By Chris M. Barkley: Soon after I received my surprise invitation to attend the Chengdu Worldcon in person last summer, I also received a request soon after from their Programming Division to participate in and suggest panel ideas for the convention.

Needless to say, I was both somewhat chuffed and surprised that they would seek my input. After giving it only a few minutes of thought, I made only one suggestion; a panel completely devoted to any questions Chinese fans would like to ask an sf fan (or fans) from the United States.

You can imagine my utter surprise when I was informed that the panel had been placed on the schedule! 

I did not make the suggestion lightly or to be overly provocative (well, maybe JUST a little, heh) because I know that relations between our respective governments at this moment in time are probably at or near an all time low. 

But, knowing what I have read about fans in China, they are incredibly curious about our fandom and I wanted to give them an honest and unvarnished opinion of who we are and what we’re all about.

Also, knowing that whatever was said at this panel would probably be reviewed by either Communist Party officials or members of the security services, I had planned in advance to make a point of saying that I was not a foreign policy expert nor was I there to criticize the government or policies of the People’s Republic of China. 

I was there to facilitate their questions about western fandom and listen to any observations they may have about us.

While I had originally thought of doing this by myself as sort of a TED Talk, I became a little apprehensive as I traveled to Chengdu, thinking that I may have bitten off more than I can chew this time around. I mean, I had no doubt that I could actually pull the panel off by myself; I have had years of experience as a solo speaker, a radio talk show host, a convention moderator/panelist and improvisational theater. But I have found that more often than not, I have a better time collaborating with others than I do by myself.

Well apparently, the programmers, not being very familiar with me, thought I should have some company. Originally, I was set to do the panel with Alan Bond, one of the prominent members of the Seattle in 2025 bid.

Funny Story: When Alan told me he was going to be on the panel with me, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. So, on Friday, when we both went over to the Venue to do the panel, we were puzzled when we arrived at our designated room and found a panel already in progress. When we checked in at the Information Desk, we were both chagrined to learn we were A FULL DAY EARLY! Which posed a big problem for Alan since he had to be present for the Seattle bid’s announcement of their Guests of Honor at the Business Meeting at the same time on Saturday.

But, my despair was short lived; the eminent sf novelist (and my fannish contemporary) Jody Lynn Nye had also been asked to serve on the panel and readily accepted the assignment on short notice.

As you will hear from the audio, Jody and I tried to be as engaging and informative as possible, for our audience and hopefully for you as well.

Download the recording here. [Recorded in Chengdu, China at the Science Fiction Museum venue on October 21, 2023. Photos by Chris M. Barkley.]

(NOTE: I had moderated another Chengdu Worldcon panel, “The Joy of Being a First Time Hugo Award Nominee” with Novelette Finalists Marie Vibbert, Wole Talabi and Artist Finalist Kuri Huang. Unfortunately, our lively discussion may or may not have been recorded by the convention; I FORGOT to bring my recording device so I want to extend my apologies to the panelists and you out there for omission. If a recording is available, it will be posted…CMB)