The first Yangquan Liu Cixin Science Fiction Cultural Week starts in Yangquan city in North China's Shanxi province on Aug 15. [Photo provided by Chu Yao for goshanxi.com.cn] 

The first Yangquan Liu Cixin Science Fiction Cultural Week started in Yangquan city in North China's Shanxi province on Aug 15. 

Co-hosted by the Shanxi Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Shanxi Writers' Association, and the Publicity Department of the CPC Yangquan Municipal Committee, the sci-fi cultural event aims to inspire curiosity and imagination among literature enthusiasts, while encouraging the exploration of the development and integration of the science fiction industry. 

The week-long event includes an awards ceremony for the sci-fi literature and art competitions, a thematic dialogue forum titled "From Realism Traditions to Science Fiction Literature," an exhibition featuring outstanding works from the sci-fi art competition, screenings of sci-fi films, and a sci-fi book fair.

Liu Cixin (dressed in a black shirt and standing in the center) poses for a group photo with winners of the sci-fi literature and art competitions at the first Yangquan Liu Cixin Science Fiction Cultural Week, Aug 15. [Photo/Yangquan Daily] 

Yangquan is the hometown of China's first Hugo Award winner Liu Cixin, who wrote the two best-selling novels The Three-Body Problem and The Wandering Earth in the city in early 2000s. 

Liu's sci-fi works have transcended into various fields such as film, television, animation, games, and music, igniting a passion for science fiction among Chinese youth.

People view selected works of the sci-fi art competition during the first Yangquan Liu Cixin Science Fiction Cultural Week. There are 92 works created by authors from 26 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities on display, including traditional Chinese painting, oil painting, printmaking, watercolor painting, and computer painting. This exhibition will last until Aug 20. [Photo provided by Chu Yao for goshanxi.com.cn] 

"This event allows young authors to explore the boundless possibilities of sci-fi culture and strengthens the future influence of Yangquan as a 'city of science fiction,'" said 27-year-old local sci-fi writer Shi Ruoan. 

As a traditional resource-based city, Yangquan has made cultural creative industries a crucial direction for its industrial transformation in recent years. By integrating the digital industry with sci-fi culture, the city is fostering the emergence of a science fiction industry cluster. 

The juxtaposition of Yangquan's industrial heritage with the development of a smart city endows the city with a distinctive science fiction temperament, providing creators with a fertile soil for their imaginations, added Shi.