by Xinhua writer Wang Xue
CAIRO， June 27 (Xinhua) -- With cheerful Arab-styled music， a famous puppet character leading his puppet donkey opened a night show on an open-air stage， attracting hundreds of children and their parents in the cool summer night.
In the yard of the Opera House in Cairo， the old-styled puppets， including a cute lion， three naughty kids， and a pretty belly dancer， injected some magic to the show named "The Grand Night，" and also brought back Egyptians' childhood memories of the old days without modern entertainment.
"I can never forget those happy moments when I was young. My parents brought me to puppet shows at night， and I loved the music and the puppets，" Asmaa， a mother of two， told Xinhua.
"That was also the reason why I bring my children here tonight， and they enjoy it so much，" she said. "This show is a kind of healthy entertainment for children."
Behind the iridescent front stage， the puppet team was busy operating those living characters， while others were working at the lights and music.
As an ancient art form， puppets were used in Egypt as early as 2000 BC， when string-operated figures of wood were manipulated to perform the actions of kneading bread.
Nowadays， the ancient art doesn't fade from people's life， though there are high-tech toys and digital gadgets of entertainment. The decorative puppets still have a haunted attraction.
"The story of Grand Night comes from an Egyptian popular folklore，" one of the puppet artists， Yassir Abdel-Maqsoud， told Xinhua.
"Thanks to the Culture Ministry， the Opera House yard hosts for free all over the month Egyptian traditional folklore performances， including the puppet show and other shows that pull people away from their TV sets and mobile phones and enjoy the ancient art，" said Maqsoud， with a little girl puppet in his hands dancing with music.
He also told Xinhua that his team once performed in China and that he appreciates the culture exchanges and interaction with his counterparts around the world.
"I am proud of my career，" Maqsoud said.
For Mai Mohab， the director and puppet designer of the Cairo Puppet Theater， puppet art has become a part of her life.
"I learned from a famous puppet designer in Egypt， who is also the designer for today's show，" she said. "I am trying to create more interesting puppet stories to adjust the old art to modern life."
The young artist， also a mother of two daughters， told Xinhua that "it's a great feeling when you focus on the puppet show. Though I have two kids to take care of， I still make every effort in this job， because I want to provide a kind of good value and healthy entertainment for children."
"We， as workers in theater， are far from getting rich by devoting ourselves to puppetry， but we are the successors of the brilliant art，" she said. "We treasure those beloved puppets."
With cheers and applauses， "The Grand Night" came to its end. Children lingered on， singing and dancing on the soft grass， hard to say goodbye to the unforgettable story.
"I came here with my sister， brother， and family， and we came here in two successive days just because we love it，" a 13-year-old girl， Alaa Magdy， said.
"My dream is to learn how to make the greatest puppet dolls in the world，" Magdy said， beaming.
BEIJING， June 27 (Xinhua) -- Profits of China's major industrial firms rose 3.7 percent year on year in May， 0.5 percentage points lower than that recorded in April， official data showed on Monday.
Profits of industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan (about 3.1 million U.S. dollars) totaled 537 billion yuan last month， the National Bureau of Statistics said.
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