Day one saw two events, the Opening Show and the Welcome Dinner and Show.

The Opening Show was preceded by the opening ceremony. Derek Lever represented Great Britain and in particular Blackpool Magician’s Club as neither the Magic Circle or British Ring Presidents were present. Derek is of course, spearheading the bid by the Blackpool boys to hold FISM in the UK.

International FISM President Eric Eshwin invited us all to give a standing ovation for three “friends of FISM” no longer with us; El Duco, Mahka Tendo and of course, our own Ali Bongo.

The show featured female magicians from China, interspersed with short dance items, representative of ethic minorities from around China.

The female magicians opted for the “producing stuff” kind of magic. All were of a very high standard. The first produced Cards to represent flower petals, the second, fans, the third a traditional Chinese effect of producing an amazing number of bowls of fire and water from a cape and the final artist, large bouquets of flowers.

As usual at a magic show for magicians it was a non magic act that got the greatest reaction. Some acrobats “Balancing with Pagoda of Bowls” were quite amazing. No magic, just skill and timing!

The welcome dinner was a Chinese banquet, which wasn’t delivered by a man on a moped and didn’t feature dishes in little foil containers! We were given a taste of China including “Jelly Fish in Vinegar”, “Braised Sliced Weaver with Cheese & Cream” (which was very nice) and the strangely named “Starch Course”, which was a fried rice dish. The food was good, the service excellent and the wine plentiful and free!

The welcome dinner show featured folk music and dance from around China. The Chinese equivalent of Peters and Lee invited us all to join in. There were spectacular dance items and a “Suona” solo. This is a strange sounding instrument producing sounds a cross between a snake Chalmers pipe and bird warbler. Again an acrobatic troupe stole the show with “Rola Rola”,a ti-ta board act.

The stage production, lighting etc. were first rate on both shows. Both shows were introduced by Chinese TV presenters who spoke good English. Again, a Jimmy Jib is in use in the auditorium, which caused complaints from one or two people, but generally Chinese TV, who are covering all the events were unobtrusive.

Tomorrow sees the start of the competitions.

FISM 2009 in Beijing China starts today, with the convention taking place in the ‘finished’ part of the convention center, with the other half still seeming under construction. Todays events seem not to cover any real magic events, except registration, the dealers fair, an opening ceremony at 4:30pm and welcome dinner this evening at 7pm there appears to be no competitions or lectures.

Many of the dealers apparently hail from Asia, meaning that the non Asia magicians will be able to see many effects and props not generally available to them before, there’s also apparently a larger variety of magic from dealers in Europe.

We’re routing for the UK’s Marc Oberon, whos competing for the UK at FISM.

Hopefully Andy Stone, Andrew Green and some others will keep feeding us info, and remember if your are out there and want to report just email us at info@magicconventionguide.com

The number of registrations for FISM 2009 has now reached 2041, the theater that is used for the stage gala shows, close-up gala show, opening ceremony and closing ceremony will only accommodate 2200 people, therefore those registered over the 2200 mark will only be able to watch the relay video on the big screen outside the theatre in the hall of the Convention Center.

If you wish to watch those events from the theatre itself we suggest register as soon as possible.

For further information see the main FISM website You can also see our booking guide and info pages can be found here

Don’t forget that you will more than likely need a VISA to get into China to attend FISM Beijing, 2009, There were apparently problems with some people getting their invitation letters to allow them to apply for a VISA, second letters are being emailed out to the address you registered with, if you have NOT got your visa please email info@fism2009.org or visit the main FISM website for details on the invitation letter process.

Our booking guide and info pages can be found here

In the current economic climate, air fares appear to be dropping, meaning that for those wanting to attend FISM in china this year, the package could be a lot cheaper that it was a few months ago. Some carriers are also offering to ‘match prices’ against others, so it’s worth negotiating to get a deal. The FISM authorised hotels have also dropped their prices to get more customers in in the last few months.

Flights from the UK to Beijing have dropped in cost, with flights now as low as £450 through Expedia and $328 through oneTravel.com, may now is the time to start relooking at if you can afford FISM this year..

Adjust your flight days as well to try and get better deals on prices flying out of peak hours and days.

The Hotels for FISM Beijing, 2009, have reduced their prices, according to the FISM website.

If you’ve already booked your hotel, you should automatically benefit from the lower rates without having to do anything.

The rates are in ChiNese Yuan, which you will need to convert to your own currency, although it is worth noting that Beijing will be very hot during the time of the convention, so you may wish to stay very close to the convention center.

Our booking guide and info pages can be found here