In many cultures, puppets have been used to tell stories and folktales. Most forms of puppetry involve dolls controlled by puppeteers performing on a stage. In Vietnam, that stage is a pool of water.
The 1,000-year-old art of water puppetry began when farmers put on shows to entertain villagers during the rainy season when their fields were flooded.
These days shows are performed indoors with puppeteers standing waist-deep in water. The Thang Long Water Puppet Troupe in Hanoi is one of Vietnam's best theatre groups in water puppetry. The troupe won first prize at the Hanoi International Puppetry Festival in 2010. It has also travelled around the world staging shows and now it is in Hong Kong.
Their shows are a mix of folktales and modern stories from the lives of farmers in rural Vietnam.
Gliding on the surface of the pool, the puppets act out such daily activities as farming, catching fish and frolicking in the river.
A group of musicians provides traditional live music.