BEIJING - Parting is such sweet sorrow, and the time has nearly arrived for Beijing's legion of Harry Potter fans to bid farewell to Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and the rest of Hogwarts and its wands, broom sticks and spellbooks.

Publicity photo of actors Radcliffe and Fiennes in scene from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" [Photo/Agencies]

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2," will premier at 0:00 am. on August 4, the finale of the eight-film saga that began in 2001.

Since the introduction of the novels to China, Harry Potter has accompanied almost a generation of young Chinese.

To the uninitiated, it may just be a story about a charming boy wizard, but for the young people who grew up with Harry Potter, the character has been a faithful companion.

Cun Yang, who will get a master's degree from Renmin University next year, wrote on her microblog that she felt like she had grown up with Harry.

"Although people in real life don't have magical powers or a destiny to fight the evil, they still have to grow up and learn to bear more responsibility, just like Harry," she said.

On China's most popular microblog website, weibo.com, the Harry Potter finale topic has more than 2 million entries, and a user named "Linggirl" captured the passion that multitudes share as she wrote, "The years with Harry Potter were the most fantastic in my life."

The online Harry Potter fan club (hpfansclub.uueasy.com) has constructed its own Hogwarts community with 3,000 members. It even features its own version of the Harry Potter-realm newspaper The Daily Prophet. The clubs' "students" are planning to see the film dressed in cloaks or Hogwarts school uniforms armed with magic wands.

Duan Ying, a student from the Communication University of China, confesses to a great attachment to Harry Potter.

"I guess every Harry Potter fan of my age has a dream of wielding a wand and using spells proficiently," she said.

The last book of the series came in 2007, and the film finale has fans sentimental.

"It represents a long, fantastic dream -- like never before, like never again," Duan said.

But even those who didn't grow up with the film are excited for the finale. "I can't wait to see the movie," said 10-year-old Jiang Yiyao, while holding her mother's hand, who reserved three tickets for the film's premiere in 3-D version. "It's so amazing that Harry Potter movies create this magical world right before your eyes."

Jiang has read all the books in Chinese, but she has ambitions to one day read them all in English.

Needless to say, tickets are hot. In Beijing's Ultimate Movie Experience (UME) cinema in Zhongguancun, a major college district, eager fans come early and wait in long lines to be among the first to get tickets. The premiere tickets for IMAX, priced at 140 yuan ($21.7), sold out fast.

"All IMAX versions have been reserved since last Wednesday, and half of the 3D versions are already booked," said Xu Meng, UME's manager. "It's selling even faster than "'Transformers'."

Cinemas have also seized the opportunity to please their customers by decorating with typical magical objects from the movie, such as imitative deathly hallows, quill-pens and brooms.

The film's release has also boosted the sales of Harry Potter books, and those who couldn't get the whole series when they were children are now buying them up.

"I bought the hardcover boxed set, and that way I'll be able to read them whenever I miss Harry," said Lin Xiangchun, a 20-year-old student from Tsinghua University.

The Harry Potter collection is sold out on Amazon.cn. A seller from Taobao.com, China's largest online shopping website, told Xinhua he had sold 600 sets of Harry Potter novels in the past 30 days.