The whole point of this story is to bring modern sports into ancient China, and that is how the author uses science fiction in order to explore these contemporary issues, such as how institutions influence human behavior making them act the way they do. I think this is important because using science fiction allows you to be creative even when you are trying to convey certain messages to the audience. In this case he is also trying to show how different it is today by using modern sports and technology in ancient China. 

Some things that were displayed about Chinese culture during the story are things mainly from ancient China, just with the twist that they are playing modern sports and competing. However, they are still using terms like, “your imperial majesty” which is interesting because it shows that there is still an emperor and allows us to infer the time frame in which we are in, while they also talk about zombies and plant weapons. Which makes me think of a game called plants vs zombies which I used to play on my phone when I was a kid. So it made it even more interesting that they were using modern video games since I could relate and understand what exactly was being played.

This story has a big inference on the way that humans are going to develop in the future, especially regarding technology on how we will live in the future. The main character is offered something called the silicon plow, which could turn land into solar cells. Due to the overuse of the land on earth many people have been forced to starve. Using the geo-electricity that the earth provides, his future counterpart tells him it is the way that they have been able to save the world and take a lot of people out of famine. It is an interesting take on the future of the world and climate change and proposes an interesting form of technology that we could use that we just need to find the technology for.

The story does however, still address feelings of belonging, as it has not forgotten the earth and the culture that is there. This story takes place far out in space in sort of what I would call a liminal space. However, we are still introduced to these things that are real life like the Laba Porridge. It gives people reasons to think about the planet earth and then tell stories about remembering the earth.

Something interesting I thought about the story was that it followed the ideals of traditional Buddhist beliefs. Such as incarnation and enlightenment, which I think provides a lot of comfort for people who fall victim to these kinds of dilemmas. Something interesting about this story was how it imagined a world where technology could simulate spiritual experiences. As we move closer to that happening in real life, I think it is a good reflection on the world we live in because it is going to be a reality for us soon an may begin to affect us in bad ways.