A boy and his mother read a book in Foshan, South China's Guangdong Province. Photo: Courtesy of Foshan Library

Readers exchange books at the E Book market in Foshan. Photo: Courtesy of Foshan Library

Xinhua Bookstore's first store dedicated to humor in Beijing Photo:Lou Kang/GT

Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote a congratulatory letter to the national reading campaign which started on Saturday - April 23 of the World Book and Copyright Day and expressed hope that the whole society could enjoy reading and create a good atmosphere.

Xi said in the letter that reading is an important way for people to learn knowledge, build wisdom and cultivate morality; and it can also impart noble ideals. The Chinese people have encouraged reading since ancient time and it helps to carry on the people's sprit and make our character and morals.

Xi also expressed hope that Party members take the lead in reading and encouraged children to grow up happily and healthily while participating in reading with the whole society. 

Since 1995, World Book and Copyright Day on April 23 has encouraged people, especially young people, to become more engaged in reading. Every year on this day in China, libraries and bookstores carry out a series of activities to celebrate the day and promote reading. In 2022 in Beijing, hundreds of bookstore owners jointly planned to light up reading lights in their stores as they extend business hours to celebrate the day, which falls on Saturday.

Online lectures and seminars as well as book-sharing activities in stores are also currently being held across the city. Meanwhile in Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu Province, the Librairie Avant-Garde (Mount Wutai Branch) bookstore, listed as China's most beautiful bookstore by several media agencies, held an exhibition for second-hand books.

With more than 1,000 books stacked around her home in Foshan, South China's Guangdong Province, Wu Xiaozhu, a reading lover, decided to join a local online book-sharing platform so that other people could borrow from her vast collection. 

In order to make full use of books that most people just leave on a shelf after reading them, the sharing platform E Book was established in 2021 as a place where people can share books with each other while also making friends with others who share their interests.

"From taking orders and checking books to packing and shipping them, exchanging books has become part of our everyday life," Wu told the Global Times on Thursday.

Since 1995, World Book and Copyright Day on April 23 has encouraged people, especially young people, to get more engaged in reading. Every year on this day in China, libraries and bookstores carry out a series of activities to celebrate and promote reading.

In 2022 in Beijing, hundreds of bookstore owners will jointly light up the reading lights in their stores as they extend business hours to celebrate the day, which falls on Saturday. Online lectures and seminars as well as book-sharing activities in stores are also currently being held across the city.

Meanwhile in Nanjing, the Librairie Avant-Garde (Mount Wutai Branch) bookstore, listed as China's most beautiful bookstore by many media agencies, will hold an exhibition for second-hand books that day.

Living ecosystem

The old books on display at the event include world-famous masterpieces published by the People's Literature Publishing House dozens of years ago, translations of Latin American literature produced by the Yunnan People's Publishing House and collections of poems that were popular in 1980s, an employee at Librairie Avant-Garde told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Many of these old books have shined over the past quarter of the century at our bookstore, and now they have gathered again for the exhibition, where they are still impressing readers with their quality," Sun Qing, a shopping guide at the bookstore, said.

Some old books were collected by Qian Xiaohua, founder of the bookstore chain. In 2021, the bookstore opened a special section for old books and invited readers to donate their old books. More and more old editions made their way to the bookstore from far and wide after careful selection. 

No matter if we are talking about platforms like E Book or the activities at Librairie Avant-Garde, the market for second-hand books is becoming more and more popular among citizens. Similar activities not only are getting more people to read but are also environmentally friendly. 

Another book recycling platform based in Shanghai, Yu Book, has seen more than 700,000 members join since its establishment in 2017. 

"For many readers, 95 percent of books will be treated as waste paper or be put away on a shelf without being touched again, which is a huge waste of resources. It is all about sharing," founder Shang Xiaohui told media in an interview. 

Reading for all

Many bookstores have been attempting to bring in new customers through innovation in the past few years.

In Beijing, China's biggest bookstore chain, Xinhua Bookstore, opened the country's first bookstore dedicated to humor to target a younger demographic.

Selling books about Charlie Chaplin to China's cross-talk master Hou Baolin, the bookstore aims to bring a smile to the faces of people who have suffered from hard times in their lives, according to employee Liu Zhong.

From mental care to marginalized groups in society, book institutions across the country are trying to promote reading to people from all walks of life in innovative ways.

Located in a popular shopping mall in Lhasa, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, the Byang bsh bookstore established a free reading space for the visually impaired reader community in 2021. 

Run by retired veteran Sonam Yambhe, the bookstore, the first "city book bar," has more than a dozen braille books written by visually impaired writers that introduce local culture, history, traditions and autobiographies.  

An employee at the store told the Global Times that they often see customers with disabilities use the space, and some of them often bring their children so that they can spend a day there reading and relaxing. 

On the bookshelf, there is a popular autobiography written by Nyima Wangdu, a young blind social influencer who speaks fluent English and visits the bookstore regularly. 

The writer told the Global Times that he hopes readers can become more hopeful and confident about the world from his writings, which he has transcribed into braille. 

"The local officials and my friends helped a lot and also I want to give this book as a gift to the government and society," Wangdu noted.