New World Manor, Shanghai: a 6-hour, ¥888 immersive show

Six hours, one ticket, one fixed date: 14 August 1945. The New World: Feast of the Broken Cage (《新世界：破笼之宴》) drops you into Shanghai on the eve of the Japanese surrender. Over the National Day holiday the ticket was ¥888 a person; the Shanghai tourism board's reference price is 799/888.

That price covers entry to Shanghai Film Park, the performance, costume hire and dinner. Around 70 NPCs run four main storylines and more than 100 side plots across three camps — intelligence bureau, gang, chamber of commerce — inside a 10,000 sq m theatre built from one main manor, four European-style villas and a lawn. Dinner is not an interval: the actors keep playing through it. Repeat visits are normal here. One visitor came back ten times and described a heavy comedown after each ending; the project counts more than 2,000 core players, one of whom has been 56 times.

The venue is 上海影视乐园 at 车亭公路211号 in Chedun, Songjiang — the west gate visitor centre is where you check in, and 影佳路366号 is the park's other listed address. Be there at least 30 minutes early for the role draw and costume change. Buy through 大麦网, then add the show's WeChat contact, which is how you book the shuttle coach from People's Square; you need to be on it by 13:30. Pregnant women, children under 14 and anyone with limited mobility are refused tickets.

The 2.0 version opened on 12 June, adding a French-style vintage cinema and a Shiliupu wharf steamer set, plus more than 30 physical puzzle mechanisms.

The clip that flagged this place carried only the hashtag #新世界庄园 — no price, no address, nothing bookable.

Seats go fast: the 1.0 run filled 100% of seats for 22 consecutive months, with more than 60% of the audience travelling from outside Shanghai. Compare the main booking sites before you fix a date.