Fantastic beasts cast a spell on China

J.K. Rowling's world of wizardry returns to domestic screens with magical creatures steeped in Chinese legend, Xu Fan reports.

It's a magical time for Harry Potter fans in China, as British novelist J.K. Rowling's wizards conjure up fascinating adventures once more, maybe even at a screen near you.

So, despite the fact that more than half of the country's cinemas are closed due to the pandemic, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore－the latest installment of the series, a spinoff of the Harry Potter franchise－has seized the top slot of China's box office since its domestic release on April 8, one week earlier than in North America.

With English actor Jude Law reprising his role as the young Albus Dumbledore, one of the greatest wizards in Rowling's magical world, the movie returns to the 1930s, six decades before Harry Potter and his friends start their famous adventures. It follows the famed zoologist and wizard Newt Scamander as he carries out a dangerous mission for Dumbledore.

Played by Oscar-winning English actor Eddie Redmayne, Scamander establishes an intrepid team of wizards, witches and his brave friend Jacob Kowalski, a "muggle" baker, to stop the powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, now played by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, and his accomplices.

Just as the franchise's title shows, one of the new movie's top draws is the fantastic creatures, both new and familiar, that appear－from the tiny branch-like Bowtruckle and the rodent-like Niffler, to new beasts, such as the avian-like Wyvern.

Providing some cultural affinity for domestic audiences, several of the fantastic beasts in director David Yates' new outing have their roots in ancient China's myths and legends.

One such creature that is pivotal to the tale is qilin, which is depicted in China's ancient books as an auspicious sign to bring good luck to rulers and their regimes.

Resembling a dragon-like, scaled hybrid, blending biological characteristics of multiple animals like the lion and ox, qilin looks mighty and fierce in most ancient paintings or historical files, with its statues mostly placed in temples or outside the doors of rich people's houses to ward off evil.