of voice, music and movement. This intimate, interactive experience transforms mythology into a shared ritual – where presence, connection and reimagined love stories come alive.

Location：Just The Spare Room at Just the Tonic at The Caves
Date: 2,3,8,9 August 2025
Time: 11:40 （approx. 60mins）
Ticket: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/invisible-space

©️ Awful Shoes Collective Production

Tango in Silk

Tango in Silk is a cross-cultural duet blending the sensual intensity of Argentine tango with the refined elegance of Chinese classical dance. Inspired by 1930s Shanghai, this piece explores themes of longing, cultural dislocation, and romantic duality through lyrical movement and vivid visual storytelling.

The choreography evokes both tension and tenderness—where the curve of a wrist in qipao silk meets the pulse of a tango beat. At once intimate and dramatic, it is a fleeting encounter that leaves a lasting impression.

A striking fusion of East and West. Dance, drama, and identity unfold in just one unforgettable act.

Location：C aurora (main house) Lauriston Halls, 28 Lauriston Street, Edinburgh EH3 9DJ
Date: 2 August 2025
Time: 18:45 (5mins)

©️ Photo Credit: Wan & Kelly Lin, Poster Design: Qiqi Zhang

Bond - Age

Starting from the idea of bondage as a metaphor, the piece of physical theatre 'Bond-Age' explores pain and pleasure, bonds and restrictions in relationships, not only between lovers, but also between family members, between an individual and his/her home country or the society, between one and his/her self or gender role. Are we tied down to/by anything or anyone?

Would it be better to be tied down, or to be completely free? "We are bound to play", characterized by multi-genre dance and original music, the play is bound to be sensuous, symbolic and experimental.

Location：Muse at Braw Venues @ Hill Street
Date 1-8 August 2025
Time 20:50 （approx. 40mins）
Ticket: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/bond-age

©️Bond-Age Production

The Bear Child

The Bear Child is a lively, non-verbal, parent/child drama that blends dance, mime and comedy to portray the joys and chaos of family life. A mischievous child’s imagination turns the home into a playground, while parents balance love, discipline and understanding. With humour and physical storytelling, this inclusive performance allows both children and adults to see themselves in the story. A fun and heartwarming experience for all ages, this show breaks language barriers and speaks directly to the heart.

Location：Fleming Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall
Date 11-16 August 2025
Time 9:20 （approx. 45mins）
Ticket: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-bear-child

©️Beijing Baxun Cultural Media Co., LTD

Chinese Culture Week

Chinese Culture Week is an intercultural initiative that brings Chinese artists, creators, educators, and performers to one of the world’s largest arts festivals—the Edinburgh Fringe. First launched in 2024, CCW is designed not just as a showcase, but as a platform for meaningful cultural dialogue between China and the rest of the world. Through theatre, exhibitions, workshops, and live performances, CCW offers a rare opportunity to experience Chinese culture not as a monolith, but as a dynamic, evolving conversation.

Location：King‘s Hall
Date: 1-10 August 2025
www.chinesecultureweek.com
For workshop details: https://mujian.co.uk/events/category/fringe-workshops/

©️Xuecen Zhao, Stella Liang