We’re down to the month of the Chengdu Worldcon, and things aren’t shaping up well. At this point, it’s pointless for me to urge people not to go. Either you’ve made firm plans or you aren’t going. All I can do is advise you to be careful if you are going.

The much-hyped, still under construction convention center isn’t big enough to accommodate the biggest events. At least for Chinese attendees, admission to the opening, closing, and Hugo ceremonies will be by lottery. Hugo nominees and GoHs will be allowed in, as will people from far away if they’ve jumped through the right hoops.

There has been confusion over which Sheraton Hotel in Chengdu is the one near the convention center. The website hasn’t been great about providing logistical information in English or any other Western language.

Speaking of GoH’s, the program schedule has been posted in English, and there’s a conspicuous lack of Sergei Lukianenko on it. He’s also been downplayed in publicity releases. Lukianenko has been widely denounced in fandom for his support for the Ukraine invasion.

Thankfully, the program doesn’t look like overt propaganda, though naturally there’s an emphasis on Chinese science fiction. Most recent North American conventions have had program items on controversial topics related to politics, race, and gender, and the Worldcon program has little in that direction.

Update: This is from File 770:

No link — with less than two weeks until the Chengdu Worldcon business meeting agenda still hasn’t been released.

People want the agenda posted so they can read what business is coming before the meeting and think about the inevitable assortment of proposed rules changes. The rule requiring the agenda to be available 30 days ahead of the meeting is so that the movers don’t have the advantage of being able to organize in favor while depriving potential opposition of the same advantage.