Science becoming more and more popular in China

Yuan Lanfeng, an associate researcher at the University of Science and Technology of China and also a popular science promoter (Photo provided by Yuan Lanfeng)

In less than a year, scientist Yuan Lanfeng's talk show on Bilibili and Douyin, two leading Chinese online video platforms, has attracted more than 150 million views.

Yuan is an associate researcher at the University of Science and Technology of China and also a popular science promoter uploading three episodes a week to provide scientific knowledge to the public.

"Topics of my shows are sometimes hotspot issues, such as the black hole picture captured recently." Yuan said.

The 41-year old scientist has been dedicated to promoting popular science since 2015 when he accidentally received lots of attention after writing an article explaining quantum information on China's micro-blogging site Weibo.

"The press wrote a lot about quantum information back then as China made an important break through in that field, but they failed to explain clearly what quantum information really is," he said.

"Science promotion work is usually trapped in a dilemma where insiders don't know how to explain complex theories to the public and ordinary people lack channels to get the information." Yuan said.

The scientist recalled that "I don't quite get it, but I think it's terrific" was the most common comment under the media coverage of quantum information in 2015.

To make more people understand this research, Yuan used humorous and vivid examples in his article to teach viewers about physics concepts, which soon went viral on Weibo. The scientist now has nearly two million followers,compared with less than 8,000 in 2015.

Thanks to the efforts of promoters like Yuan, China has made notable progress inpromoting science in recent years, with an increasing number of people interested in the field.

About 18,000 science promotion activities involving 300 million participants were held during the National Science Day last year, up nearly 70 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association for Science and Technology.

Last month, more than 310 million people in the country participated in over 21,000 activities during this year's National Science and Technology Week, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

"I am particularly interested in different human organs. I want to find out how they function in the body," said 7-year-old Zhou Zejin, a visitor to a science fair held in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province.

To meet the growing needs, science museums are opening across the country.

"We have built nearly 300 science and technology museums in China's communities and schools over the past three years, each benefiting an estimated audience of 20,000," said Shi Aisong, general manager of a Nanjing-based company in east China's Jiangsu Province specializing in designing and building popular science museums.

When providing scientific knowledge to the public, we should keep it as simple as possible to have more people feel the charm of science, Yuan Lanfeng said.

【译文】

科学在中国越来越普及

袁岚峰，中国科学技术大学副研究员，也是科普宣传者（图片由袁岚峰提供）

在不到一年的时间里，科学家袁岚峰在中国领先在线视频平台Bilibili和抖音上的脱口秀节目吸引了超1.5亿的浏览量。

袁岚峰是中国科学技术大学的副研究员，同时也是一名科普宣传者，他每周会在网络平台发布三期视频节目，旨在为公众传递科学知识。

"我的节目主题有时会选择热点问题，例如最近拍摄的黑洞图片。"他说。

这位41岁的科学家自2015年开始，一直致力于推动大众科学的传播。当时，他在中国微博网站上发表了一篇解释量子信息的文章，随之意外地收到了许多关注。

“当时，中国在量子信息领域取得了重大突破，媒体也写了很多关于量子信息的文章，但他们没有解释清楚什么是真正的量子信息。科学推广工作通常陷入两难境地，专业人士不知道如何向公众解释复杂的理论知识，大众也缺乏获取信息的渠道。”袁岚峰说道。

这位科学家回忆道，“不明觉厉”是2015年媒体对量子信息的报道中最为常见的评论。

为了让更多的人了解这一项研究，袁岚峰博士在他的文章中运用了幽默生动的例子来向公众阐述相关物理概念，并在微博得到迅速传播。袁博士现在已有近200万名微博粉丝，而2015年的粉丝数量还不到8000人。

近些年来，中国在科学领域取得了显著的跨越式发展，也正是因为有了许多像袁博士一样热衷科学传播的人，使得越来越多的公众对科学领域感兴趣。

根据中国科学技术协会的数据显示，在2018年全国科学日期间，共有1.8万次科学推广活动成功举办，参与者达3亿人，同比增长了近7成。来自科技部的数据表明，上个月，全国已有超3.1亿人参加了今年国家科学技术周的逾2.1万项活动。

"我对不同的人体器官特别感兴趣，我想深入了解它们在人体内是如何运作的。”7岁的周泽锦说，他是“亚洲博览会”（举办地：安徽合肥）的一位参观者。

为了满足日益增长的需求，科学博物馆正在面向全国开放。“在过去三年里，我们已经在中国的社区和学校内建造了近300家科技馆，每个博物馆都让约2万名公众受益。”江苏省一家以南京为基地，专门设计和建造科普博物馆的公司总经理时爱松说道。

“当我们向公众传递科学知识时，我们应该做到尽可能地简单，争取让更多的人感受到科学的魅力。”袁岚峰博士说道。

背景简介：袁岚峰，中国科学技术大学化学博士，中国科学技术大学合肥微尺度物质科学国家研究中心副研究员，科技与战略风云学会会长，青年科学家社会责任联盟理事，中国无神论学会理事，安徽省科学技术协会常务委员，微博@中科大胡不归，知乎@袁岚峰（https://www.zhihu.com/people/yuan-lan-feng-8）。本文是新华社英文栏目“中国聚焦”对袁岚峰的报道，2019年6月12日发表于Xinhua News（http://xhnewsapi.zhongguowangshi.com/share/news?id=315983409565696），风云之声获授权转载。

责任编辑：孙远