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How a 'Three-Body' fan became China’s award-winning sci-fi writer_我的网站

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    Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT
Recent media reports have questioned whether a natural gas plant built to power an Amazon data center project in Texas could become the largest climate polluter in the US. The controversy, whatever the eventual outcome, offers a reality check for America's artificial intelligence (AI) drive. 
It exposes a growing contradiction: The US is racing to expand its AI capabilities, yet its protectionist trade policies are making it harder and more costly to access some of the clean-energy technologies needed to sustain that expansion. This raises a broader question: Can an energy-intensive AI race afford the costs of renewable energy protectionism?
The US is entering a new era of rising electricity demand. Data centers, the backbone of the AI economy, are emerging as one of the fastest-growing sources of power consumption. Much of that demand is still being met by fossil fuels: The International Energy Agency reports that natural gas supplies more than 40 percent of the electricity used by data centers in the US, making it their largest source of power. 
So, it's not surprising that the expansion of data centers has raised concerns over their environmental impact and the pressure they could place on local power systems and electricity bills. A Gallup survey conducted in March found that seven in 10 Americans opposed the construction of AI data centers in their local area, including 48 percent who strongly opposed such projects.
The findings point to a broader challenge for the US: The race to develop AI is increasingly becoming a race to meet growing energy needs. Addressing this challenge will require more than advances in computing technology; it will also depend on an energy system capable of delivering large amounts of reliable, affordable and cleaner power. That, in turn, will require faster development and broader deployment of clean-energy technologies, from solar power to energy storage.
Yet in the clean-energy sector, the US has increasingly relied on protectionist trade measures that limit access to cost-competitive products from global markets. The country has placed greater emphasis on expanding domestic manufacturing capacity, but rebuilding entire clean-energy supply chains at home is a costly and time-consuming process. Even if expanded domestic production is achieved, it is likely to come at a higher cost, making the deployment of renewable technologies more expensive and potentially slower.
The solar industry offers a clear illustration of this policy direction. The US has continued to expand trade barriers in the sector. Reuters reported that the US government announced on Thursday a series of price floors and a 15 percent tariff on products made from polysilicon, a raw material used in solar panels.
The challenge lies in the limited scale of the US polysilicon industry. Reuters reported that the country has two polysilicon factories. Against this backdrop, relying on domestic polysilicon production while restricting access to imports runs counter to the goal of expanding solar power in the US. The country risks creating barriers that ultimately constrain its own access to the global supply chains needed for growth.
The pressing issue for the US is the speed at which new power demand is emerging. The expansion of data centers is creating electricity needs that cannot wait for domestic clean-energy capacity to develop gradually. Global supply chains can provide the scale and speed required in the near term. By narrowing access to these sources, the US risks turning clean-energy policy into a drag on the infrastructure needed for its AI race.
The US has placed AI high on its economic and technological agenda. The outcome of this race will matter greatly, as financial markets are also watching whether America can turn its AI efforts into commercial success.
This leaves the US with a difficult choice: Can it afford the cost of clean-energy protectionism while racing to build AI infrastructure? The answer may be no. Trade barriers that limit access to competitive renewable technologies could ultimately become a constraint on the AI expansion that Washington is seeking to accelerate.
The author is a reporter with the Global Times. [email protected]

。         Maya archaeological site in Cancun, Mexico Photo: VCG
Before becoming an award-winning science fiction writer, Baoshu was simply a fan fascinated by Hugo Award winner Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem. His desire to explore the universe created by the blockbuster trilogy led him to write The Redemption of Time (Remembrance of Earth's Past), a fan work that later became a published novel.
Years later, Baoshu has become one of the notable voices in Chinese science fiction. He was honored with the Mao Dun Newcomer Award this year, one of China's most prestigious literary awards for young writers. Established in 2015, the award recognizes outstanding writers and critics under the age of 45.
The award committee said his works have expanded the possibilities of science fiction through exploration of time, civilizations and the impact of technology on everyday life.
The honor adds to a growing list of achievements. Baoshu had previously won the Galaxy Award, China's equivalent of the Nebula Awards. His short story Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2024.
In his latest novel, The Sky of Kukulkan, published by New Star Press, Baoshu turns his fascination with the ancient Maya civilization into a story about humanity itself. The book is Baoshu's first major work after receiving the Mao Dun Newcomer Award.
Set during the final period of the Maya Classic era, the novel follows a fallen prince who, with the help of a priestess, gradually uncovers the secrets behind astronomical movements, unusual solar phenomena and the legend of the Feathered Serpent deity.
For Baoshu, the story is ultimately not only about the Maya, but also a reflection of humanity itself, its pursuit of knowledge and the universe, as well as the conflicts driven by human flaws.
"I think the most fascinating part of this story is that the Maya civilization is a microcosm of humanity itself," Baoshu told the Global Times. "It reflects mankind's journey to explore the universe and seek truth, while also showing how human weaknesses, such as greed and hostility, can lead to endless conflicts within society."
    Chinese sci-fi writer Baoshu Photo: Courtesy of New Star Press
The road to sci-fi
Born in 1980, Baoshu developed his passion for writing early. After moving to Haiyan, East China's Zhejiang Province, at the age of 6 with his parents, who worked in nuclear power construction, he spent much of his childhood reading science fiction and popular science books in local libraries.
As a primary school student, he began writing his own science fiction stories, although he said that his early works were immature.
His pen name, "Baoshu," has a much simpler origin. More than two decades ago, he chose it casually as an online username because he was a fan of Chinese martial arts novelist Jin Yong and created several usernames inspired by characters from Jin Yong's works. Most disappeared over time, but "Baoshu" remained.
After studying philosophy at Peking University, he continued writing short stories. His professional science fiction career began in 2010 while studying in Belgium, when his admiration for Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem inspired him to write the fan fiction novel The Redemption of Time (Remembrance of Earth's Past).
"His work has always set a benchmark for me, a standard I hope to approach even if it remains a distant goal," he said.
For Baoshu, The Redemption of Time (Remembrance of Earth's Past) was driven mainly by his love for Liu's fictional universe and his desire to explore the possibilities beyond the original trilogy.
"The world created by The Three-Body Problem is so rich and diverse that you feel there are many stories behind it that were not told," he said. 
"I wanted to express some of those possibilities in my own way."
    The cover of Baoshu's The Sky of Kukulkan. Photo: Courtesy of New Star Press
Sci-fi future
Baoshu said that, looking ahead, science fiction will continue expanding as technology changes society.
With technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) advancing at an unprecedented pace, the boundary between science fiction and reality is becoming increasingly blurred. Ideas once imagined only in novels are now entering everyday life, creating new questions and possibilities for writers to explore.
AI, for example, has created new creative opportunities and raised new questions about humanity's relationship with machines. But he noted that AI is not an entirely new topic for science fiction.
"Science fiction has been writing about AI for many years," he told the Global Times. "At different stages, new technologies emerge and connect with new social issues, creating new possibilities for storytelling."
He expects one major direction for future science fiction will be "science fiction realism" - stories that focus on how technology affects ordinary life, society and human emotions.
Another challenge for Chinese science fiction is finding deeper connections with local culture.
"Science fiction was once seen as a relatively foreign literary form because it originated overseas," Baoshu said. "But as the genre expands into deeper areas of social life, it also changes how we understand the past."
He said, as science fiction continues to gain popularity in China, the genre is creating more opportunities for new voices. 
Efforts to promote new forms of popular literature have given people from different backgrounds more opportunities to write and share their voices.
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