On May 5, 2021, Chongqing Acrobatic Art Troupe won the gold award at the National Magic Competition of the 11th China Acrobatic Jinju Award for its original magic show Xiandou (literally "Magical Beans"). At the last session of the China Acrobatic Jinju Award in 2018, the troupe also won the highest award.

Xiandou wins the gold award of Jinju Award.

As a national award for literature and art, Jinju Award represents China's top honor in the acrobatic circle, just like China Theater Plum Blossom Awards, China Quyi Peony Awards, and China Dance Lotus Award in their respective fields. This competition session involved 59 shows from 53 acrobatic troupes (schools) and new literary and art groups across the country. After the experts' first selection, 28 magic shows such as Xiandou, Cafe, Rider, and Embroiderer, and Liang Zhu reached the final competition in Shenzhen.

The show Xiandou follows the theme "Power of Life." With "beans" and a transparent bowl as the props, its performer Li Hao showed the process of plants' growth, flowering, and fruiting through magic. The show inherited and carried forward the unique artistic style of China's traditional magic and drew on the techniques of Western magic tricks.

Scene of Xiandou

"In the final held in Shenzhen, the judges agreed that the show is an excellent work that combined modern techniques based on traditional magic. Its most important feature is to give the ancient Chinese magic new charm through entirely different expression," said Chen Tao, head of Chongqing Acrobatic Art Troupe.

Xiandou will soon be performed at Chongqing International Circus City to offer the locals and tourists a magical and dreamy experience.