Director Guo Fan (second from right), sci-fi writer Liu Cixin (third from right) and the cast of The Wandering Earth attend a fan meet at APCFCon in Beijing on Saturday. Photo: Courtesy of Future Affairs Administration

 

A painting exhibition at APSFCon in Beijing Photo: Courtesy of Future Affairs Administration

Sci-fi author Liu Cixin signs a copy of his The Three-Body Problem for a Stormtrooper cosplayer at APSFCon in Beijing on Sunday. Photo: Courtesy of Future Affairs Administration

The Another Planet Science-Fiction Convention was held at the Chaoyang Museum of Urban Planning on Saturday and Sunday.

The Another Planet Science-Fiction Convention is an upgraded version of the Asia-Pacific Science Fiction Convention (APSFCon), the top convention in the Asia-Pacific region, held in Beijing in May 2018.

The roughly 130 special guests, more than 30 theme forums, seven fan meets and more than 100 original paintings at the convention thrilled sci-fi fans.

Liu Cixin, Hugo Award winner and the writer of the short story upon which the box-office hit film The Wandering Earth was based, and Guo Fan, the director of the film, also attended the convention. Additionally, the convention also got support from many foreign sci-fi writers and UI designers including Nebula Award and Hugo Award winner Michael Swanwick and Kelly Davis, the manager of Territory Studio, the VFX company that worked on The Guardians of the Galaxy, The Martian and Blade Runner 2049.

Sci-fi movies and novels have been gaining ground in China. During the last Spring Festival, a planet trying to escape from the gravity of Jupiter captured the imaginations of the mainstream Chinese audience in The Wandering Earth.

Written by Liu and directed by Fan, The Wandering Earth became the second-highest earning film in China by earning 4.65 billion yuan ($675.2 million) at the box office.

The success of The Wandering Earth showed Chinese sci-fi fans that China is also of making good "hard sci-fi" movies and sparked their passion for the further development of Chinese sci-fi.

During the first day of the convention, the "Big Four" of Chinese sci-fi - Wang Jinkang, Liu Cixin, He Xi and Han Song - attended a fan meet where they answered questions from fans.  

When asked "what made you fall in love with sci-fi?" the four novelists gave different answers.

"I'm a super fan of sci-fi. I think I'm the first group of people who liked to explore by ourselves in China," said Liu.

"Liking sci-fi is not so great, but if you like nothing, your life will be tough."

He Xi's answer was quite simple, "I may have been born to like sci-fi."

As the core event of the convention, the winners of the 2019 Gravity Awards and Golden Age Award were revealed on Sunday. Every year, the Gravity Award rewards great Chinese sci-fi works, while the Golden Age Award shines a spotlight on people who have contributed to the development of Chinese sci-fi.

"This is the first time that I have seen this kind of convention in China!" said Hugo Award-winner Allen Steele.

"It's the best time for sci-fi," noted Chinese sci-fi novelist Han Song.