While some students advocated for the construction of massive thrusters to relocate Earth to a new solar system, others opposed this plan due to perceived risks. Instead, they proposed an alternative solution: that humanity should evacuate in spaceships and leave their home planet behind.

"It's very interesting and refreshing. I have never had this kind of class before," says 14-year-old Yang Chengyan, who is now hooked on reading more sci-fi tales by Liu Cixin, author of The Wandering Earth.

The class is part of a nonprofit project called Taking Movies to the Countryside — College Students Support Art Education in the New Era. Launched by Beijing Normal University in 2021, the program aims to encourage college students to volunteer during their vacations in remote areas and give art and culture classes to local children, using classic movies as one of the main teaching materials.

Starting in July and lasting almost a month, the project has dispatched more than 100 college students to six regions — Guizhou, Hebei, Shaanxi, and Qinghai provinces, along with the Guangxi Zhuang and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions.