We Found Them!

We have them now! We have located the source of the dreaded giant puppet heads! They are bred over in Taiwan and now Taiwan wants to export puppet chic to the world! Run for your lives.

HUWEI, Taiwan (Reuters) - Traffic stops every year in downtown Huwei, a city almost lost among the farms of central Taiwan, as some of the town's most celebrated citizens parade through the streets.

Some are giants. Others blue-suited aliens. And they are all puppets, operated by as many as 200 local troupes that generate a buzz in Huwei which officials hope to export around the world.

Huwei and surrounding Yunlin County aim to send the wooden, hand-powered celebs to the world stage. The silver screen is one part of the plan. Local tourism is the other.

"We hope the culture can mobilise industry," vice county commissioner Chiou Shang-chia said. "The government thinks that culture is an asset. You can say Yunlin is a cultural resource."

The county, whose puppetry legacy spans three centuries, launched a publicity drive last year by inviting foreign journalists to attend the parade.

Officials say they will invite foreigners every year to help stimulate tourism. Yunlin is also building a puppet museum which will offer weekend puppet shows.

Now we know where they came from. Maybe we can develop some sort of repellent spray.