This was Copperfield's first commercial performance in China. His evening shows are scheduled to continue through July 15 in the newly built Guangzhou Gymnasium, located in this capital city of south China's Guangdong Province.

Local residents responded to Copperfield's show with enthusiasm, with tickets for all five performances selling out a week in advance.

Copperfield became a household name to Chinese when he cooperated with China's Central Television in 1986 to perform an illusion that involved crossing the Great Wall in a matter of seconds.

His best-known feats include the vanishing acts of a Boeing 747 and the Statue of Liberty, escaping from a collapsing building, and jumping over Niagara Falls.

The highlight of his performance in Guangzhou, billed as "Space Shuttle Travel," was when he made some audience members along with clothing and other belongings disappear on the spot.

Copperfield asked volunteers from the audience to give him some personal articles such as clothes. These articles disappeared, along with a few of their owners. A few seconds later, they were found several kilometers away.

Prior to the show, the audience members signed a confidentiality agreement with Copperfield to keep his tricks a secret.

"My success lies in the fact that I use my heart to communicate with the audience and impress them," said Copperfield, who is considered a pioneer in the performance of modern magic.

Copperfield's "magic museum" in Las Vegas, contains many Chinese items. He said many of his ideas for magic tricks were derived from Asian culture.

(Xinhua News Agency 07/12/2001)