String puppets come to Beijing

The Quanzhou string puppet. It is the heart of a time honored art in east China's Fujian province. The puppet is regarded as the most difficult in the world to manipulate. There are over two thousand years of history behind the Quanzhou puppet. Performers of the art staged a drama for the Beijing audience Tuesday night.

The puppet show "The Inspector General" is adapted from Gogol's satiric novel. There are no performers on stage, only puppets. It's a reform that Quanzhou performers have brought the puppet to the theatre.

The puppets are able to execute complex moves, like smoking the long stem Chinese pipe. There are more strings around here than in any ordinary puppet show. An ordinary puppet normally is furnished with about 20-strings. Puppets in this show have three dozen. All main joints can be controlled. The most challenging aspect for show's performers: they handle puppets with strings three meters long.

The strings on other types of puppets normally are less than a meter. Managing the strings of the Quanzhou puppet and keeping them from becoming entangled, requires the hand of a master.