Field notes

Sci-fi set to be China's next big export

More people are reading Chinese authors' take on what the future holds as the Asian giant grows into a technological powerhouse

Chinese science fiction authors and translators (from left) Fan Zhang, Emily Jin, Gu Di and Xiu Xinyu at a panel discussion during the Bookworm Literary Festival in Beijing on March 24. As a sign of growing interest in the genre, the festival had six
The movie adaptation of The Wandering Earth, a novella by Chinese author Liu Cixin (below, right), became a box office success this year, making over 4.5 billion yuan (S$908 million). Translations of his sci-fi trilogy The Three-Body Problem are also popular among readers abroad, spurring interest in Chinese science fiction. PHOTO: REUTERS, LI YIBO
Chinese science fiction authors and translators (from left) Fan Zhang, Emily Jin, Gu Di and Xiu Xinyu at a panel discussion during the Bookworm Literary Festival in Beijing on March 24. As a sign of growing interest in the genre, the festival had six
Chinese science fiction authors and translators (from left) Fan Zhang, Emily Jin, Gu Di and Xiu Xinyu at a panel discussion during the Bookworm Literary Festival in Beijing on March 24. As a sign of growing interest in the genre, the festival had six events related to science fiction and technology this year, compared with two last year. ST PHOTO: LIM YAN LIANG
Chinese science fiction authors and translators (from left) Fan Zhang, Emily Jin, Gu Di and Xiu Xinyu at a panel discussion during the Bookworm Literary Festival in Beijing on March 24. As a sign of growing interest in the genre, the festival had six
The movie adaptation of The Wandering Earth, a novella by Chinese author Liu Cixin (above), became a box office success this year, making over 4.5 billion yuan (S$908 million). Translations of his sci-fi trilogy The Three-Body Problem are also popular among readers abroad, spurring interest in Chinese science fiction. PHOTO: REUTERS, LI YIBO
Lim Yan Liang
Assistant News Editor
Updated
Apr 13, 2019, 05:49 AM
Published
Apr 13, 2019, 05:00 AM
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BEIJING • In the 2013 space movie Gravity, an astronaut played by Sandra Bullock has only one chance of returning home from low Earth orbit after a catastrophic accident - in a Chinese spacecraft.

Floating past ping-pong bats, an ink wash painting and other cultural signifiers, she stares in frustration at a control panel labelled with Chinese characters, exclaiming in Spanish, "No hablo Chino" (I don't speak Mandarin), as a Buddha statue smiles benevolently.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 13, 2019, with the headline Sci-fi set to be China's next big export. Subscribe

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