In the beautiful, blossoming Flower City, along the shimmering Pearl River, a dreamlike breeze passed over Guangzhou in midsummer. The 2016 Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Exchange Show — a project funded by the China National Arts Fund for 2015, sponsored by the Department of Arts of the Ministry of Culture, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and organised by the Guangdong Acrobats Association and Guangzhou Acrobatic Arts Theatre Co., Ltd. — was recently presented in Guangzhou. It drew more than 240 colleagues from the acrobatics world of Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and of nearly twenty provinces and cities across the country including Beijing, Shanghai, Liaoning, Gansu, Hebei, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei and Zhejiang, among them 162 performers, with 33 magic acts and four acrobatic acts. Old friends and new partners gathered in Guangzhou for the occasion and together witnessed new developments in magic across Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
"Forest Fantasy," the magic piece by Hu Linglong and An Na of Shenzhen, was grand and original, its plot full of humane concern. Moved by a wounded white-dove goddess, the hunter lays down the gun in his hands; to music full of tenderness, the magician produces nine white doves in turn, then two large blue-grey parrots and one large red parrot, and then two large peacocks. Withered trees put out green leaves and the gloomy forest comes back to life. Through the hunter's change from killing birds to protecting them, and through the act's theme and its characters, it conveys the civilised idea that animals are humankind's friends and that caring for them brings ecological harmony. Its exploration of subject matter, its innovative breakthroughs in magic props and its dramatic stage effects left a deep impression on the audience. "Dove Dance of Youth," performed by Chen Jinghong of Taiwan, was highly original in method, presenting from beginning to end a wholly new magic technique never before seen in the profession, which startled the experts present and brought surprise and inspiration to fellow magicians. The Gucai Xifa (classical Chinese magic) performed by Xu Yang of Beijing was vivid and full of old-time flavour on stage; young as he is, he was steady and composed, giving a sense of the unbroken transmission of traditional Chinese magic and of the historical responsibility of a new generation of magicians. "The Magic Monkey King," performed by Lü Zexian of Jiangsu, combined the magic of "face-changing" with elements of Peking Opera facial make-up on the one hand, and on the other combined the quick-witted, shape-shifting Monkey King of legend with the several role types of "sheng, mo, jing, dan and chou," set to classic arias; it moved from Monkey King to White Bone Demon and through sheng, mo, jing, dan and chou back to the Monkey King, then, after a "beheading," restored the Monkey King and returned to the performer's own form — a feat of magic "face-changing." The whole act had a clear rhythm and flowed smoothly, the "sheng, mo, jing, dan and chou" role types were performed very precisely, and the stage effect was excellent. "Dreamlike Raiment," performed by Zhu Xingtong and Zhu Xiaoqi of Gansu, used costume changes across many dynasties to display the elegance and beauty of dress culture in full, writing of the Han and Tang airs long past along the Silk Road. Aihemai and Zuli, the couple from Shenzhen, continued to break new ground with large-scale acts; their innovative piece "Phantom Traces," created specially for this exchange show, used bold imagination and large-scale production to make an object as big as a piano float and turn over on stage.
To better present new magicians and encourage new work, this exchange show added, for the first time, a dedicated showcase for rising magicians, intended to give the new generation a broad platform on which to display themselves fully, and an occasion for close exchange, mutual learning and rapid improvement. The youngest performer in this exchange show, Jia Wanying, is only seventeen this year; in her traditional card-changing act "Happy Girl," her sunny vigour conveyed the strength of youth and the wonder of magic. Fan Longxiang from Shijiazhuang, Hebei, performed "Artistic Conception," which in a short span displayed a wealth of magic technique and transformation: flowers from empty hands, cards from empty hands, flowers into silks, silks transformed, and cards produced. The rising Liaoning magician Li Junfeng performed the magic act "Dream of the Dancing Discs," in which we saw the courage and bold pursuit of a young magician, with a style willing to take on hard challenges through the transformations of the discs. From Macao came "Beauty You Can See," performed by the hearing-impaired magician He Junxian. We can see beauty — lakes and hills, a riot of colour; we can hear beauty — high mountains and flowing water, the song of orioles and birds. Yet a hearing-impaired person in a soundless world chose the magic branch of the acrobatic arts to challenge his own limits, and offered the audience a beauty that can be heard. That in itself was an unimaginable challenge, and it became one of the suspenseful moments of this exchange show; through it the audience witnessed something moving and stirring.
Close-up magic has the advantage of simple props and easy performance, and is especially popular among university students and white-collar workers. In recent years it has developed and spread considerably. In the close-up showcase we saw "Card Artistry · chick" by Jian Lunting of Taiwan: in a few short minutes this close-up act changed the pip values of the playing cards, their number and their colour, leaving people puzzled and mystified. In the magic act "Coin Fantasy," performed by Zhang Wei of Liaoning, several silver coins appeared and vanished, came and went under the magician's hands, very effectively embodying the appeal of close-up magic. "Card Fantasy," performed by Chen Zhichao from Hefei, Anhui, brought the audience surprise and reflection through countless transformations. Especially gratifying was that "traditional conjuring" and "Gucai Xifa," rich in traditional character, were both presented at this exchange show — which is to say that traditional magic, praised for its timeless appeal, is being taken seriously and inherited by a new generation of magicians.
Three outstanding acts that have won multiple international gold awards, including the "Golden Clown," the highest award in international circus, took part in the congratulatory performance for the 2016 Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Exchange Show: "Thirteen-Person Bowl Balancing" by the China National Acrobatic Troupe, "Zen · Martial Arts — Head-Balancing Skills" by Zhejiang Quyi and Acrobatics Troupe Co., Ltd., and "Spirit of the Terracotta Warriors · Unicycle Skills" by the Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe. Taiwan brought "Grand Martial Arts — Harvest," performed by members of a stunt troupe; built on traditional Chinese martial arts, it recreated the customs and regional flavour of Taiwan's ethnic minorities, with a grand scale and a joyful atmosphere, and drew a very warm response from the audience. It is worth mentioning that participation from Taiwan in this exchange show was very enthusiastic.
The acts of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Exchange Show also went on to give six public-benefit performances in succession — at the South China University of Technology auditorium in Guangzhou's university town, in Shenzhen's Nanshan District, at the Ma Sicong Art Centre in Shanwei, in Jieyang, in Shantou's Haojiang District and on the central stage of the culture square in Longchuan County — and were warmly welcomed by local audiences. Everywhere they went, the audiences' enthusiasm for these public-benefit performances of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao–Taiwan Magic Exchange Show far exceeded what anyone had imagined. The weather was hot and some theatres had no air conditioning; some in the audience watched stripped to the waist, while on stage sweat ran down the performers, and in acts with heavy costumes their clothes were soaked through — yet none of this in the least affected the meticulous, serious way they approached their performances. Audience members who had seen the shows all praised, with one voice, the good policy of public-benefit performances set out by the China National Arts Fund, saying again and again that performances of this kind, which serve and benefit the people, fully embody "a festival of art, a holiday for the people," and that the more of them the better. Indeed, art that comes from the people and returns to the people will be all the more full of vitality.