A puppeteer holds a cloth puppet show, or budai xi, for an audience of men, women, and children on a sidewalk outside Longshan Temple in Taipei.
Cloth puppetry is a traditional Taiwanese art form performed in celebration of Chinese New Year. The puppets are made of colorful cloth, have painted faces, and hold spears, swords, and other implements.
The puppeteer grasps them from underneath over his head and at eye level while presenting dramatic stories using animated movements and boisterous speech expressing humor, fighting, resolution, sadness, and other relatable scenes and emotions.
He takes and replaces characters from the stand beside him as the show progresses.