From L to R, Miguel Puga from Spain, Shoot Ogawa from Japan, Rocco Silano from USA, Henry Evans from Argentina and Lennart Green from Sweden, pose at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, April 14, 2009. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

Five internationally acclaimed close-up magicians and illusionists are set to wow Beijing audiences this weekend at the Poly Theatre on the occasion of the 100-day countdown of the World Championships of Magic (WCM) Beijing 2009.

At a press conference on Tuesday, the master magicians, including Lennart Green from Sweden, Rocco Silano from USA, Henry Evans from Argentina, Miguel Puga from Spain and Shoot Ogawa from Japan, displayed some of their stunning feats: coins vanishing in front of the audience's eyes; disordered, face-down cards sorted in several seconds, and various things conjured out of a magical hand.

The super performing group started their Chinese show tour in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, on April 1, and Beijing is their last stop.

The show will be followed by a series of magic performances in the city as warm up for the upcoming WCM Beijing 2009.

From July 26 to 31, fifty close-up magicians will vie for the title of world champion at the National Convention Center. It will be the first time that the competition is held in China, and also the first time in a developing country.

During the week, there will also be lectures, salons and exhibitions of magic props to divulge the secrets of magic.

"We all remember last year you had an Olympic year. The WCM is the Olympics of magic," Shoot Ogawa said, "Like sports, magic is also an international language, through which we can make friends on the street."

Starting from August 1st, the other major type of magic, stage magic, will take the stage at the Beijing Exhibition Theatre for eight continuous days. The audience will be brought into a more illusionary world, to appreciate the unbelievable tricks of teleportation, escapology, levitation and penetration.