Finale of Chinese radio drama "Three-Body" released amid thunderous response

BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The final episode of Chinese audio drama "Three-Body" was released recently on online audio platform Ximalaya to wide applause from internet users.

This marked the completion of the 100-episode radio drama based on Liu Cixin's Hugo Award-winning sci-fi novel "The Three-Body Problem."

The news made headlines on China's social media sites, with the hashtag "How do you like 'Three-Body' radio drama" generating about 75 million reads on microblogging platform Weibo as of Thursday.

"It's the same experience as watching an awesome sci-fi movie, not through your eyes, but by immersing yourself in a universe created by sound effects and voices," wrote a Weibo user, calling the blend of radio drama genre and popular novel "beautiful."

Created by 729 Voice Studio, a highly-reputed Chinese voice actor brokerage company, the project saw its first episode go on air in November 2019 and has since been updated regularly for over two years.

Boasting a total of 115 million hits, the "Three-Body" radio drama currently tops the popularity chart on Ximalaya, data from the platform showed.

An audiobook of the original novel is also available on Ximalaya, and has raked in 300 million hits.

"The Three-Body Problem" is the first book in a sci-fi trilogy that revolves around physicist Ye Wenjie's contact with the Trisolaran civilization living in a three-sun system, and follows the centuries-long clashes between earthlings and the aliens.

Chinese sci-fi fans have greatly anticipated film and television adaptations of the critically acclaimed trilogy, and any pertinent news gains great traction within China's online community.

Tencent Video revealed in November last year that the television drama "Three-Body" was on its list of dramas to be released or pursued by the online streaming platform in 2022, releasing its first trailer cut with the announcement "coming soon."

"The Wandering Earth," another sci-fi novel by Liu Cixin, became a blockbuster film in 2019 and raked in a Chinese box office total of 4.68 billion yuan (around 737 million U.S. dollars).