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I'll be at the Chengdu international conference on science fiction at the end of August. I wish I could go from there to Worldcon in Japan but it doesn't seem likely. I'll be flying from there to Budapest and from there to Italy...

Wow! This is a surprise! The event quite nicely coincides with my efforts to start up production of a Chinese independent Science Fiction tv series with some industry buddies. We'll take that train from Beijing to Chengdu to hang out!

Judging from the con's half-assed website and my own experience setting up events and seeing others set up events in China, I'd say it'll likely be a disorganized farce. However just by virtue of being in China, Neil will get to experience an exciting frontier atmosphere where pure creativity is worth all the more. Any scriptwriter who submits for publication a work involving social criticism is going to get in trouble, and the SF World- "科幻世界" magazine is itself heavily censored.

The worst part is that most people who do have the guts to be openly creative (in North China, at least) are guilty of imitation and outright plagiarism. Originality seems very rare. I have a few Chinese friends who do write kick-ass scripts, but without a foreign passport or government connections they gotta always watch their backs!

I hope Neil will again post in his journal to confirm his presence in China. It's inspiring to me to see the new ideas that spring from western dignitaries' visits. A good lecture will have a massive impact on the development of young Chinese writers searching for the strange and fantastic.

Anyone else here in Beijing, or in Chengdu, want to meet up for this?

I happen to be planning a trip to Sichuan (Jiuzhaigou) around that time and would definitely want to stop off in Chengdu to attend - IF Neil will definitely be there...

Have written to the organisers and obtained an agenda, which has Neil giving a lecture on "Different Imaginative Worlds of East and West", on the afternoon of the 25th...

Wrote back to ask for confirmation of Neil's attendance, fingers crossed...

Thanks for checking about this Mafai! I'll post here again after the event the conference organizers are doing in Beijing on the 21st. I'll be there for sure to bug them for info! (Isn't it great how cheap concealable wireless electronics are in China?)

I'm not sure exactly how long it takes to get from Beijing to Chengdu but I expect a full day of travel at least! I like supporting Chinese science fiction and all but I don't want to make the trip without at least a chance of meeting Neil!

Further info from the organisers - Neil's lecture will be 1500hrs on Saturday 25th!

Swell!

I just noticed the update on Neil's journal where he says:

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I'll be signing books in Beijing on Friday the 31st of August at 9:30am at the Harper Collins stand at the Book Fair.

At some point that same day (I don't have a time yet) I'll be doing a signing and a reading at http://www.beijingbookworm.com/ -- Bookworm "Beijing’s premier English language lending library, bookshop, restaurant and events space".

So perhaps the train to Chengdu is optional. Though it seems Neil will be in China for at least a week, so I wonder where else he's visiting?

Just saw on his blog he will be appearing in the Chengdu Bookworm tomorrow evening!

Xing Shi - let me know if you will be in Chengdu this weekend, would be great to meet up and say Hi!

A great couple of days in Chengdu attending the 2007 World Science Fiction and Fantasy Conference.

There was a meet-and-greet in the Chengdu Bookworm, where Neil, David Brin, Robert Sawyer, Nancy Kress (among others) together with the top names in Chinese Science Fiction got together with fans from around the country and around the world. Most of the discussion was around what they thought of the food in Chengdu, though Neil did recount a story about his friend looking after the physical needs of Pandas, which the young lady hosting the session refused to translate...

The next day Neil spoke at the opening ceremony on behalf of all the foreign guests, and gave a lecture on the Nature of Fantasy - a 2 hour session, one of which was the lecture, and an hour of Q&As from the audience.

Great insight for me on Chinese SF fans - a very young group, most of them in high school or college, and I get the impression that the genre is very much a mainstream interest as opposed to the dark geeky corners it currently hides in the UK or US.

Also surprised to see how popular Neil was - easily the most popular among the foreign guests attending - and hope well known his work was in Mainland China.

The young lady sitting next to me during the lecture whispered to me "Out of all the overseas Fantasy writers known in China, it is agreed that Neil is the most good looking." Was sorely tempted to tell Neil that but alas he didn't pick me to ask a question...

A shame that the guy translating for Neil, while proficient in English, was unable to process or accept Fantasy concepts, so was literally unable to translate worlds like "old gods", "baby's brought up by dead people", and "father who is a god". Quite funny to watch actually but most of the audience found this frustrating...

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Originally posted by mafai:
The young lady sitting next to me during the lecture whispered to me "Out of all the overseas Fantasy writers known in China, it is agreed that Neil is the most good looking." Was sorely tempted to tell Neil that but alas he didn't pick me to ask a question...

BWAHAHAAA!!!!! That's funny. The video and pictures he posted on his blog today were great -- looked like a fabulous day.

Neil smiled with the panada's too. Ahhh. The one in his lap looked like he or she was less than a year old.

Holy crap! Those panda pics are the cutest thing EVER.

The birdchick is very jealous. I hope Neil brings home some nice presents for her.