In fact Liu Qian's TV magic show premiered two years ago on South East Television, but it was the eight minutes in the CCTV Spring Festival Party that won him instant fame. The executive editor-in-chief of Acrobatic and Magic, Xu Qiu, explains his big break, "The party used to allot three to four minutes for a magic segment, but Liu got an unprecedented eight!" According to the same poll mentioned earlier, 64 percent of respondents suddenly discovered their latent interest in magic the night they witnessed Liu's micro-stagemanship. "Instead of a clever and distracting performance manipulating big stage props, Liu allowed close-ups of his sleights-of-hand, which was new to audiences on the mainland. His obvious skill and charm made the segment more attractive than previous years," Xu added.

Maintaining the illusion through close-ups demands extreme dexterity. Magicians usually use common smaller things like balls, coins, rings, or poker chips as props for these sleights-of-hand. "In this specialty, the frame of the close-up is as critical as the grand machinations of a stage-sized ritual, in fact the stage fell out of favor with Chinese magicians in about 1950," said a professional who demanded anonymity. "Some of these shows remained unchanged for half a century. But you know, the tired old tricks with fishing, pigeons, and handkerchiefs just left audiences longing for a fresh take on the art. I have watched Liu's large-scale tricks, and find these stage performances just so so."

For those who'd rather do than watch, the Magic Base Camp also teaches magic. "We were lucky to find out the instructional video for Liu Qian's magic right after the appearance that made him famous," recounts a salesperson surnamed Zhang. So many customers demanded to learn right in the store, his friend and boss, Cui, asked him to show up and help sell magic paraphernalia. "Business used to be bad. In the last week before Spring Festival, we sold three or four items a day, which meant less than 100 bucks profit," recalled Cui. "But since Liu Qian made magic fashionable, our turnover has reached RMB 3,000 a day. Especially in February, many guys came in here to learn magic tricks as a Valentine surprise."

Showing a customer a few tricks at Magic Base Camp, Beijing.

For the 20-plus magic stores in Beijing, the sales volume in general is two or three times that of last year. Average daily sales have reached RMB 2,500, some days 3,000. "Liu Qian is hot; even my overstocks sell out," commented a happy wholesaler. That supply of magic paraphernalia piled up in the corner now bring him about RMB 10,000 a day, and some items have even run out.

TV Pulls More Shows Out of the Hat

Since CCTV restored magic to public favor last January, other TV networks have quickly followed suit with a plethora of magic shows of their own. Jiangsu TV launched My Magic Guess in late March. Amateur magicians are invited to make bold hypotheses about the secrets behind renowned magic tricks then practice their guesswork on stage.

Hunan TV, popular among youngsters, soon launched a large audience-participation show in April in which Liu Qian acted as a judge. Amateur magic enthusiasts from across the country came to compete, arousing great interest from an even larger viewership. Other imitators include Anhui TV, South East TV, and even CCTV itself which took the high road by launching a magic show in prime time. Magic is apparently the latest guarantee of high audience ratings.

The fashion has hit the countryside too. "My friend's props stores are making money all of a sudden. A lot of people are picking up tools of the trade and paying for magic lessons," observes Jin Lei. One 20-year-old dealer he knows closed his store about two years ago, but is planning to resume his business.

Magic Without Borders

"Magic is recognized to originate in ancient China, ancient India and ancient Egypt," Xu Qiu informs us. "However, it was in Europe that magic grew into a modern trade, made distinct from witchcraft or conjury during the Renaissance and religious reforms."

The heyday of the magic show was late 19th-century Europe. Some garish and sensational elements like the "magic phantasm" are popular in modern performances. For example, the "floating boy," Houdini's best-known trick (1805-1871), still lures novice magicians to the art today, paying their dues by trying to match the late master. "It was in this period of full-flower – the zenith of Western magic – that it was introduced to China." Xu Qiu goes on, "Many British, American and Japanese magicians came here to perform, attracting people from all walks of life. Even our scholars began a serious study of Western magic."

The interest was mutual. Chinese traditional magic captured the Western imagination and soon Zhu Liankui, the most famous magician at the turn of the century, was invited to perform his special brand of conjuring in the U.S. In 1923, a German magician Nicholas came to Shanghai to perform, only to be challenged by local actor Zhang Huichong. The face-off, dubbed "the big international magic showdown" by the media, aroused a certain amount of good-natured blood lust. Later Zhang was declared to be "more tricky than Nick."

"All in good fun, exchanges with Western magicians helped the development of modern Chinese magic," concludes Xu Qiu. Every year since the late 80s has seen over 100 magic troupes performing throughout the world," said Fu Qifeng, council member of the CAA.

Every time a world-class magician comes to China, the magic fever will predictably rise. Magic acts were usually regarded as the hors d'oeuvres, not the entree. But in 1980, American magician Mark Wilson gave a full-length magic show, and this was a completely new experience for Chinese audiences. In its wake, several Chinese magic troupes were formed to focus on elaborate and full-length performances.

In 1985, American mega-star David Copperfield (Wilson's former student) recorded the 8th episode of his wildly popular TV magic show – Walking through the Great Wall. The show wasn't broadcast in China and Copperfield remained obscure here until seven years later when he returned to give an official live performance.