From Kashgar at the foot of the Tianshan, to Shenzhen at the forefront of China's reform, to stages around the world — her life has been as improbable as her magic.
Ruxianguli Aibaidula, of Uyghur ethnicity, was born in Kashgar, Xinjiang. Admitted to the Xinjiang Acrobatic Troupe in 1976, she trained first as a student performer, then devoted herself to magic from the age of eighteen. In 1991 her own creation Flying Cards won the Golden Lion Award — the top prize of the Third National Acrobatics Competition held by the Ministry of Culture. Hundreds of playing cards taking flight from her fingertips earned her the name that has followed her since: the Flying Card Fairy. The following year the State Council granted her its Special Government Allowance; in 1993 she was elected a deputy to the 8th National People's Congress, and appeared on the cover of Nationality Pictorial.
In July 1998 she was appointed Chief Magician of Shenzhen Happy Valley, and that same year created Happy MD — China's first full-scale original magic production. Over the two decades since, Dreamland Symphony, Magic Rose, Light of Illusion, Phantom Traces, Charm and Dream Shenzhen have followed, staged more than 2,800 times in all. The Shenzhen Happy Valley International Magic Festival, which she directs, has now run for over twenty editions — a principal meeting point between Chinese and world magic.
In 2003 the International Magicians Society honoured her with the Merlin Award for Best Female Illusionist; in 2019 the State Council named her a National Model Individual for Ethnic Unity and Progress. She continues to shape the field today as President of the Shenzhen Acrobats Association and Vice-Chair of the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
