Shortly after its opening on the first day of Chinese New Year, The Wandering Earth began to gain momentum (展现强劲势头). In a little over a week, it made 2.8 billion yuan in the domestic market alone. The film's popularity and success has come as a surprise to many reviewers especially since there hasn't been that much success for Chinese-produced science fiction in the past. Many agree that this film will change the embarrassing situation and bring in a new age for Chinese science fiction.
As a genre (类型), Chinese science fiction has lagged behind general fiction in both the film and publishing industries. Even Liu Cixin's (the author who wrote the short story on which The Wandering Earth is based) The Three Body Problem —which is currently quite popular — didn't have many readers until it was translated into English and won the Hugo Award (雨果奖) in 2015. Personally, I haven't read much of any genre written in Chinese, but I do notice that there aren't many separate sections of the bookstore dedicated to science fiction. I cannot speak for everyone, but some people seem to have misunderstandings regarding the genre.
My parents were the type who tried to steer me in the direction of non-fiction and the classics. They believed that science fiction and fantasy were "unrealistic nonsense" and would "rot my brain." Actually, great science fiction writers do their research. More often than not, one can learn a great deal about science and its possible development from reading science fiction. Sure, some of the concepts may be confusing or technical in nature, but that is also part of the appeal. Things like the internet, electric cars and tablet computers were first theorized (建立理论) in science fiction before they were invented. The author simply uses a combination of science and their imagination to create worlds different from the Earth of today, from which we can get bits and pieces that can be turned into a reality.
The world is changing. There may very well be a time when Earth is no longer able to sustain the entire population. We could be living on Mars or in giant spaceships; perhaps we will be forced to move Earth to a new solar system just like The Wandering Earth. Each of these scenarios has appeared in science fiction multiple times. If we are to be prepared for what is to come, we can look into modern science fiction for a window into the future.
