Since the 11th century, when the rice fields would flood in Vietnam, the villagers used to fashion wooden puppets over the water creating shows for story telling and entertainment. This tradition survives today through the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater in Hanoi and is a marvel to witness. Dragons, kings and queens float in lacquered wood on the surface of a shallow pond while a live orchestra plays and puppeteers hide behind screens in the dark theater.
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