A Slice of the Future

By Yuan Yuan

Early this year， one Beijing drama troupe had plans to adapt a story from an ancient Chinese novel into a modern play. While racking their brains trying to figure out how to embed modern elements into an ancient story， a consultant suggested they take the concept one step further： Why not set the play in the future？

The consultant， Zheng Jun， is a science fiction writer. Inspired by his idea， the team， mostly born in the 1990s， decided to set the story in the year 2677， 1，000 years after the novels completion. Using the same plot， they developed scenes set more than 600 years from the present， and invited a magician， to create futuristic stage effects.

The producer of the play， Star Theaters， decided not to use the term “science fiction” to describe the play during its promotional activities. “For many audiences， this phrasing has strong connections to big budget Hollywood blockbusters，” Hao Weili， Star Theatersmarketing director said on September 30. “We dont want to set high expectations and then end up leaving audiences feeling let down when they dont see those kinds of scenes in our play.”

Convention in new landmark

Zheng， the consultant， also prefers to be addressed as a futurologist instead of a science fiction writer， even though he has been writing sci-fi since the 1990s.

“Sci-fi literature has been excluded from mainstream literature in the past few decades，” Zheng said.“For many people， sci-fi writers are full of unrealistic and crazy ideas but actually， a science fiction writer needs to have a solid knowledge of real-life science and technology in order to write well.”

Hao and Zheng shared their ideas at a forum during the China Science Fiction Convention， running from September 28 to October 5 in Shougang Industrial Park in Shijingshan District of Beijing.

Serving as a comprehensive platform for exchange and communication within the science fiction industry， the convention， an annual sci-fi extravaganza， has taken place for six years since 2016. The government of Shijingshan District， host of the event， has been endeavoring to turn the area into a sci-fi hub， attracting enthusiasts from around the nation and the world.

The site of the event， Shougang Industrial Park， is a new landmark in Beijing， a giant repurposed industrial plant area. The factory was moved out of Beijing prior to the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Now， parts of the plant have been turned into venues for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022， to get underway in February next year. Most of the conventions activities are held in and around a blast furnace which has been transformed into a modern steampunk museum.