"Acrobatics+" Creates New Opportunities — Small Acrobatic Props Drive Big Market
On September 21, Zhou Wenming, general manager of Wuqiao Fengyao Acrobatic Magic Props Co., Ltd., demonstrated diabolo props used in acrobatic performances.
"Small copper gong spinning round and round, learn some tricks to roam around, collected in Nanjing then off to Nanjing, collected in Beijing then tour Beijing... Children, let's perform!" After a crisp gong song on the afternoon of September 21, an acrobatic courtyard in Yudong Village, Yuji Town, Wuqiao County came alive. Young performer Dong Jiachen gracefully stepped onto the suspended steel wire rope, moving steadily with fluid motions, delivering a series of spectacular performances that earned applause from other performers.
"Skills depend entirely on equipment. This steel wire rope bracket used by the child features a unique buckle design that completely eliminates the need for ground anchors, making assembly and disassembly very convenient. During performances, actors can move freely and flexibly adjust angles, greatly enhancing performance fluidity and visual appeal," said Yu Yongyu, owner of the acrobatic courtyard and vice chairman of Wuqiao County Acrobatic Artists Association. He explained that acrobatic magic props are inseparable from acrobatic performances, and the quality of prop construction directly affects program performance and even relates to performer safety. Many programs, especially magic acts, essentially master the entire program once they master the prop construction. Acrobatic props can be considered the second life of acrobatics.
Recognizing the crucial role of props, Yu Yongyu not only teaches skills but also guides students in handcrafting acrobatic props. On the indoor shelves of the acrobatic cultural courtyard, dozens of acrobatic trick props are displayed, including peep shows, trained white mice, wrestling ghosts, and ten varieties of juggling acts. Yu Yongyu enthusiastically describes the principles and functions of each prop with great familiarity.
"A large wooden box where three or four people sit around, looking at painted scenes through small windows for endless entertainment — this is the peep show, known as 'street cinema,'" Yu Yongyu pointed to a wooden box. Don't underestimate this box; it requires considerable effort to make, involving hand-painted picture sheets, crafting wooden boxes, and designing mechanisms, all completed by hand. Mechanism adjustment is particularly crucial — if not properly calibrated, picture transitions will get stuck. He said that just this type of wooden box requires making over 20 units annually, priced between 6,000 to 12,000 yuan each, with orders coming from as far as Inner Mongolia, Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Guangxi. Recently, he rushed to complete four units for Beijing customers.
"Foreign friends really love our Chinese lion dance. Just now, a Malaysian customer spent over 9,000 yuan ordering a pair," said Yue Hongguo at the Wuqiao Youyi Performance Equipment Center in Wuqiao County town, where another busy scene unfolds. He and workers were using bamboo strips to construct northern lion head frames. Picking up a finished lion head with a rounded forehead and bright fur, a gentle mechanism activation caused the eyes, ears, and nose to move charmingly.
"Veteran artisans say that when props work smoothly, dancers become more confident and audiences can see the lion's emotions," Yue Hongguo explained. During lion-making, they pursue perfection through over 20 processes from bamboo frame construction and paper pasting to painting, hand-drawing, and fur ball installation, taking anywhere from half a month to several months. They also make adjustments for different performance needs: small lions for children are reduced to 1.2 meters for easier tumbling and jumping, while parade lions use durable materials that resist damage. With this craftsmanship, they sell over a hundred lions annually, with many "dancing" their way to Europe and Southeast Asia.
In Wuqiao, there are both acrobatic courtyards and workshops that integrate teaching and production, as well as large professional prop manufacturing enterprises, including Wuqiao Fengyao Acrobatic Magic Props Co., Ltd.
"To better develop acrobatic props, we need to leverage technology and integrate modern techniques. Currently, our company develops and manufactures over 2,000 types of acrobatic props, producing over 100,000 sets of various props annually," said Zhou Wenming, general manager of Wuqiao Fengyao Acrobatic Magic Props Co., Ltd. He applies mechanical design expertise to acrobatic prop manufacturing, continuously improving traditional props to better suit acrobatic characteristics and performance forms.
In the company's production workshop, through over ten meticulous processes including design drawings, material selection, polishing, and embroidery, colorful flag poles emerge. "The development and manufacture of flag poles has gone through four generations of evolution. Taking a 5-meter flag pole as an example, the earliest bamboo material weighed over 20 pounds. Later, it evolved through aluminum alloy and stainless steel to the current carbon fiber poles weighing less than 2 pounds, which are also retractable for easy transport," Zhou Wenming said. With lighter props, performers have incorporated flipping, spinning, soaring, passing, and balancing techniques. The acrobatic program "Dragon Leaping Across China — Flag Pole" won the China Acrobatic Golden Chrysanthemum Award and appeared on the Spring Festival Gala.
The company has many such innovative products. For bicycle stunts, they replaced bicycle spokes with manganese steel plates to increase load capacity, solving the problem of achieving three-layer heights in bicycle acts. For high chair performances, they added small mechanisms to props for increased stability, enabling programs to surpass 10-chair heights. For aerial acts, they installed controllable infinite speed adjustment devices on props, allowing performers to fly at uniform speeds through the air.
"Currently, the company has over 20 prop products with national utility model patents and over 300 prop products with intellectual property protection certificates," Zhou Wenming said. In 2024, the company's revenue approached 10 million yuan, maintaining year-round business relationships with European and African acrobatic, magic, and circus performance groups, which strengthens their confidence in this field.
From large acrobatic props like performance tents, rigging, and aerial frameworks to magic program needles and threads, Wuqiao County has actively promoted "Acrobatics+" integrated development in recent years, establishing over 10 acrobatic prop workshops and over 10 acrobatic cultural courtyards, plus over 10 relatively large acrobatic prop research and production enterprises. The produced props cover diverse categories encompassing all Wuqiao acrobatic projects.
"Wuqiao County has gradually formed a complete chain from prop manufacturing to performance output. Batches of exquisite props are carrying the soul of Wuqiao acrobatics to broader horizons," said Sun Jian, Standing Committee member and Propaganda Department Director of Wuqiao County Committee. This year's return of the Wuqiao Acrobatic Festival to its hometown carries significance far beyond a single event — it represents a new opportunity to energize industrial parks, improve industrial chains, and polish the "Wuqiao Acrobatics" brand.
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