[Books Nourish Our Original Aspirations, Welcoming the 20th National Congress] The Original Dream — A Reading Discussion on Liu Cixin’s “Round Soap Bubbles”

An extraordinary, unparalleled perspective, dazzling and imaginative visions, and sweeping scientific discourse—this is the stylistic hallmark of the science‑fiction writer Liu Cixin. His works vividly celebrate the awe‑inspiring power of science and nature. At our institute’s “Books Nourish Our Original Aspirations, Welcoming the 20th National Congress” reading‑sharing event, I shared with everyone one of Liu Cixin’s science‑fiction stories, “The Round Soap Bubble.”

The story’s protagonist is a little girl named Yuanyuan, who has loved blowing soap bubbles since she was very young. Her parents answered the call to build the great Northwest and came to western China, where they helped establish Silk Road City. Her mother took on the research task of planting trees and restoring forests in the desert—but sowing seeds in such an arid region is no easy feat! To overcome this challenge, scientists froze seeds and water into tiny, winged “bombs,” then flew planes to drop these icy bombs from above. When the ice bombs hit the ground, they plunged into the sand. As spring arrived, the ice would quietly melt, releasing water that allowed the seeds to germinate and sprout. By dropping countless similar ice bombs, the desert gradually turned green. What a remarkable scientific achievement!

Yuanyuan’s mother sacrificed her life during a flight‑seed‑scattering operation. As Yuanyuan grew older, she continued to be drawn to bubbles—those light, ethereal, and fantastical things—and kept probing their structure. Meanwhile, the Silk Road City that had accompanied her journey was also on the brink of vanishing, its very existence threatened by an acute water shortage—a modern‑day Loulan. The city’s fleeting life was like a soap bubble, about to dissolve in the very place its parents had built only to abandon.

Yuanyuan and her father couldn’t bear to leave this city. After completing her doctorate, Yuanyuan founded a technology company and developed a revolutionary surfactant whose surface tension automatically adjusts according to the thickness of the liquid layer and the curvature of the liquid surface, enabling it to produce enormous bubbles. These giant bubbles can serve as ultra‑large greenhouses, creating miniature microclimates in winter and providing suitable temperature and humidity for vast tracts of land.

More importantly, over the humid, distant oceans, countless large bubbles are formed; carried by the powerful winds of the stratosphere, they travel vast distances, eventually reaching the skies above the arid northwest. There, they all burst, releasing the moist air they had trapped over the ocean and scattering it across this dry, desolate land.

This ambitious project is called the Aerial Water‑Transfer System. Engineers have constructed an intricate network of ground‑based and aerial conduits, through which vast bubbles continuously carry moisture toward the region. From then on, Silk Road City came alive, gentle drizzles began to fall, and the skies over the vast northwest transformed into a landscape of serene beauty.

In this work, a fairy‑tale‑like splendor and dreamlike imagery are interwoven with a documentary‑style approach, chronicling how generations of Chinese people have braved adversity, built on the past while forging ahead, and steadily transformed nature. Time and again, they have demonstrated China’s bold spirit of scaling new heights and turning dreams into reality, thereby illuminating the great Chinese path, the Chinese spirit, and the strength of China.

Today, in the vast northwest, under the wise leadership of the Party Central Committee and over the course of six decades, the wisdom and hard work of several generations have transformed the millennia-old Maowusu Desert into a thriving forest. Across the expansive western region, new‑energy systems—generating power on the panels, raising sheep beneath them, and cultivating grass between them—have enhanced the soil’s water‑retention capacity, breathing new life into what was once barren land.

Our Party has traversed a century of glorious history, never ceasing to advance and explore, with progress that knows no end. Behind every innovation and breakthrough on the path to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation lies the selfless dedication of the older generation—those “Yuan Yuan Mothers”—a legacy that will endure as an eternal memory for our country and our people.

Only through the relentless efforts and independent innovation of a new generation of researchers like “Yuanyuan” can we firmly take our destiny into our own hands, stand on our own feet, and, with our youth and wisdom, realize the great “Chinese Dream”!