Thang Long Water Puppet Show

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About Thang Long Water Puppet Show

The Thang Long Water Puppet Show is a Vietnamese cultural experience that is on most visitor's itinerary to Hanoi. The puppet theatre is located at Dinh Tien Hoang Street, on the north end of the Lake of the Returned Sword, Ho Hoan Kiem.

The art of water puppetry came as the result of having too much free time. Developed by the rice farmers when the rice fields are flooded, water puppetry was a folk art that would have died with time twenty years ago, if not for a recent cultural revival that brought it back to life. The result not only resuscitated the art, it also provided an avenue to earn much needed hard cash for Vietnam's fledgling tourism industry.

Having experience the folk art of different Asian countries, I do enjoy the water puppet performance, although what we saw at Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre has been spiced up for tourists, with the accompaniment of a traditional orchestra and narration in English. As I watched it, I cannot help wishing for the opportunity to watch a similar show perhaps somewhere in the Vietnamese countryside, away from all the city embellishments, to see it in all its simplicity, in its true nature.

Getting there

Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is located on 57 Dinh Tien Hoang Street, on the northern bank of Ho Hoan Kiem, a short distance from the Hanoi Fountain. Its front faces Ly Thai To Street.