A sparkling opening performance at the festival by a "hippie" puppet dancing Gangnam style, from Taiwan-based Chu Luo Shan Puppet Troupe, wowed the audience.

Still, Wu Wan-cheng, director of the troupe, has some concerns. Most of his repertoire is adapted from ancient Chinese literature, while European performances are closer to people's daily life and mass entertainment, Wu says.

"Western troupes rely more on individual performances rather than large groups, which is more flexible to develop new shows."

Nevertheless, Wang considers group performances have their own advantages, creating incomparable scenes onstage and help to nurture high-level professionals on a larger scale.

Though it is the city's fourth time holding such a festival, it has been 15 years since the last one. Wang says he is embarrassed by the delay, but optimistic about the future.

"We're glad to see the government's cultural consciousness grow fast in recent years, which gives much more room for revival of traditional culture," Wang says.

A new marionette theater, covering more than 10,000 square meters, has just opened this year in the city, which is expected to bring more than 300 performances annually. The puppet art has been included in the syllabus of local elementary schools.

"Puppetry is a medium that now opens to all forms of art," says Jacques Trudeau, secretary-in-general of International Union of Marionette, a UNESCO affiliate.

"Technical aspects of Chinese puppetry are very well done," he adds, noting that the art is also evolving here after exposure to other forms.

"It's very important for adolescents to continue to go to theaters to get such reality, which film cannot give," he says.