Edinburgh's festival season is made up of several separate events – the International Festival, the Fringe and the Television Festival are the best-known. 

In August on the Scottish capital's historic Royal Mile, performers jostle to hand out flyers and promote their shows to an audience bombarded by thousands of plays, concerts and recitals to choose from. 

It's a tough market, and one company of young performers has been hitting the streets harder than most, in a bid to drum up an audience. 

Beijing's Central Academy of Drama has been staging Zhuangzi's Dream, an ethereal reimagining of China's age-old folk story about a man who dreams he is a butterfly. Audiences are a mix of Chinese and western, and the show has been hugely well received. 

"Some of the audiences have been so moved by the play, they've burst into tears," performer Li Yuxuan explains, as she treads the streets of Edinburgh handing out flyers. "We've had many good reports."

Ge Yuanliang is the director. He's weaved the well-known story into a dramatic re-telling, incorporating traditional Chinese storytelling, such as shadow puppetry, elaborate costumes and dramatic lighting. 

But there's something new about this show. It explores the central character's relationship with his wife, his family and his peers, in a way that feels fresh and modern. 

"Everybody knows what a Chinese show is," he says. "But it's not just opera, not just puppetry, it's not just talking. We combine all the elements together, to really showcase Chinese culture.

Zhuangzi's Dream poses a fundamental question. A man wakes up, having had a strange dream. Now he's not sure whether he's a man who dreamt he was a butterfly or a butterfly that's dreaming it's a man. 

It's an existential puzzle that's ingrained in every Chinese schoolchild, thanks to Zhuangzi. And it's these cultural gems that let nations glimpse each other's soul.

Music and plays

And it's not just theater. Over at the International Festival, China's National Center for the Performing Arts is offering up its orchestra to delight audiences. 

Under the guidance of maestro Myung-Whun Chung, the Chinese musicians are proffering a heady mix of classical music, focusing on the work of French composer Saint-Saëns and showcasing international award-winning pianist Bruce Liu. 

Chung says the plurality of performers really helps the music: "That's what binds us together. Chinese musicians, with French musicians, is exactly right for this music. We are all servants of this music, and we are all equal servants."

On the surface, it shouldn't matter what nationality the musicians are, but pianist Liu thinks nationality goes to the very heart of the music itself. 

"If you eat spicy food or if you're from the north or the south, it affects your personality," he says. "Some people can be more refined, some others more emotional, some more intellectual. 

"All that lifestyle shapes the music. Music comes from the brain and from the hands, and these are shaped by our backgrounds."

There are dozens of Chinese plays at this year's festival, from children's shows to stand-up comedians. The China Europe Culture Innovation Forum is responsible for promoting Chinese culture to a western audience, and has set up camp in Edinburgh. 

"We believe these works express the Chinese people's hopes and aspirations for life," says Xue Baichuan, who heads up the organization. "Because there are significant differences between Eastern and Western thought and culture, we allow the world to see that China also has so many remarkable insights and excellent works."

The binding and bonding of cultures is what the Edinburgh Festival is all about. And it keeps people flocking to learn stories of far-away lands – stories that stay with us long after the curtain falls.