“Mayhem in the Crystal Palace” is the first part of the “Journey to the West” story series. The drama depicts a particular monkey born from a stone that later becomes a disciple of the Buddhist Master Puti and is named Sun Wu-kung. After acquiring supernatural powers, Sun Wu-kung returns to the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit only to find his fellow monkeys are chased and haunted by goblins. He defeats the goblins and makes a deal with the Bull Demon King to fight again in 10 days. Secretly contemplating that the battle against the Bull Demon King is an uphill battle as he has no suitable weapons, Sun Wu-kung decides to go underwater to the Crystal Palace in the East Sea to search for magic weapons. Despite the willingness of the Dragon King of the East Sea to lend Sun Wu-kung some weapons, Sun Wu-kung mischievously grabs an "iron pillar holding down the sea" from the underwater kingdom as his “Ruyi Jingu Bang”, a magically-expanding, gold-ringed iron rod weapon, and thus instigates a fierce fight with the Dragon King…

Special props were especially designed by the Taipei Puppet Theater to exhibit the beautiful world under the sea and the adorable marine animals. For superior theatrical effects, the performance was enhanced by modern special effects equipment and theatre lighting design. As such, in addition to spectacular martial arts and jumping puppets manipulated by puppeteers’ magical hands, Mayhem in the Crystal Palace also brings audiences a new visual experience.