Face changing (Bian Lian) Magic Performance at Sydney CNY2017

Bian Lian, also known as Face Changing is a 300 years old traditional Chinese art passed down from one generation to another. What a pleasure to see it in person and catch the performance on camera!

Chinese New Year Festival 4th/02/2017
Kensington St, Chippendale, Sydney, NSW, Australia
I am not associated with the festival team.

[JohnnyArtPavlou]

I find it so delightful that I don’t wanna know how it’s done.

[eleazarmlt]

*Everybody asking about the Face Changing but no one is talking about those awesome moves*

[joshuafogg]

Indigenous only to the Sichuan opera, literally only one region in China, passed down since ancient times. Amazing, and just plain fun!

[jmoz]

I just saw this live for the first time in Taipei. My brother in law said it’s “considered a national secret”.

[philyip]

I have seen this done before. I have seen it done with more face changes in very fast successive sequences. It is rather amazing. Still don't know how it's done. I believe there is a Chinese movie/ show about it.

[simondanielsen]

Ive seen these guys perform in Chengdu, they really ham it up, I love it, musics great too!

[dragonfly]

He's a beautiful performer. His movements and lines are very clean and smooth.

[McCondom]

This is one of those things where I love it so much I never wanna learn how it’s done

[Grace-ivho]

A 13 year old kid did this at my school assembly and it was epic

[tomhill]

I got to see a live (and very loud) performance of this in Chengdu. It was truly amazing!

[aldyfirdaus]

My brain cant comprehend this, im too confused

[sageh.]

I think I've figured it out. He has a couple different tricks. Some masks it appears as though he uses his fan to hide his hands as he pulls the mask off and tucks it into his belt pouches. Then there are some layers he takes off like at 1:15 where he hides his right hand behind the cape, jumps a little and pulls on some trigger (probably just a long string under his clothes) tied to some layers of masks. Amazing and so ingenious

[adamchavoya]

I don't ever want to know how this is actually done, because it's one of the coolest and most mysterious things ever

[vinodkumar-xrjm]

This is called unique arts, unique culture .
CHINA, great Country.My Love & Respect to 🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳❤️❤️❤️🙏

[tessawoodyard]

2:11 he now Spider-Man


Edit: 66 likes, not bad

[jonbaker]

The music is amazing too, anyone know the name. I was looking through the comments, and unfortunately saw the spoilers as to how the masks disappear, i didn't want to know :(


Im now going to dive into chinese disco music circa late 1970s.
i reckon i will love the style

[HoloAdictos]

Incredible! I must to visit China One day... greetings from Venezuela!

[afkenvy]

actually how, im mesmerized like a damn 5 year old watching this

[hrpang]

Ha the lyrics of the song talk about what role is currently on stage.

[ZacharyShuster]

Almost all of his switches require one hand to be in the cape.
The switch where both hands are showing at 2:04 was cleverly set up at 1:49. He attached (I assume) the string to his left leg so that as soon as he straightened out his leg, the string pulled down the mask attached to it. Amazing stuff