A 50-minute drive northwest of downtown, Beijing, a village pops up. It    1    (house) a shadow puppetry troupe (皮影戏剧团) and Beijing Long zaitian Shadow Puppet Theater.

Shadow puppetry is seen    2    the prequel (先行篇) to film and animation in China. Besides performances    3     (create) by light and shadow, performers must master a    4    (vary) skill set as the plays combine painting, carving, opera and literature. But due to low revenue and a small market, young people are unwilling     5    (learn) shadow puppetry.

    6    , this particular troupe stands out from the crowd. Average performer age is only 25. Moreover, of the 300 performers    7    has trained over the years, many are under 1.4 m in    8    (high). In 2021, the team created Winter Olympics-themed shadow pupets. The troupe also staged different plays    9    (introduce) ice and snow sports through fairy tales.

“    10    (fortunate), we have these people. They have been devoted to the inheritance of shadow puppetry for over a decade,”said Wang Xi, inheritor of Beijing Western School Shadow Puppetry.