Goldfish advance in formation under the guidance of a magician. Video screenshot.
According to Beijing News (reporter Weifeng Zhang), yesterday, Donghua Street held an event at Nan Chizi Community called "Jade Rabbit Celebrates Lantern Festival, Lanterns Reflect Civilization". The magician from the Spring Festival Gala's "Yearly Fish" performance, Yan Dong Fu, revealed to residents that he had more than 20 fish in his fish tank and controlled their appearances to create various swimming formations.
"Here they come, here they come." Yesterday morning, as soon as magician Yan Dong Fu and his father Teng Long Fu appeared at the "Jade Rabbit Celebrates Lantern Festival" event at Nan Chizi Community, hundreds of residents were astonished.
"Previously, when people saw Yan Dong Fu, they would say 'look, this is Teng Long Fu's son', but now when people see me, they say 'look, this is Yan Dong Fu's father.'" Known as "China's Magic King," Teng Long Fu humorously stated that his family was a magic dynasty, with Yan Dong Fu being the fourth generation. This year's Spring Festival Gala greatly increased his son's fame, so now he benefits from his son's reputation.
After performing "Telepathy" for the residents, many asked about the Spring Festival Gala magic trick "Yearly Fish", where six goldfish swam in formations such as turning left and right based on Yan Dong Fu's commands.
Teng Long Fu said that actually magic has its "tricks" and also involves some performance elements.
Yan Dong Fu said that during the Spring Festival Gala performance, there were dozens of fish in the fish tank, and he created various swimming formations by controlling the appearance of the fish, making one fish disappear while another appears.
Regarding recent online rumors speculating that the magic trick used magnets or abused fish, Yan Dong Fu's assistant denied these claims, stating that the fish are still doing well. For this performance, Yan Dong Fu trained for two to three months, relying on "tricks" to complete the performance. As for what these "tricks" are, he refused to disclose them citing industry rules and confidentiality reasons.