A performer manipulates the puppetry during a shadow puppetry performance in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 3, 2011. Chinese shadow puppetry has been added to the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, according to a statement of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Nov. 27. Chinese shadow puppetry is a form of theatre whereby colourful silhouette figures perform traditional plays against a back-lit cloth screen, accompanied by music and singing. Puppeteers make the figures from leather or paper and manipulate them by means of rods to create the illusion of moving images. The puppeteers' skills of simultaneously manipulating several puppets, improvisational singing, and playing various musical instruments are handed down in families and troupes.