Sacred Space in Taipei. By Robin Ruizendaal.

Lin Jinlian is a Daoist priest who performs rituals with the marionette puppet of the demon slayer Zhong Kui. Photography by Chao Yuanpin.

The Toa-Thiun-Thian Puppet Center i in the old quarter of Taipei is a private organization aimed at promoting Taiwanese and other Asian puppet theatre. The centre has a unique collection of over 4000 puppet theatre artifacts and arranges exhibitions and performances all over the world. The multi-national staff of nine includes puppeteers, carvers, museum experts and designers. The centre closely works with puppet theatre companies in Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia and India. In October and November of 2003 the company will tour in Spain and Central America for one month.

Robin Ruizendaal majored in Sinology at Leiden University in the Netherlands and wrote his PhD dissertation on Chinese marionette theater. Currently he is the director of the Toa-Thiun-Thian Puppet Center.