The Shanghai International Magic Competition was closed Sunday night, giving most of its most coveted prizes to overseas participants.

The four-day event, which included a magic performance and a competition, an exhibition of stage props used by magicians and some lectures about the art of magic, attracted well-known magicians from over 20 countries and regions.

An American prestidigitator won the top prize of the competition, a Taiwanese and a Canadian took the silver medals, and the bronze went to three magicians of Germany, Japan and the United States.

The team of judges, composed of seven magic experts, including Hank Moorehouse, former director of the American Magical Association, and Domenicao Dante, chairman of the European Magical Business Association, agreed that a big disparity in development levels exists between Chinese and international magic circles.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2001)