An ongoing exhibition featuring celebrated foreign artists like Damien Hirst, Marina Abramovic and Ann Hamilton may help raise Wuzhen's profile. Deng Zhangyu reports in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.

The ancient water town of Wuzhen in East China's Zhejiang province is the hottest art stage in China, and a number of star artists from across the world are attending a festival of sorts here.

The Wuzhen International Contemporary Art Exhibition, which opened on Sunday, has on display about 130 works from 40 influential artists, including Damien Hirst, Marina Abramovic (known as the "grandmother" of performance art), Ann Hamilton, Olafur Eliasson, Ai Weiwei and Xu Bing.