Celebrate Lunar New Year in Taishun and witness the only marionette show that uses gunpowder!

Visit Taishun, Wenzhou during Lunar New Year for blessings and good fortune. In Zhangzhai Village, Sankui Town, Taishun County, the main deities worshipped are "Bixia Yuanjun" Chen Shisi Niangniang, Wang Qilao, and the ancestors of the Zhang clan. Gunpowder-powered marionettes, also known as "Qionghua Marionettes," originated as a firework acrobatics show during the Song Dynasties and are now a national intangible cultural heritage. Propelled by fireworks, the marionettes dance in the air. After the Spring Festival rituals, the people of Zhangzhai Village invite Wang Qilao, the ancestor of marionette theater, from Xuezhai Village, marking the official start of the marionette shows during the Lunar New Year period. On the 15th day of the first lunar month, ancestral sacrifices are made, and a communal feast is held. Near dusk, a procession heads to Linshui Palace for a sacrificial ceremony and to invite the gods. The village leaders carry three statues of Chen Shisi Niangniang (large, medium, and small) in three palanquins for a parade. Fireworks and firecrackers are set off, and the gunpowder-powered marionette show is performed.