The third bi-annual Yunlin Interna-tional Festival of Puppetry was officially launched at the Red Theater in Shimenting yesterday. The festival, which will be held in Yunlin in central Taiwan, promises to "shake and astonish the martial scene" -- a phrase often used in the martial-arts drama of traditional hand-puppet shows.
"After touring worldwide and giving 40-some performances, I know that Taiwanese puppetry is extremely welcome abroad. I am pleased that this year we will be able to share our art at home in Yunlin," puppet master Chong Ren-bi (
Featuring 11 acts from nine foreign countries and 23 local acts, the festival will be the largest ever, with the most international participants. Events include a historical exhibition on the development of Taiwan's hand-puppet art form from the 8th to the 25th of this month, and performances scheduled from the 9th to the 15th.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Two groups from China were denied passage to Taiwan by the Beijing government at the last minute, Yunlin's Government Information Office representative Lin Meng-yi (
Council for Cultural Affairs Chairman Chen Chi-nan (
"This is a constructive integration of culture with education and tourism," he said.
Yunlin is the birthplace of Taiwan's most treasured puppet characters, and was home to more than 200 puppet troupes in its golden era, Vice County Governor Chang Ching-liang (張清良) said.
Chen, who is of Hakka descent, said that he learned the language as well as historical legends by watching puppet shows as a child. He criticized past actions by the Government Information Office to broadcast puppet shows on public television with a dubbed Mandarin soundtrack.
"Whether the history we learned was correct or not, the puppet show is a part of Taiwanese collective memory," Government Information Office Chairman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
The 105-year-old puppeteer Huang Hai-dai (
"I feel a sense of accomplishment," said Huang's son Huang Jun-hsiung (
"Having dedicated my life to puppetry, I am very honored to know that the president and the international community are doing so much to promote the art form," he said.
Because of limited local language resources in Yunlin, the national Council for Cultural Affairs helped county organizers to acquire the services of translators, Lin Meng-yi said.
A call for fewer than 20 volun-teers attracted hundreds of college students nationwide. Those chosen have undergone training with the council, and will live with international puppet troops as translators and guides.
Lin Meng-yi said that, although more can be done to attract overseas puppeteers to the festival, the growing number of foreign troupes showed a blossoming relationship with the international community.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS