This past Sunday, a tourist attraction in east China's Shandong Province tried to draw in visitors by putting on a "girl in the vase" freak show, Qilu Evening News reported on Tuesday. The hoax, however, failed to impress many people when the secret of the performance was revealed on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo.

The show was held in the old town of Weiji in Huimin County, where famous Chinese military strategist, Sun Wu, was born. At the town center, a huge billboard was seen advertising for an allegedly "artistic show of the girl in the vase ".

The billboard advertising the "girl in the vase" freak show. /Qilu Evening News

On the billboard, it was stated that the "girl in the vase" was 45 centimeters tall with no arms or legs, but she could sing, talk and answer all sorts of questions. The billboard invited curious visitors to "experience the mystery and charm of the vase girl" and called the show "a peculiar but artistic performance". 

A photo was shown next to the advertisement, apparently digitally processed, showing a beautiful girl's face and neck stretching out of a vase. 

The "girl in the vase" photo on the billboard. /Qilu Evening News

After paying a ten yuan (1.5 USD) entrance fee to the show's staff, visitors were taken to a hidden indoor setting guarded by a porter, and in the corner of the room, a box housing the vase girl, covered with black cloth, was placed on a table above stacks of bricks. 

The box used to house the vase girl, covered with black cloth. /Qilu Evening News

Before revealing the mysterious girl, staff would warn visitors not to touch or take pictures of the "girl in the vase". Introducing the vase girl, the staff explained that the girl was put into the vase at a young age, handicapped and weak.

When the girl was finally unveiled, visitors could indeed see a young woman's head floating above a vase, and they were given less than a minute to have a conversation with her. 

In a whispering voice, the vase girl told visitors she was 18 years old, got put into the vase at a young age and was only fed milk. 

The real life vase girl differs largely from the billboard photo. /Qilu Evening News

During the whole process, visitors were asked to stay a meter away. Still, people could instantly tell the girl looked nothing like to the photo portrait on the billboard. 

Qilu Evening News turned to an expert for an explanation, and it turned out the performance was a mere play of optics and physics. 

In the show, two mirrors were put in a right angle, where the girl sat behind only showing the head, and the vase was put in the front. Because of the reflection and refraction created by the mirrors, visitors could not see the "actress" behind the mirrors, but the dark, empty background of the black covering cloth.

Despite being revealed to be a fake show, the "girl in the vase" became trending on Weibo. "I've seen this kind of show when I was a kid, such a childhood trauma. Now I finally understood the answer to the trick." @9869chuan commented.