"Since the premiere of Era, the world of live entertainment has come a long way," says Yu, noting that the most important development in the industry is that shows have become more theatrical.

"In the past, our performers just had to focus on accomplishing the act flawlessly, but now they need to engage the audience, play a convincing role, and make people really love them," he adds.

To achieve this, the troupe occasionally invites professional theater actors to train its performers. In 2018, the company created a new circus production Dawn of Shanghai, which is based on the story of the army led by the Communist Party of China taking over Shanghai in 1949 and fighting against remnants of the Kuomintang that were attempting to sabotage the main power plant in the city. The show was the opening performance of China Shanghai International Arts Festival in 2019.

"It was a circus production with a solid story," Yu says. "The production was successful, and our team gained great experience from the creating process."

Among the performers of this milestone show was Zhang Hongyuan, who says theatricality has always been the biggest challenge for him.

"I am confident of performing every flip, twist and aerial movement. I have no fear on a 6-meter pole," he says. "But in building emotional connections with the audience and really touching their hearts, I still have much room for improvement."

Zhang says the experience of being part of Dawn of Shanghai was inspiring and it helped those involved better prepare for Era 2.