As you may know, there are many shows in production for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China. Fujian's Quanzhou city got in on the act with its reputation for amazing stringed puppet shows. In honor of National Day, the troupe staged "The Inspector General" as one of the one-hundred shows of celebration chosen to perform in Beijing.

The stringed puppet show "The Inspector General" was staged at Beijing's Children's Theater for three consecutive nights from last Friday to Sunday.

The puppet show is adapted from Russian playwright Gogol's play, and the story has ben set in ancient China.

To the delight of the audience, a stringed puppet cannot only smoke, but do a lot of other vivid movements. The Quanzhou stringed puppet shows have been honored as the most difficult puppet performance around the world.

Wang Jingxian, drector of Quanzhou Puppet Troupe, said, "We adopt a hanging stage for performers to manipulate the puppets. The lines amount to four meters long. Together with the hanging stage, and you get a broadened visual effect."

The show boasts some special recipe compared to other puppet shows. Each of the puppets here have thirty-six lines attached to their body, while normal stringed puppets have only twenty lines.

More lines make the puppet move with more agility. The puppet figures can do stunts like ride a uni-cycle while wielding spears. The little puppets also can perform the lion dance.

The shows were well received by the Beijing audience. Both adults and children gave high praise for the little puppets' vivid portrayal of characters as well as for the beautiful stage set.

(CCTV September 22, 2009)