Revisit childhood at a puppet museum in Taipei

Over the years, mass entertainment has pushed puppet theatre to the fringes and performances of this sublime art form are rare. But a museum in Taipei is striving to present the charm and craftsmanship of Asian puppets. Through exhibitions and performances, the museum is finding new ways to win back the audience. On Today's Style Watch, we take you across the Straits, and checks out one's museum's dedication to the art of puppetry.

In downtown Taipei, you can rediscover a little bit of your Childhood at the Lin Liu-hsin Puppet Museum.

With eight thousand puppets in it's collection, the Museum displays a the heritage of a multitude of Asian cultures. The exhibits include Taiwan's own Budaixi or glove puppets, which have a history more evolutionary than most. These puppets crossed from Fujian in the 17th century and ended up being used in flashy productions on Taiwan's small screen. The museum celebrates many traditional Asian puppets, through examples such as Chinese string, Cambodian shadow and Vietnamese water puppets.

The museum is manned by Dutch sinologist Dr. Robin Erik Ruizendaal, whose fascination with puppetry goes back more than twenty years. He found the best way to know China is through the realm of puppetry.