2023 Chengdu Worldcon: Meet the Future in Chengdu

BEIJING, Oct. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon:

2023 Chengdu Worldcon: Meet the Future in Chengdu
https://youtu.be/SnACe6GqoWE 

A "phantom" suddenly appeared in an exhibition hall of the Palace Museum. During investigations, a police officer discovered the covert relations between the "phantom" and "A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains" — the masterpiece from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), but he himself was dragged into a high-dimensional space…

This story, "The Space-Time Painter" which embedded Chinese history and cultural icons in a sci-fi framework, is one of the nominees of the Best Novelette for this year's Hugo Awards. From October 18 to 22, the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention (2023 Chengdu Worldcon) will be held in Chengdu, which will produce the final winners for the Hugo Awards — the "Nobel Prize" for science fiction.

Under the theme of the "Symbiosis Era," Hugo Award Winner Liu Cixin from China, Canadian sci-fi "Godfather" Robert J. Sawyer, Russian writer Sergey Lukianenko, and American writer David Wesley Hill among other sci-fi masters will attend the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon. What's more, over 200 activities will be held, covering themes like "sci-fi and future" and "sci-fi and industries"; panels such as "Believe in the Future: A Conversation between rising sci-fi stars of Chengdu and sci-fi giants" will also be held for fans and teenagers, via which the limits cast by national borders, cultural differences, identity or age could be broken, enabling the free flow of scientific imaginations and illusions.

The symbiosis between the ancient Shu civilization and sci-fi is also presented at this sci-fi extravaganza. For example, the venue Chengdu Science Fiction Museum is a construction that resembles a nebula, while also symbolizing some elements of the "ancient Shu eyes (gold mask)"; the mascot Kormo is dressed in "Voyager" mecha, with totem-like patterns of the sun bird at the Jinsha Site and so on… These designs also add to the recognizability of Chinese sci-fi culture in the global arena.

Modernity and tradition are intertwined while science and technology fuse with the humanities, molding an open and inclusive urban vibe for Chengdu, and making the city an incubator for sci-fi writing.

Back in 1979, "Science Literature" was founded, which later iterated into "Science Fiction World," where China and Asia's first Hugo Award for Best Novel "The Three-Body Problem" was first serialized; in 1991, Chengdu has hosted the WSF Annual Meeting; in 2017, Chengdu became the permanent site for the biennial China (Chengdu) International SF Conference; in 2019, Chengdu was titled China's "Most Sci-fi City" of the year. As China's "Science Fiction Capital," three most authoritative sci-fi awards in China were already born in Chengdu, namely the Galaxy Award, the Chinese Nebula Awards and the Future Science Fiction Master Award.

Entrepreneurship in the sci-fi industry has been thriving in Chengdu nowadays. A series of sci-fi related companies in the cultural and creative industry have involved themselves in a spectrum of businesses including publishing, award affairs running, film and TV series side-line production as well as game and animation making. The 2023 Chengdu Worldcon will be a shiny calling card for the "City of Chinese Science Fiction."

Meanwhile, Chengdu boasts talents from nearly 100 colleges and scientific institutions; in recent years, the newly launched Future Science and Technology City and Tianfu Laboratories have also become forerunners; the Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair with science & technology innovation as the theme, has been held for almost a decade. In 2022, Chengdu ranked 29th worldwide according to the Global Innovation Index. Based on such sci-fi DNA and atmosphere for scientific innovation, it's easy to understand why Chengdu was chosen as China's first host city for this highest-level sci-fi event.

As the author of "The Three-Body Problem" Liu Cixin said: "Future is like pouring summer rain; it falls right on us before we have time to open an umbrella." The future is shared by all humanity, while sci-fi is like a boat of scientific innovation powered by the sail of imagination; it forges consensus that features a shared future and the breaking of limits, and navigates all of humanity towards the time and space of a fascinating future.

Let's meet the future at the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon.

China Mosaic 
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm 

2023 Chengdu Worldcon: Meet the Future in Chengdu
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-10/17/content_116753443.htm 

SOURCE China.org.cn