The art of water puppetry is one of Vietnam’s oldest forms of entertainment and has kept its people captivated for over 1,000 years. Visit Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city, and you, too, can be awed by these magnificent puppetry performances. The shows are exactly as they’re named: puppet shows over water. And, so much more… Spectacles are enriched by chéo (or traditional opera), music, lights, firecrackers and even fire, especially when a mythical dragon makes an appearance. Keep an eye out for Teu, a carefree farmer, who appears in every show to guide you through tales of daily life and keep Vietnamese folklore alive. And with a name that means “laughter” in ancient Vietnamese, he’s bound to bring on a belly full of laughs.

Water puppetry originated in the rice paddies of northern Vietnam gaining the nickname, “Soul of the Rice Fields,” at a time when farmers thought that spirits controlled their crops. After the end of the harvest, farmers would use bamboo figures to entertain the spirits (and prevent them from making mischief) on ponds and paddy fields. Today, you’ll find modern puppeteers hiding behind an imitation pagoda and standing waist-deep in water-filled containers created to resemble a traditional Vietnamese village. And it’s from here where puppeteers master elaborately decorated wooden puppets—some as heavy as 33 pounds—using bamboo rods hidden beneath the water.

If you want to recreate some marionette magic during bath time back home, you’re unlikely to source any secrets from these Vietnamese puppet masters. That’s because in a world where “water is thicker than blood,” puppeteers are prepared to break family ties in order to keep their techniques under wraps. Not just under water!