Chinese girl aims to widen audience for traditional puppet show

Located in the south of Zhejiang province's Wenzhou, Pingyang county is the hometown of the amazing provincial intangible cultural heritage: the Pingyang puppet show.

The show has a long history and remains profitable. Aside from traditional theatrical pieces, modern shows with foreign features can also be seen on the stage. The Pingyang Puppetry Troupe (currently Pingyang Puppetry Protection and Inheritance Center) is the oldest puppetry troupe in China specializing in children's plays.

The puppets are delicate and vivid. Most of their joints and facial parts can move freely, allowing them to do almost anything: serve tea, sing and dance… a piece of cake.

Yet, behind all of that are the skillful hands of the puppeteers.

"Manipulating a puppet is like playing the piano," says Lin Si, 24. "Attached to your 10 fingers are more than 30 threads. Every single movement of the joints, the eyes and the mouth, is for you to control."

Lin is a new-generation puppeteer of the Pingyang puppet show. Her father, a member of the troupe, used to take her to see the troupe's performance when she was younger. "I found puppetry very interesting, yet never expected to be sent to study in Shanghai Theatre Academy."