Sci-fi authors take on task of reimagining the number 10

The annual Science Fiction New Year Gala organized by the Future Affairs Administration, a company that deals with Sci-fi publications, consulting and filmmaking, marked its 10th year this Spring Festival.

Over the past nine years, the gala has invited 63 writers from various countries, including China, South Korea, Japan, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Spain, Nigeria, and Australia. The invitees wrote short stories based on themes such as "How Aliens Observe the Tradition of Spring Festival" in 2016, "Beijing West Railway Station" in 2018, and "Hometown Odyssey" in 2019.

This year, the FFA has invited 12 writers, including China's Cheng Jingbo, Han Song, and Jiang Bo, Japan's Taiyo Fujii, Australia's Samantha Murray, and Canada's Derek Kunsken. They will write short stories on the theme of the number "10" that will be published on Chinese online platforms between Jan 24 and Feb 4, with one story released a day.

Liu Yao, editor for the gala, elaborated on the theme, saying that 10 is a magical number.

"It is rich and grand enough to encompass everything while being simple. In the decimal system, 10 is a pivotal number, and in the binary system, 1 and 0 are the fundamental bits," Liu wrote, adding that "10 years is not the end but a new beginning".

In a previous comment on the gala, Han Song wrote: "It is a unique idea, a true Chinese sci-fi brand, which blends local cultural tradition with the Western genre, inspiring unique and strange ideas, and a lot of classic, and magical works. It is irreplaceable in the world's sci-fi history."