Xie Bangyin (R), head of Qixin puppet troupe, performs with troupe members in Dazhu Village of Tangfang Township in Guangchang County, east China’s Jiangxi Province, Aug. 10, 2022. Tangfang puppetry is an opera in which artists perform stories with puppets. The puppetry was listed as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in 2013. In 1997, Xie Bangyin, a folk puppeteer from Tangfang, founded Qixin Puppet Troupe with fellow puppeteers. During festivals and important events, local villages would invite the troupe to perform puppetry. Over the past 25 years, the troupe has given more than 3,500 performances.
